Pain or Pills?
Unless you’re one of the 17 people in the US who suffers from CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis, also called the “no pain disease”), pain is a sometimes nasty fact of life. It’s alternately a gift and a curse; pain provides us with invaluable feedback for self-preservation (such as “don’t touch that burner, it’s hot”), but sometimes it stays beyond the helpful stage, becoming a chronic challenge.
D.I.Y. Pain Management
It may sound weird coming from someone in my profession, but you don’t always need to visit a medical professional every time something hurts. Though I cannot stress enough the importance of having experienced medical professionals on your healthcare team, believe it or not, the vast majority of everyday aches and pains are completely manageable without the aid of injections, prescriptions drugs, surgery, or other medical intervention.
Exercising with Issues
If you’re like most people (myself included), it’s really easy to find excuses why you should skip your workout. I overslept, I didn’t sleep enough, I’m hungry, I ate too much, my favorite show is on, there’s nothing good to watch while I’m on the treadmill – the list goes on and on. But when you combine these everyday distractions with real physical ailments, it can be even tougher to convince yourself to lace up your sneakers and get going. The good news is that with a few precautions and some common sense, it’s possible for almost everyone to be physically active.