Physical therapists get a bad rap when it comes to pain. Sometimes pain is necessary for recovery, however, saying “no pain, no gain” goes too far. Although I’ve addressed the role of pain in therapy, and used the term productive and unproductive a thousand times related to pain, I never thought to put it down on paper (in cyberspace) quite that way until the other day.
Productive Pain
Generally encountered during an activity and no more than 20-30 minutes after a therapeutic activity. The activity that produced the pain also resulted in therapeutic benefit – increased range of motion, strength, or the ability to perform a new task.
Unproductive Pain
Generally encountered during an activity, may worsen during the activity, and carries on for longer than 30 minutes afterward. The activity that produced the pain also resulted in a worsening of your condition – diminished range of motion, decreased strength or the inability to perform a task that you could have performed otherwise.
Using Pain as a Tool for Recovery
Productive pain moves things along and results in faster recovery. Unproductive pain slows things down, and results in a prolonged recovery. Reporting pain is paramount to quick progress with therapy. Appointments can be condensed or spread out based on progress, so that optimum progress can occur with minimum time spent in the clinic.
At Terry Rehabilitation, each patient is expertly evaluated, each treatment plan is customized for that patient, and all treatment occurs with a highly trained professional.
Our rehabilitation programs include:
- Hands-on manual therapy techniques – to quickly correct loss of motion
- Supervised therapeutic exercises targeted to specific deficiencies
- Modalities such as cold packs, heat, and electrical stimulation to reduce pain, inflammation, and to increase flexibility
- Targeted home exercise programs that do not require special equipment
- Restoration of functional strength and stability for daily activities
- Work-specific or sport-specific rehabilitation
Contact us to schedule an initial evaluation. If physical therapy is recommended, we will contact your physician in writing regarding the recommended plan of care, allowing him or her to make the most informed decision possible for the care.
