Pain:

• Warning sign of tissue damage

• Guides therapist to a specific area and type of tissue

• Dulling pain with medication is a setup for more injury

• Pain management is key to proper healing

 THE BODY KNOWS

     Pain is a warning that something's wrong in our bodies.  Like the red light on the dashboard of your car, it is an indicator that something must be done.

    Trillions of sensors monitor every function in our cells and tissues.  Stress on muscles, chemical balance in cells, and electrical activity in our nerves. 

    We are lucky to have the most sophisticated medical diagnostic device ever created.  Nothing man made -- X-ray, CAT scan, MRI, even comes close to the amount of information our pain response can give us.

   Little aches and pains are early warnings of stressed muscles and joints.  They are telling us to slow down, and lighten up on the damaged tissue.

    Chronic pain -- a long term constant pain, is an indication that the tissue is so damaged that it cannot heal properly.  This is when the patient is stuck in a Pain-Injury-Pain cycle.

    Pain medications are often used too freely to dull the warning signs of tissue damage.  Ignoring these warnings can lead to further damage by "over doing it" before the tissue can heal.

    Veterinarians rarely use pain medication on animals.  They know that the pain is protecting the animal from further injury.

 TREATMENT

    Listening to the pain message, and locating the source is the key to effective treatment.  Different sensations of pain can indicate what type of tissue is damaged, and where.

    Assessment by checking joint Range of Motion, muscle strength, and palpating the tissues is done before treatment starts.

    Goals for recovery let you gauge the effectiveness of your treatment.  If your health care provider doesn't give you a prognosis for recovery, and your treatment doesn't have measurable results, then perhaps it's time to try another method.