3 Strategies for Dealing with Pain / Injury Flare Ups
Experiencing a sudden flare-up of pain or injury can be disheartening, but there are ways you can look to deal with them. There are many different options and often deciding on which to use can be confusing. Rest it? Ice It? Move it? Stretch it? Rub it?
In this article, we’ll explore three key strategies to consider:
1. De-sensitise:
The initial step involves attempting to reduce the intensity of the pain by altering how the brain interprets the signals. There are loads of methods out there, all of which may work for some people at various times. We would advise you to choose based on personal preference and long-term effectiveness. Consider factors such as the severity of the flare-up, your location, and what you currently have going on.
For example, relying on painkillers might not be a great long-term solution and if the flare-up is mild or manageable then you might want to explore alternative methods. However, in critical situations like a competition or imminent work presentation, using painkillers may be very appropriate.
Some of our favourite options for de-sensitisation include:
- Deep, slow, calm breathing.
- Self-massage.
- Mobility drills, particularly using contract/relax protocols.
- General movement such as walking. Or, possibly training or sport, but this might have to be modified to avoid irritating things further.
- Engaging in activities that provide comfort, such as spending time with loved ones, reading, listening to music, or taking a warm bath.
- Other supportive measures like adequate sleep, hydration, and nutrition.
2. Increase Blood Flow:
Ever been told to walk it off? That advise wasn’t necessarily a terrible idea, but maybe not appropriate to the moment or situation! Promoting blood flow to the affected area is crucial for reducing swelling and supporting the body’s natural healing process. Choose methods that suit your comfort level and confidence.
Options to enhance blood flow include:
- Gentle movement of the affected area.
- Muscle contractions, either manually or with machines, if movement is restricted.
- Aerobic exercise. This is great for generally improving blood flow and can often be done while not irritating the flare up. Hill walking or cycling if it’s an upper body issue or maybe a hand bike, ski erg or 3 limb air biking if a lower body issue.
- Compression devices, ranging from sophisticated options like normatec boots to simple compression bands.
3. Restore Mechanics:
A flare-up can be a good opportunity to assess and restore proper movement mechanics. This can be especially useful if you’ve been dealing with persistent pain or injury. Looking at, and potentially improving, how you move in various ways can give us more confidence and options for movement. For instance, you might move well initially but have this break down with tiredness or the introduction of speed or load. It could also be that your mechanics are perfectly fine, but you lack exposure to certain movements or positions.
Some of our favourite ways to restore mechanics include:
- Mobility – If you don’t have normal range of motion in certain movements, then restoring this back, giving yourself more movement options, can always be useful.
- Stability – When range of motion is all good then another area to consider is stability. Giving the body some balance challenges can be a fantastic way to give the body more confidence in a movement, which can lead to less intense or frequent flare ups.
- General movement and training – If you’ve got normal ranges of motion and stability then getting back to movement is an excellent idea. If you’ve been overly avoiding a movement, then starting to expose yourself to it with a variation that’s tolerable can do wonders for confidence. Start at a place that feels comfortable and then begin to make progress through load, movement complexity, speed and conditioning.
While a pain flare-up can be frustrating, implementing these three concepts—de-sensitising, increasing blood flow, and restoring mechanics— hopefully provides you with a structured approach to start managing and recovering from them.
As ever we’d love to hear your thoughts and what strategies you use and if you ever need help dealing with a flare up, we’re always here.
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