The Difference between Pain and Injury

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Website.

Is it Back PAIN or a Back INJURY?

Have you said (or heard) any of the following lately?

“I have a back spasm!” 

“I injured my back doing kettlebells...” 

“I hurt my back running.” 

(or...the worst one…) “I tweaked my back unloading the dishwasher.”

Whether it’s a little tweak or a total shut-down spasm, back pain is never fun and can often bring your day to a screeching halt. The question is often: What should I do to heal a back injury?

As someone who’s championed her way through yoga classes, running workouts and kettlebell workouts with tears streaming down her face because her low back was totally locked up, I want you to know first of all : I’m really REALLY sorry you’re in pain. It sucks. It’s usually frustrating and often disempowering.

Secondly : You may not be injured. And there is a LOT of hope.

Let’s start with some science, and a new way to look at pain.

In 1973, pain was given a fairly lasting definition that has only slightly shifted today: “Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage…”

Best news in there! 

1. Pain is an EMOTIONAL experience (we can work with that! HERE is a blog on how to change your emotional state)
2. Pain can be associated with just POTENTIAL tissue damage

(If you haven’t dug into our pain education yet, start HERE with a blog post on how to decode pain’s language, then circle back and keep reading!)

Injury on the other hand is acute tissue damage or trauma (think : tearing, breaking, ripping...) usually as a result of some kind of impact or force. It often heals in about 4-6 weeks.

If you have an injury : seek medical help. This is an issue for doctors.

If you have PAIN … still seek medical advice, but if they don’t have answers for you, here’s where we usually start :

Is it acute pain? 4-6 weeks after some kind of trauma or incident, we’d expect to see some pain. If you slip on the ice and bruise your tailbone? It’s just gonna hurt for a while…

Or is it chronic pain : After that six week mark, it’s time to start looking deeper, and after three months, it’s considered chronic pain. That simply means your brain turned on the alarm … and hasn’t turned it off yet.

How to deal with acute back pain :

1. If there was a fall or impact trauma, seek medical help. We don’t have x-ray vision, so if you think there may have been acute injury, please get it checked out!
2. Stop doing the thing that makes it hurt. It’s so easy to poke the bear … “See! When I do THIS, it hurts!” This only reminds your nervous system of the danger, and can start to create a pain pathway for the long haul. If a kettlebell deadlift hurts, it’s NOT going to make it better, friends!

• If it was a sudden onset (even seemingly without incident,) make notes about the situation in which it occurred. How did you fall? What hit you? What were you doing when the spasm occurred. Think like a journalist, as if it were happening outside you and make some quick notes as this will help in your recovery efforts later.

• Do what feels GOOD. While waiting for tissue to heal, move what you can without pain (think : joints above and below the afflicted area), use sensory input that feels pleasant (don’t ice until it hurts or massage until you’re black and blue!) and follow your medical provider’s recommendations for rehabilitation.

How to deal with chronic back pain :

• Don’t panic. It can be easy - when the pain flares up - to have a large emotional response. “OH NO! It’s happening again!” Instead, take some soft exhales, remind yourself there is not an injury event and that pain is a “request for change” and work to stay calm.

• Track your experience. Often, chronic pain has nothing to do with the pain area! Some of the big correlations we’ve found are : stress levels, nutritional input, sleep quality, social settings, and living or working environment. Keep a journal and - instead of writing about your pain - write about what’s happening WHEN it hurts. 

• Change surrounding environments that may be contributing to or creating the experience. Once you notice a pattern over a week or two, choose one or two things you could easily change, and start to address them. Eat more nutritious foods more regularly, set a sleep schedule, change the orientation of your desk … try something!

• Keep moving. Find ways in which you can move without increasing your pain levels, and continue to move! Part of the pain “loop” includes a cycling effect from decreasing your exercise and movement patterns. “It hurts when I move, so I don’t move, so it hurts more because I’m not moving.” There is almost always something you can do that won’t hurt. (Sometimes the soothing experience of walking or running might help!)

• Talk to a professional about your experience. Sometimes, you really need to get some perspective and fresh ideas. I can tell you from experience (recent experience!) that beating your head against the wall, trying things you’ve already tried or used to work, only to experience more or continued pain can be infuriating and exhausting. Getting fresh eyes and compassion on the situation can be incredibly healing in and of itself.

We’d love to hear : What are some of the unconventional or “go to” ways you’ve used to relieve chronic back pain? What were some of the non-injury related reasons it was hurting?

If you’re struggling with back pain right now, check out this blog post HERE on ways to decrease low back pain get started today. Then save your spot in Troy’s Back Pain Relief workshop this month by clicking HERE

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Website.