“It hurts every time I…” Fill in the blank. What activity causes you some pain or discomfort every time you do it? Here are some examples:
1. Feeding the dog.
2. Blow drying your hair.
3. Playing tennis.
4. Running.
5. Working in the yard.
6. Picking up your child.
7. Sitting in a certain chair.
8. Closing the trunk of your car.
You get the idea. So can you think of something you do that causes pain regularly?
Here are the steps to fix it.
1. Name the activity and the area of pain.
2. Think about how you do that activity. What about that activity causes you pain?
3. Think of ways to modify the activity to make it easier for you. Are you using the right body mechanics? How is your posture? Is there a tool you could use? Could you simply use two hands instead of one? Are you using a small muscle to do something a large muscle could do easily? Could you take a few rest breaks? Is there a stretch that helps? Brainstorm ways to modify the activity.
4. Test out the modifications to see what works the best.
5. Implement your new way of doing the activity. Modify it as needed.
6. Do it consistently for best results!
Why live with pain if you don’t have to? Catch your pain before it is too late! If you catch it early, you can prevent it from becoming an injury.
Pain Talks 