Be pro-active to stop the pain

It's amazing how many of us are living with some kind of ongoing injury or pain. Pretty much on a daily basis, I'll hear new clients saying something like: "When I wake up my back/neck/hip hurts but it eases off through the day as I move around. Don't know what I did but it's been like that for ages, so I guess I just have to live with it, right?" Wrong.

These are chronic injuries — in other words, the result of an unnecessary build-up of tension in the same area of the body over a period of time rather than through an accident or a specific injury. High heels and a heavy handbag are a classic cause. As is holding a baby on the same hip, or even just sitting too long in the car or at the office.

Doing nothing for an extended period of time won't help your recovery. In fact, doing nothing about it will only make it worse. Once you get into this "protective" mode of not moving through fear of further aggravation, over time it can only result in more pain and even worse injury, possibly even surgery.

If this sounds like you, don't wait until you bend down and can't get up. Ask your doctor to refer you to an exercise therapist, Pilates trainer or personal trainer who is trained in exercise rehabilitation.

They'll help you understand and change the patterns that are causing this damage, aiming to re-educate you and your body to prevent it from happening again. It does work — nine out of 10 people do see and feel fantastic results. It's inevitable that as we go through life we'll do things that will injure or stress our bodies in some way. What matters is how we manage that. A dog is for life — but a backache shouldn't be.
David Higgins, co-founder and Master Trainer at TenPilates. tenpilates.com