It’s an all too common theme. You’re in pain or injured, so what’s the first step? We start asking for advice from “Dr. Google”, call upon our friends via social media, or try and find the quick fix from that video on YouTube.
Before you exhaust yourself with all of the options available to aid in your suffering, just take a short pause. Blindly searching Google for possible answers can yield scary results. Calling upon friends that have had a similar injury can be misleading and doesn’t always lineup with your situation.
In most cases the best initial step is to find an expert that can help diagnose the cause of your pain or injury and act as a guide to get you back peak health.
We have three simple tips to help you find the right clinician:
- Find a clinician that actually looks at the movement causing you pain. Whether you’re a weightlifter, runner, or just want to get back to walking pain free it’s important to find someone to assess the activity. An expert clinician will look for subtle imbalances or compensations in movement. This is the only way to fully understand the potential source of your injury and design an effective rehab program to fix it!
- Find a clinician that doesn’t solely prioritize hands-on treatment. Sure getting your spine adjusted, being pummeled with a trigger point gun, or even dry needling may help you feel better in the short-term. But ask yourself, how does this equate to me moving better for my activity or sport of choice.
Magic doesn’t happen on the treatment table. We need to reinforce all of this hands-on therapy with good old fashioned movement. You need to prioritize improving your strength, technique, and load management prior to returning to activity. - Find a clinician that offers continued support after rehab. The key to staying out of pain and avoiding re-injury is gradually returning to your sport. A common issue we see is athletes returning to their usual volume of training right after pain resolves.
We get it, you’re feeling great, so the desire to not waste time and pickup where you left off is enticing. The fundamental problem with this is, in most cases your body isn’t prepared to take on the same volume. If you’ve taken significant time off from higher loads of training and are trying to prioritize technique we need to slow it down. Give your body time to adapt!
The clinician you’re working with should be knowledgeable in the demands of your sport. Your rehab protocol and transitional program should be designed with that in mind. Find a professional that will offer continued one-one-one training or at least be available to answer any questions you have on your road to recovery.
At Change The Game PT we don’t believe your journey ends after rehab. Just getting out of pain isn’t enough. Our team of skilled clinicians believes in building you up to 110%.
You don’t have to miss out on the active life you love anymore! Ready to tackle your pain and get back to moving better and feeling better? Call the team at Change the Game PT and schedule a free discovery visit today!
