Everyone has a different level of pain that’s determined by who they are. People with a history of broken bones, accidents or chronic illness may have a higher pain threshold than someone who’s a stranger to pain. Pain thresholds can even be determined by race, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle—it’s always different for different people. What’s dangerous about this fact, however, is that it’s hard for doctors ad physicians to determine whether or not someone’s pain is serious or normal.
Good versus bad pain?
The idea that pain can be good is foreign to many people experiencing it. How could pain possibly be good for someone? Here’s a great example of good versus bad pain:
Someone who has recently injured their arm in a sport, such as football, may have severe pain that indicates a sprain, fracture or break. This is bad pain, because something is offsetting the natural feeling in their arm and it won’t go away. It’s the body’s way of telling you that there’s something wrong. On the other hand, if that injury is repaired and the person is now undergoing therapy for their Brampton sports injury treatment, the pain that they feel during this therapy is considered “good pain,” because it shows that their injury is healing. The magnitude of pains will be different and will feel different to the person they apply to.
Good pain is often referred to as delayed onset muscle soreness. Think of it this way: if you work out after not being to the gym in a long time, your muscles will ache. This is good pain because it’s your muscles adapting to your stretching of them, allowing them to grow and strengthen.
Knowing good pain versus bad pain
People are often unsure of how to classify their pain and can easily be frightened by a pain that persists. If you’re undergoing therapy for a Brampton sports injury treatment, it may be disheartening to feel soreness daily, but the fact of the matter is that this is regular. On the other hand, if you don’t work out and find that your legs or arms hurt constantly with no overexertion, it could be a problem that needs to be looked at by a physician.
The rule of thumb for most people is that good muscle pain usually lasts for a maximum of 72 hours, or three days. If you work your muscles more than they’re used to and they hurt for a few days, it’s likely delayed onset muscle soreness. If your pain lasts for five, six or even seven days, you may have overstrained or pulled a muscle, which would classify as bad pain and need physician attention.
Remember, hurt is different than harm. While your muscles may hurt after a strenuous workout, this is a hurt that will go away. If you’re dealing with ongoing muscle pain, this could be harming your body and causing lasting damage that will cause you further harm.