Chronic pain can put many people off of exercise. However, while lying on the couch might seem like the best way to deal with pain, a lack of physical activity could actually make things worse.
Exercise helps to loosen up muscles and trigger feelgood endorphins that can help to combat pain. It can also improve sleep quality, which in turn can reduce inflammation and reduce pain.
Of course, you need to be careful of which types of exercise you partake in as certain workouts could make certain pains worse. Here are just a few tips on how to exercise correctly with chronic pain.
Listen to your doctor
If your doctor strongly advises you not to partake in a certain form of exercise, it’s important to listen to their advice. If you’re recovering from a serious injury or living with a long-term condition, such forms of exercise could aggravate the pain and possibly cause further injury.
Sometimes it can be difficult to do what is best for us, especially if we’re heavily involved in a specific sport. Specialist doctors and sports therapists may be able to help you keep up your sport while working around your injury/condition – however this may not always be possible.
Explore different forms of low impact exercise
High-impact exercises can often aggravate chronic pain – these involve activities such as running, jumping and powerlifting. Low-impact exercises put less pressure on the body while still allowing us to work out – these activities include walking, swimming and yoga. If your previous sport or favourite exercise is no longer possible, you could consider taking up one of these new forms of exercise.
Invest in specialist clothing and equipment
There may be clothing or equipment that you can invest in to ease pain while training. For instance, there are knee braces and arm braces that can allow you to exercise more comfortably with conditions like arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Items of clothing like compression shorts can also help with hip pain.
Try different forms of pain relief
There are many different forms of pain relief that you can take to help ease pain while training. There are many herbal ingredients like turmeric and ginger that can be mixed into shakes for mid-workout or post-workout pain relief. You can even buy products like CBD hydration powder online that can be mixed with water to offer hydration and pain relief. You can also consider booking massages or booking hydrotherapy treatment for after intense workouts.
Take things at your own pace
Chronic pain may mean having to exercise at a slower rate. If you previously did a lot of intense exercise, this slower pace might initially be hard to adjust to. Group exercise can be a time when many people with chronic pain overexert themselves – don’t try to keep up with everyone else if your body is telling you no. Make sure that you know the difference between healthy pain and unhealthy pain when working out.
