When it comes to pain, a lot of times we just try to work through the pain or wait until it goes away.

In many textbooks and from many well educated Doctors, Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, or anyone in the health and wellness injury will say that pain is the body telling the brain that there is an issue. In the Muscle Activation Technique world, they say that pain is like the check engine light of your body. Showing you that you need to address this issue and fix it or else there will be compromised movement or more pain.

Many people are very stubborn and do not want to see a practitioner, Doctor, or Physical Therapist or Chiropractor, so they will wait it out or try to figure it out on their own. Either way, if they do not know how the body works, they will stay in pain or get worse and then see a medical professional.

This post is for those types of people, because I am guilty of this as well…sometimes.

Some questions to ask yourself(in no particular order) when you have pain are:

1. Is it a dull or sharp pain?

2. What makes it feel better?

3. How long have you had the pain?

4. Do you know or have an idea how the pain started?

5. Does it only hurt when you think about it?

6. Does it hurt when you move or when you are sitting/standing?

7. Does ice or heat make it feel better?

8. Does rubbing or compressing it feel better?

9. Has this happened before?

10. When do you feel the pain? In the morning, midday, or night?

11. When does the pain feel worse?

12. Do you remember eating or drinking something that maybe you were not supposed to?

13. Does the pain worsen after eating or drinking? How long after?

14. Has there been compensation while walking that caused more pain?

These are just some questions that you should ask yourself before you seek out a professional. Some of these issues can be solved by finding out what the root of the problem is and then treating it from there, assuming you know how to treat it. If you do not, but you have an idea of how it started, then you can contact a health professional and if they have the same idea as you, then you can be more comfortable working with them. On the contrary, if they are saying something different, challenge them and tell them your theory and see if they agree or disagree.

Hopefully this was helpful and that you ask yourselves these questions so that you can at least figure out what is going on with your body. The worst part about pain is not knowing how/why it happened/fixing it.

Have a great day! And remember to control the basics!