Things to know before you start rehabilitation

A number of conditions can cause pain in the musculoskeletal system (muscles, tendons, joints), but the most frequent causes are:

• Acute injuries where the tissue is damaged due to a sudden and often severe action, such as sprains.

• Overuse injuries where the tissue is exposed to an unfamiliar load.

• Wear and tear due to aged and gradually degenerated tissue where specific pressures on the tissue cause pain.

In all three cases, an irritation of the tissue develops a so-called sterile inflammation, which is a prerequisite for healing. This inflammation hurts, which is nature's way of getting the injured person to alleviate the damaged tissue.

In rare cases, the pain may be due to arthritis (eg rheumatoid arthritis), medical diseases (eg metabolic diseases), deficiency diseases (e.g. vitamin D deficiency) or medicine (e.g. cholesterol-lowering medicine).

How to exercise when you are in pain

Exercise treatment has been shown to be very effective for long-term recovery and pain reduction.

It is important to stimulate the tissue in order to start stimulating the tissue it is important for optimal recovery. Stimulation should take place as soon as possible and it is therefore not recommended to stop exercising until the pain has disappeared.

When the tissue is damaged, you should expect there to be some pain when exercising. However, the pain should disappear after exercising and must not get worse from day to day as a result of exercising.

Like physicians and physiotherapists, Injurymap uses a pain scale from 0-10, where 10 = worst possible pain, and 0 = no pain. This is called a VAS scale. When training damaged tissue, a pain of up to 5 is allowed. For tissue that is not damaged pain is allowed on 2. This will be taken into account when your feedback is used to customize your exercise program.

Why exercising is beneficial

The human body is built for movement. If you do not use your body, you weaken it, which increases the likelihood of disease.

It is healthier to be overweight and well-trained than thin and untrained. Staying active and exercising results in less illness, longer life and higher quality of life.

The following factors are influenced in a positive direction when you exercise:

• Your overall fitness

• Your balance

• Your movement

• Your strength

• Your breathing

• Your heart

• Your blood vessels

• The content of fat in your blood (cholesterol)

• Your bone strength

• Insulin sensitivity

• Your relief hormones (endorphins, serotonin and dopamine)

• Your digestion

• Weight loss

• Stomach diseases  

• Acclimatization

Note Studies show that inactivity is the most common cause of illness and early death.

The structure of your exercise plan

When we structure your training plan, we take the damage that you have sustained to your tissue into account. The exercise plans are constructed to stimulate healing in the best possible way.

The four pillars of rehabilitation

You will start out with movement exercises that gradually increase in difficulty. You will also get simple balance- and stability exercises where the difficulty gradually increases. When these exercises are mastered you will start to get more strengthening exercises. These will enable you to return to work, sports or other recreational interests at the regular level.

Movement

Movement exercises aim at regaining and maintaining as much mobility as possible. In addition, they are used to make the tissue more flexible and prepare it for the subsequent exercises. Think of this process as being similar to lubricating a bicycle chain so it does not slip over if a joint is rigid.

Stability

Stability training is extremely important and often forgotten. Stability exercises improve the balance of the body and the control of movements. This is comparable to a misaligned bicycle gear, the bike will run poorly regardless of the movement of the chain and the force you pedal with.

Strengthening

Strengthening exercises increase the strength of the tissue, but without proper movement and stability, you can not perform the exercises correctly and you are at risk of getting other injuries. Having an injury is the greatest risk factor for a new injury.

Stretches

Stretches preserve flexibility, which helps reduce the force of the tissue and stimulates proper healing!