Physical Therapy Advice: Exercising With An Injury

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• Got Pain? It Might Be Best To Keep Moving, Physical Therapists Say

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  Whether from taking a hit during a competitive sport or taking a stumble on uneven pavement, injuries — large or small — are inevitable. While one’s first instinct might be to rest up and let the injury heal, some experts suggest it might be better to keep moving.

  “It is a fine line between rest and allowing recovery to happen, but too much rest is not a good thing,” said Bill Boissonnault, a physical therapist at University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics. He said taking 24 to 48 hours off to rest is often not a problem for most people. However, anything longer than that could cause trouble, including loss of muscular strength and reflexes, he said.

  While some like to relax the pain away, others are anxious to get moving again.

  Lori Thein Brody, a physical therapist and athletic trainer at the UW Sports Medicine and Spine Center, said remaining active is OK, within reasonable limits.

  “With all injuries, you should continue to be active right up to that point where you challenge that injury,” she said. “Across the board, no matter what it is, you want to kind of go to the edge of the envelope, and when you feel like you’re kind of pushing, that’s when you back off.”

  Boissonnault said people shouldn’t try to exercise through pain that can be described as “sharp, shooting, pinching, or stabbing.” Additionally, if someone notices any swelling around an injury, he said that’s a body telling a person that they’re doing too much.

  Through physical therapy, Thein Brody said it’s important to keep the areas surrounding an injured muscle or joint active and conditioned “so that when the injured part is ready to return to more activity, we don’t have to rehabilitate the other areas.”