Pain is… A LIAR!

Recently Jackie and I participated in some continuing education coursework, and I can’t take credit for the title of this blog - it was a phrase that the instructor used several times. In physical therapy we see this issue come up ALL. THE. TIME.

“My knee hurts” and the patient really has some weakness of hip muscles, or tightness or other leg muscles, or overly-pronated feet and walk into the clinic wearing flip-flops. In other words, just because the pain is at the knee, it might not be a KNEE problem! You can do 1,000 exercises to strengthen the knee joint muscles, but if you aren’t looking at the bigger picture of the joints connected above and below the knee, then you’re probably missing the actual ROOT CAUSE of the knee pain.

“My back hurts” so I probably need to strengthen my back. Hmm, maybe. But also, we might need to look at the supporting muscles of the abdomen. What surgeries have you had that might have cause scar tissue to limit mobility of the back? What about those tight hip flexors from sitting at your computer desk 40+ hours per week? Again, we experience pain in our bodies and automatically assume that the problem is right where the pain is. PAIN IS A LIAR! Ok, so pain is really a symptom. It gives us some information. It provides us a start of where we need to really focus our attention and ask some more questions.

So, the next time you are experiencing pain, just remember it is a symptom. It’s not necessarily where the problem is. Come see us at Shift Physical Therapy to help you look at the bigger picture of your symptoms and how we can work together to eliminate that pain and get you back to doing the things you want to be doing!

Written by: Renee Hancock, Physical Therapist and Pelvic Health Specialist