When
the body is pushed beyond its limits, injuries
to the soft tissue structures may result.
Timely and effective management can limit
the severity of the injury, enhance the
return to activity and help prevent recurrence.
With this in mind, this edition will look
at the difference between ‘good’
and ‘bad’ pain and the self-management
of a soft tissue injury.
Good
Pain or Bad Pain
Before injuries and illnesses are discussed
the difference between the ‘bad’
pain from injury and illness and the ‘good’
pain felt during and after training must
be distinguished.
So, what is the difference? Firstly, a sudden
intense pain is bad. Stop.
This is a ‘bad’ pain. The ‘good’
pain associated with physical training is
in fact not actually a pain in itself but
a feeling of discomfort. During a training
session for example, you could be breathing
heavily, it should feel uncomfortable but
NOT painful.
You may feel fatigue and heaviness in the
legs but this should decrease when you stop.
After a physical training session, muscle
soreness, or the more accurately termed
Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness (DOMS),
may result.
DOMS typically occurs around 12–24
hours following a session and may increase
in sensitivity for up to three days following
the session. DOMS is generally not of concern
and will be discussed in a future article.
Good Pain - Subsides the minute you
slow down or cease the activity, heavy limbs
after a training session (fatigue), may
ease with stretching.
Bad Pain - Sudden, intense, in the
central back, chest or neck, radiating through
limbs, prolonged muscle soreness (days after
a work out), unusual rib tenderness, gets
worse with stretching.
If in doubt consult trained medical staff
Soft
Tissue Injury Treatment
When the soft tissue structures (ie muscle)
are injured the well known RICED (Rest,
Ice, Compression, Elevate, Diagnosis) protocol
is followed.
Stop - This is the first and most
important step. Do not try and ‘work
through it.’ By not treating the injury
immediately it has the potential to become
worse and therefore increase recovery time.
Not letting the team down for the last 10
minutes of the game could mean letting them
down for weeks during a now longer recovery
period.
The majority of exercise related injuries
are ‘soft tissue’ injuries (sprains,
strains, corks, bruising, muscle tears etc.)
and, if the skin is unbroken, the RICED
regime should be followed.
Rest - You have already stopped what
you were doing, but it does not end there.
You need to rest the injury until complete
recovery. That does not mean ‘It feels
a bit better now I’ll just play the
last couple of minutes’. It should
be noted that an absence of pain does not
mean that the tissue has recovered and healed.
Ice - The coldness of ice causes the
blood vessels to constrict, decreasing the
amount of fluid and blood flow going to
the injured site and into the surrounding
tissue, (the cause of swelling). This assists
in reducing local pain.
