Sidelined by Pain? 3 Questions to Help You Stay Active While You Recover
If pain has kept you from running, playing golf, lifting weights, or working out the way you want to, you've probably heard some version of:
“Just rest and wait for it to get better.”
Sometimes rest is exactly what your body needs.
But “stop everything until the pain is gone” isn't always the best approach.
For many active people, the better question is:
What can I keep doing while I work on the problem?
When pain shows up, we like to think through three questions:
What needs to get fixed?
What's actually contributing to the problem?
What can I keep doing in the meantime?
Those questions can turn recovery from a waiting game into a plan.
1. What Needs to Get Fixed?
When something hurts, addressing the symptoms matters.
Pain can make it difficult to exercise, work, sleep, or participate in the activities you enjoy. Sometimes reducing an aggravating activity or temporarily changing how you move gives an irritated area the opportunity to settle down.
But that doesn't necessarily mean pain should become the focus of your entire life.
If your knee hurts when you run, for example, you may need to temporarily reduce your running volume.
That doesn't automatically mean you need to stop exercising altogether.
You might be able to continue strength training, walk, run shorter distances, or modify other parts of your training while working on the factors contributing to the knee pain.
The same principle can apply to shoulder pain, back pain, hip pain, or other common activity-related problems.
The goal is to address the problem without unnecessarily putting everything else on hold.
2. What's Actually Contributing to the Problem?
This is the question that often gets overlooked.
When something hurts, it's natural to focus on the painful area.
Your knee hurts, so you focus on your knee.
Your shoulder hurts, so you focus on your shoulder.
Your back hurts, so you focus on your back.
But the location of pain doesn't always tell you everything you need to know about why it started.
Your body doesn't work as a collection of completely independent parts.
How one area moves and functions can influence the demands placed on another.
For example, someone with knee pain may have contributing factors involving the hip, ankle, strength, movement coordination, or the amount of activity they're doing.
Someone with shoulder pain may have contributing factors involving the upper back, shoulder blade, trunk, strength, or how they're managing the demands of pressing and pulling.
And someone with back pain may need to look at much more than their lower back itself.
That doesn't mean every knee problem comes from the hip or every shoulder problem comes from the thoracic spine.
It means the painful area may only be one part of the story.
That's why understanding how you move and what your body is currently prepared to handle can be so important during rehabilitation.
3. What Can You Keep Doing?
This is the question people tend to forget.
When something hurts, it's easy to think in terms of two choices:
Keep doing everything.
Or:
Stop doing everything.
In reality, there's usually a lot of space between those two extremes.
A runner with knee pain might reduce their mileage rather than stop running completely.
A golfer with back pain might modify how much they play while continuing to work on strength and movement.
Someone dealing with shoulder pain might temporarily adjust their pressing exercises while continuing to train other areas.
Someone with an injury might reduce the weight, intensity, range of motion, frequency, or duration of an activity.
The exact modifications depend on the person and the problem.
But the principle is simple:
Your activity can often be adjusted before it needs to be eliminated.
Staying Active Doesn't Mean Ignoring Pain
There's an important distinction here.
Staying active while you're recovering doesn't mean pushing through everything and pretending pain doesn't matter.
Pain is information.
If an activity consistently makes your symptoms worse, your approach may need to change.
The goal is to find a level of activity that your body can currently tolerate and then build from there.
That might mean doing less than you're used to for a period of time.
It might mean choosing a different variation.
It might mean taking more recovery time between sessions.
Or it might mean temporarily shifting your focus toward another form of exercise.
The point isn't to prove that you can keep doing everything.
It's to avoid assuming that nothing is possible just because something hurts.
Your Rehab Should Fit Into Your Life
One of the biggest advantages of taking this approach is that rehabilitation doesn't have to exist separately from your normal life.
If you enjoy running, the eventual goal should be to help you return to running.
If you play golf, rehabilitation should eventually help you tolerate the demands of golf.
If strength training is important to you, your recovery should move you toward being able to lift again.
That doesn't mean you immediately return to your previous level.
It means you use your current abilities as the starting point.
From there, you can gradually increase the demands.
More distance.
More weight.
More repetitions.
More range of motion.
More intensity.
Over time, your body becomes better prepared for the activities you want to do.
Why Completely Stopping Can Make Returning Harder
There are situations where significant rest or temporarily stopping an activity is appropriate.
But prolonged inactivity isn't necessarily a complete recovery strategy.
When you stop using a physical capacity, you're not actively building it.
Strength can decline.
Fitness can decline.
