My physical therapist told me to stop pushing through pain and I finally listened

I was doing my home exercises for my shoulder injury and kept pushing even when it hurt. My PT said 'if it's sharp, stop, if it's dull, keep going.' I thought she was being too careful. After three weeks of actually following that advice, my range of motion went from 60 degrees to 110 degrees. Has anyone else had a doctor give advice that sounded wrong but actually worked better?

2 comments

2 Comments

iris_davis9014d ago

Oh man, I gotta say I actually have the opposite take on this. In my experience, that whole "stop if it's sharp" thing can get really subjective and honestly kind of dangerous if you take it too literally. I had a hip issue a few years back where my PT said the same thing, but what I thought was "dull" turned out to be bursitis that got way worse because I kept going when I should have stopped. Your mileage may vary, but I think a lot of people interpret "dull" differently and end up training through inflammation that needs rest, not movement. Take this with a grain of salt, but maybe check in with your PT again to make sure you're both on the same page about what dull really feels like for you.

robertgreen12d ago

Wait is this a thing with a lot of medical advice? It's like how my dentist told me not to brush my teeth super hard because it's actually bad for gums, and I was like 'no way, harder is better.' Turns out she was right. I mean, this whole 'push through the pain' thing is drilled into us from like gym class and movies. But maybe we just assume more effort always equals more results, and it's actually the opposite a lot of the time. Learning to chill out and actually listen to a professional is way harder than just grinding through it.

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