Pay Attention to What Your Body Tells You About Exercise Pain

These days, pretty much everyone understands that regular exercise should be an important part of your lifestyle. Everyone also accepts the fact that some soreness and stiffness will be likely if you haven’t exercised in a while, or if you are just beginning a program. However, when you feel a significant level of pain following your workouts, you shouldn’t simply continue to try and work through it. When you encounter persistent pain in any given area of your body, you should do the smart thing and consult with your chiropractor about it, so that any serious issues can be addressed. Your chiropractor will accurately identify the cause of your pain, and recommend an appropriate action to take.

The difference between pain and soreness

It can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between pain and soreness, especially for an athlete who is used to pushing hard to achieve results. Soreness is usually attributable to muscle strain, and it will generally fade away after a few days simply by resting and recovering. Pain should be something much more noticeable to you, because it will be a sharper and clearer sensation which is felt in waves. By continuing to work out through pain, you may be exacerbating an existing issue, and making it worse.

Work smarter

We have all heard the term, “no pain, no gain”, but that doesn’t mean you should continue to work through pain to the point where you injure yourself. You’ll be much better off if you listen to what your body is telling you, and have any pain investigated and diagnosed. Your chiropractor is the best person to consult when you experience persistent pain, because he/she can help you identify the source of the pain, and have it alleviated.

Your chiropractor may recommend various courses of action, including the following:

• Stretching – In some cases, your chiropractor may tell you that some stretching will relieve a source of pain
• Massage – Massage will often relieve soreness and painful muscles
• Spinal adjustments – Spinal adjustment may be necessary to relieve pressure on nerve tissue.

In any case, your chiropractor will be able to help you identify the problem, so you can take appropriate action, rather than simply proceeding and trying to work through the pain.

Use the right approach to exercise

Whenever you feel a significantly uncomfortable sensation while working out, you should probably have it checked out by your chiropractor. It’s normal and natural that you would feel some discomfort from your workouts, because muscle and bone are being stressed beyond normal limits. However, when you experience persistent pain in the same area over a number of workouts, chances are there’s an issue there that needs resolution.

This is not a question of how tough you are and how much pain you’re able to withstand, it’s more a question of listening to your body and making an appropriate response as a result. There is no shame in halting your workout and consulting with your chiropractor, to make sure you’re not hurting your body. If you take the intelligent approach to exercise, you’ll be able to continue a solid program on into your golden years.