Confidence can decline.
And when you eventually return to your normal activity, you may be asking your body to handle the same demands without the same preparation.
That's one reason progressive rehabilitation can be so valuable.
Instead of waiting for some magical point where you're suddenly “100% healed,” you gradually rebuild your ability to handle the activities that matter to you.
Think in Terms of Capacity, Not Just Pain
Imagine that you normally run 20 miles per week.
After developing knee pain, you might only tolerate 8 miles without significantly aggravating your symptoms.
That doesn't mean running is permanently off the table.
It gives you useful information about your current capacity.
Your job is to figure out how to work within that capacity while gradually expanding it.
That might involve reducing your running volume, adding strength training, addressing movement limitations, improving recovery, or making other changes that are appropriate for your situation.
The goal is eventually to close the gap between:
What your body can handle today
and
What you want your body to handle.
That's a much more useful goal than simply waiting for pain to disappear.
Recovery Doesn't Have to Mean Losing Everything You've Built
One of the biggest frustrations of an injury is the feeling that you're losing progress.
You worked hard to become stronger.
You built your running fitness.
You spent years developing your golf game.
You established an exercise routine that you enjoy.
Then pain shows up and suddenly you're afraid that you'll have to start over.
But recovery doesn't necessarily require pressing pause on everything you've built.
With the right modifications, you may be able to maintain other areas of your fitness while addressing the problem.
That can help you stay connected to exercise and make the eventual return to your preferred activity less disruptive.
Ask These Three Questions Before You Sit Everything Out
The next time pain makes you consider stopping an activity completely, take a step back.
Ask:
What needs to get fixed?
What symptoms or limitations need attention right now?
What's actually contributing to it?
Is there more to the problem than the painful area? Have your activity levels, strength, movement, workload, or recovery changed?
What can I keep doing?
What forms of exercise or activity can your body tolerate right now?
The answers won't always be obvious.
That's where an individualized evaluation can help.
But simply asking the questions can change the way you approach recovery.
Instead of thinking:
“I can't do anything until this is gone.”
You can start thinking:
“What can I do today, and how can I build from there?”
The Goal Is to Stay Connected to What Matters
Rehabilitation shouldn't require you to put your entire life on hold.
Sometimes the right decision is to rest.
Sometimes you need to significantly reduce an activity.
And sometimes you can continue doing much more than you initially thought, as long as you modify the demands and give your body time to adapt.
The goal is to find that balance.
Address what's contributing to the problem.
Keep doing what your body can currently handle.
Then gradually build toward what you want to do again.
Because recovery isn't just about getting back to a point where something doesn't hurt.
It's about getting back to a point where your body is prepared for the life you want to live.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I stop exercising if I have pain?
Not necessarily. Depending on the type and severity of your symptoms, modifying an activity may be more appropriate than stopping exercise completely. Adjustments to weight, intensity, duration, range of motion, or exercise selection can sometimes allow you to remain active while recovering.
Can I keep running if my knee hurts?
It depends on the cause and severity of your symptoms and how your knee responds to activity. Some runners may be able to continue at a reduced mileage or intensity while addressing contributing factors through rehabilitation. Others may need a temporary break from running.
Can I work out with shoulder pain?
You may be able to continue exercising by modifying movements that aggravate your symptoms. You might adjust the weight, range of motion, exercise variation, or overall training volume while working on the factors contributing to the shoulder problem.
What if exercising makes my pain worse?
If an activity consistently increases your symptoms or causes a significant increase that doesn't settle appropriately, your current activity level may need to be adjusted. A rehabilitation professional can help determine an appropriate starting point and progression.
How can rehabilitation help me stay active?
Rehabilitation can help identify factors contributing to your symptoms while progressively rebuilding strength, movement capacity, and tolerance. Rather than simply waiting for pain to disappear, the goal is to gradually prepare your body for the activities you want to return to.
You May Have More Options Than You Think
Pain can make your choices feel very limited.
But before deciding that you need to stop running, give up golf, or step away from the gym completely, ask yourself those three questions:
What needs to get fixed?
What's actually contributing to it?
What can I keep doing in the meantime?
Those questions won't eliminate every limitation.
But they can help you find the difference between temporarily changing your activity and giving up on it altogether.
At Momenta Chiropractic, we work with active people throughout the Main Line and surrounding Philadelphia communities who want to recover without unnecessarily stepping away from the activities they enjoy.
If pain has started changing what you do, we'd be happy to help you figure out what needs attention, what you may be able to keep doing, and how to build toward your goals.
