Common questions asked when navigating exercise for pain relief:
Q: How do I know if exercise is right for me?
A: If your exercise is relatively painless at the beginning and throughout. If the pain decreases as you progress through the exercise. If swelling reduces (or does not increase) and your function increases, then the chosen exercise is likely appropriate.
Q: Should I stop my exercise if there is an increase in pain and swelling and it decreases my function?
A: Yes, you should adapt your exercise or change to a more appropriate exercise for your dysfunction.
Follow up Q: How can I adapt my exercise to decrease pain and swelling and increase function?
A: Changes in posture, level of resistance/load, cues, depth or range of motion etc.
Example: I’ve been prescribed a squat for knee OA and it’s making it worse.
Q: How do I use the above information to best utilize a squat for pain relief?
A: If prescribed a bodyweight squat you may use tools such as a suspension trainer or fixed object to hold, to limit the load going through knees.
- If foundation: set feet up, shoulder width, with toes slightly facing out.
- Disperse weight over 3 points of the foot evenly: toes, mid foot and heels. Common mistake is too much weight on toes.
- If pain is still present, reducing the range can be beneficial.
- If pain is still persistent then variations of the exercise modality or squat movement should be considered.
Try these variations:
- If a repetition-based exercise is causing more pain, transition into a hold-based exercise e.g. wall sit for 45 seconds.
- If a traditional squat is painful then the adoption of a sit to stand or stand to sit, depending on the part of movement pain occurs. There are always options to vary an exercise to suit ability and need.
