So you have been dealing with a nagging pain. You decide that you should just take a couple weeks off from running or working out and let it heal. Maybe even your physician prescribed the rest. While proper rest and recovery is important, it is likely not the solution to your problem.
People often get stuck in this rest/injury cycle. Where they get hurt, rest, come back, get hurt, rest, come back, etc. Spinning their wheels and stalling their progress.
It’s not that rest is inherently bad. Resting will help the irritated tissues heal and reduce the pain and symptoms. This is seen as the solution to the problem. “I feel better, so everything must be good, right?” Not really.
Ask yourself this, why did you get hurt in the first place? There are a lot of factors that could answer this question. This could be poor nutrition, poor sleep, and even improper rest time. If any of these are not addressed properly, then our recovery could be sub-optimal and lead to overuse injuries. But the main factor I want to focus on is finding the root cause of the problem.
If you are a runner with foot pain, is the foot the real cause of the problem? Probably not. We would look further up the chain. Some things we would asses are:
- Does the ankle have enough mobility?
- Are the hips able to prevent overpronation?
- Is your stride too long?
- Does the trunk have enough rotation? (Yes, the upper body could cause a foot problem)
If all you do to heal an injury is rest, the root cause never gets addressed. As soon as you jump back into training, the cycle of pain and injury begins again.
Don’t get stuck spinning your wheels when you have goals that you want to achieve, group runs to participate in, or need that stress relief after work. Break the cycle by giving us a call at (607) 425-3369 or clicking the link below to request a Free Discovery Visit!
What is a Discovery Visit? It is a free 20 minute visit with a sports injury specialist where we sit down and talk about what you have been struggling with. At the end of the visit we let you know exactly what is going on and how we can help you fix it. If that sounds like something you would be interested in, then click the link below to quest one of these limited sessions!
