Ignoring pain won't make an injury better. The method to speed recovery safely that seems to work best is: get circulation into the injured area without causing extra pain. I mean any pain. Because…if you grit your teeth and put up with even a little bit of pain, the injury doesn’t go away. It just gets worse. The exercise has to be totally pain-free. That’s why “Slow Rep Speed” is perfect for detecting exactly where and when the pain is coming. As the exercise is done very slowly, you can detect exactly when the pain occurs, and can then move the elbow, the wrist, or change the body position- whatever it takes to get rid of the pain. In this way, you can still do the exercise and rehabilitate the injured joint at the same time. Once you’ve go the “pain-free” track nailed down, you’re on your way to rapid healing.
If the pain still won’t go away...
Sometimes the pain is persistent and won’t go away, even with this “Slow Movement” type of exercise therapy. If the pain persists, follow these rules and your recovery should be much faster.
Once you get injured….everything changes. Forget about your current rate of progress. Your new goal is to heal the injury. Focus all your attention on getting better.
Don’t lay off…it doesn’t help. The pain just stays with you. It doesn’t seem to matter how long you lay off. You must actually work the injury out of the joint. Which leads to the next rule….
Find exercises that cause no pain. This is important. When I say no pain, I mean no pain. Not pain that is tolerable or less than it was. I mean no pain. Simply put…pain sets up a histamine reaction which causes swelling and blocks circulation, just like your nose plugs up with allergies. That’s why you take antihistamines to reduce the swelling. Using pain-free exercises gets circulation into the injured area. Note: the exercise has to be pain-free even before you warm up the joint. Not after. (I know, you want to go back to your favorite exercise and it truly doesn’t hurt as much as it did before, but you must avoid any pain. This is hard for bodybuilders.
Don’t be fooled by endorphin release. It will mask the pain. Even if you can’t feel it…the injury is still taking place. You must find exercises that don’t cause pain without any warm-up. This will accelerate the healing tremendously.
After you have found pain-free exercises, continue to work the area, using the very slow rep speed method. It will stimulate circulation and sweep out all the accumulated toxins.
Ice the injured area each night until it goes numb (about 15 minutes, never more than 20 minutes). Your body will sense the cold and send more nutrient rich blood to the injured area. Be careful you don’t overdo and get frostbite.
Drink 3 cups of ginger tea daily. Ginger blocks the formation of the inflammatory compounds-prostaglandins and leukotrienes-and also has antioxidant effects that break down existing inflammation and acidity in the fluid within the joints.
Turmeric has long been used as an anti-inflammatory agent and in wound healing. Add turmeric to food every day is a good strategy, using 400-600 mg of supplemental turmeric extract 3x per day (or as described on the product label) is probably more manageable for most people.
Deep tissue massage and foam rolling encourages circulatory movement and relaxes muscles, massage helps the body pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs. This allows the rehabilitating injured area(s) to become more flexible and heal at an accelerated rate.
Most of all, don’t ignore the first signs of pain. Be alert on every exercise. If you feel a little tinge of pain, either make adjustments in your exercise form or stop the exercise and go to something else. Most of the damage can be avoided if you’re alert to the very first signs of pain. (Joint pain, not the lactic acid pain associated with muscles working.)
