Sports Injuries and Painkillers

Mark Perren-Jones from the Haven Spa and Health Clinic

I happened to bump into a good mate of mine the other day who is suffering from an injury. Now those of you who have read my blogs regularly will (hopefully) know that the major reason sports injuries do not heal properly is from lack of appropriate rehabilitative exercises. It is imperative that you get your problem diagnosed so that you can commence rehab on the injured area as soon as the inflammatory phase is over (the first 2-3 days) to get a strong and flexible repair. If you do not do this you will not recover the strength and function needed to return to your activities like before. I am sure many of you know people who have had injuries and done nothing and now complain of the shoulder that ‘still aches’, or the elbow that ‘never has felt the same’ or ‘still hurts if they really push it’. It’s because after an injury scar tissue replaces the injured tissue and this needs to be stretched and strengthened to give the injury its strength and flexibility to be able to use the joint or muscle like before.

So you can imagine my surprise when my friend told me that he was about to embark on a 5 day super potent course of painkillers and see what happens after that. He had decided to do this because his friend had done this and told him that he should try it too. (His friend by the way is still suffering in pain and has been for over two years now). I don’t understand the logic here? If you have a torn tendon which my friend has, how are painkillers going to fix the tear? They won’t. What is worse is that he will more than likely feel no pain and go back and do his activities or sports that he wanted to return to because(due to his super potent painkillers) he is no longer feeling any pain. And he will tear his tendon again. And probably not listen to his friend for the crappy advice he gave him in the future. (I hope).

How is it that people who are intelligent in many areas seem to put their brains on standby mode when it comes to their health? I see people on an almost daily basis who guess with their health and pray to the gods that they will get better. These are the same people who would never have their expensive cars be fixed by the bloke down the road ‘because their car has sophisticated gadgetry and they need someone who is professional and knows what he is doing’. However, they are happy to get advice from their mate at the pub or their cousin who according to him had exactly the same problem and knows what to do, or their aunty who knows ‘just the trick’ or even the internet. If your brand new Mac air laptop goes on the blink I guarantee you that you take it to a computer expert to get the problem diagnosed and fixed properly by someone who knows what he is doing. Of course you would, because your computer is worth a lot of money and is very complex. So have you ever considered that your body is the most sophisticated, most complex machine you will ever own? It is. Have you ever considered that guessing with your health could have dire effects both short and long term? It can.

Pain is your body’s warning system to tell you there is something wrong.

If you were driving along in your brand new car and the oil light came on would you

A)    Get it checked as soon as possible because you know that the light tells you that the car has a problem (the warning system)

Or

B) Cover up the oil light with a piece of tape so that you could no longer see the light anymore. If you no longer see the light you could think that the problem doesn’t exist anymore. (By hiding the warning system)

Of course you would pick the first one because you are intelligent enough to know that if you keep driving you will damage the car more. So when it comes to your body, how is it that many people are happy to take painkillers to hide the pain? Or put another way, covering up their warning system with the piece of tape.

You must get your problem diagnosed properly and be giving the appropriate treatment and exercises to achieve full recovery. Otherwise, you will regret it I can assure you.