In this post we discuss why focusing on sensations fails in chronic muscle and joint pain and what to concentrate on instead.
There’s an intuition we must resist when dealing with chronic muscle and joint pain:
The site of pain is where the problem is and where the treatment should be applied.
I spent years following this assumption with mixed results. It was a bit like trying to train a cat: just when you thought you were getting somewhere, something completely unexpected would happen.
If you’ve ever had a massage that seemed to magically solve all your problems, only for the exact same one to make everything worse, you’ve experienced this firsthand.
Here’s why.
Chronic pain is an unreliable witness
It’s important to understand that when pain persists for longer than three months, it no longer reliably reflects the condition of the tissues.
A bit like a witness to a crime who’s interviewed several months after the event, the details become hazy and confused.
Relying on this information might provide clues but it doesn’t provide solutions.
So what works better?
Objective markers
A more effective approach is to look for objective markers. Measurements that give you information on the current capabilities of your muscular system.
These can be separated into two distinct categories:
Range of motion
How far you can move your joints on one side of your body compared to the other side.
Output
How much force you can produce whilst performing these movements.
Taken together, this information directs our attention towards the parts of your muscular system that are likely contributing to your present state.
Not only that, we now have objective markers which we can use to track your progress.
This removes much of the guesswork.
Summary
Of course how you feel matters. But this can be influenced by everything from a bad night’s sleep, to an argument with your partner. It’s not a reliable foundation to base treatment decisions on.
Objective measurements ensure steady progress and lead to lasting improvements in both how your body functions and how it feels.