You’re with your body all day, so it’s pretty important to you.

Let’s look at some places you can get more information on Pain and the Body

I wanted to put together a list of places to look for good information on subjects pertaining to massage, movement, pain, and the body. This is by no means comprehensive, but it is a place to start. Navigating the health care world as your own advocate can be hard. I could have a ticker tape parade with the number of times I have written key search words or links on the back of a napkin.  Without a background in science, it can be hard to tell plausible from implausible.

Soooo… that being said, I’ve compiled, all in one place, some links to some subjects that we end up sending out most. We  think these links are pretty helpful.

Why am I in pain?

Most people coming to see us are in pain. Pain can be scary…but what happens when you have been cleared by your doctor as healthy, and you still have pain? Or chronic pain? Or you have no pain but are diagnosed with a problem?

Do we advocate for those people to get checked again? Absolutely. But we also want them to know that pain is normal. That their body’s number one job is to protect them, and they can do a lot to manage that pain by understanding the basics of it. For that, we usually send them home with this video on pain by Lorimer Moseley. Not only can it be understood by professionals and lay people, it’s also really entertaining.

If you really want to learn and possibly change how your body feels about pain, take a look at this course by the ‘Retrain Pain Foundation’.  Each module takes just 2 or 3 minutes and can really make a difference in your life.

If you enjoyed the last one, and want more detail, we also recommend this handy video on pain. This is put out by the Hunter Integrated Health Service which delivers evidence-based pain care in Australia.

Is it my body posture?

The next question that inevitably comes up is, “Where did the pain come from? Since I don’t have an injury, is it my posture?”.  For various reasons, there is a LOT of misinformation out there on posture.  Posture certainly can affect you. For instance, we have all felt the pain of sitting in one position too long, but for the most part, your posture is probably fine. You could spend your whole life trying to whittle yourself into the perfect posture or way of moving. To help you understand the posture bunk we really like Paul Ingram’s blog pain and posture. It is very user-friendly and a really great place to start a search on a number of physical problems. Take a peek through the topics and you will see he touches a little on everything. A lot of the information he provides is the kind that can keep you from throwing good money after bad. So it is WELL worth reading through some of his work.

Do I need to foam roll or self treat?

People ask a LOT about foam rolling. Sometimes it’s in this hushed voice, like a secret, “You know I don’t foam roll…should I be?”. Look, it feels great to massage yourself. It also feels great to do something for yourself. But do you NEED to foam roll? A better question is, do want to?  The easiest thing is to probably do a little reading on what foam rolling actually does and to answer that, we usually provide Tom Hardgroves great blog piece on “How foam rolling works” and let you decide for yourself. His work is decidedly more technical but if you have a keen interest, it’s not out of reach. He also has a phenomenal book on movement you might check out. Sadly, we rarely have it in the office because we keep sending it home with patients.

What else can I do?

Well, it turns out you can do a lot. While doctors, physical therapists and massage therapists might help you with some aspects of your health and recovery, there is a lot you can do on your own to manage. Two videos by Dr. Mike Evans cover some of the excellent general things you can do for your physical and mental health to manage pain. Both are short, watchable and entertaining.

The first video talks about the research behind being active with your body and the health benefits that has. It is a great video on the benefits of moderate physical activity.

The other video that pairs nicely covers the topic of stress and your health.  Together, both of these topics are very important for helping you manage pain and function long-term. Do we recommend you see a doctor? Absolutely! But there is a lot you can do on your own too, without falling down the rabbit hole of unattainable results.

As more people ask questions we will add to this list. Good luck!