The 6 Biggest Myths of Body Pain

Pain can be a wildly complex issue.

Let us simply sit for a moment.

While there can be many contributors to pain, one thing is for sure… 

“A bad strategy to get better is always a bad idea.”

Broken thought processes can lead to poor progress. 

When decisions are made based on antiquated, faulty thought processes, your resources (time, money, and energy) are likely to be wasted.  

Time spent trying to fix or correct anything based on the following list is likely to only give you a gambler’s chance of achieving the results you want.  

Avoid these strategies to help ensure you are on the right track. While exceptions exist to some of these thought processes, they are very rare and seldom the real issue.

1. Where the pain is, is where the problem is.

This can be summarized by the belief, “Where I hurt is where the problem is and where the treatment must occur.” 

Unless a direct impact to the area in question has occurred, or sometimes, if there is a disease state in the area, this thought process should be avoided. 

Don’t blame the tissues in that area for the problem.

2. My muscle is to blame.

“My muscle is too weak…”

“My muscle is inhibited…”

“My muscle is too tight…”

“My muscle is too short…”

“My  muscle is too long…”

Identifying that a muscle is any of the above is almost impossible!

While many people claim it quite regularly, there is almost no accurate way to make such a claim.

Additionally, it is very easy to point out people with the above examples that have NO pain.

It is also very easy to identify people with the opposite of the above examples WITH pain.

3. Blaming structural problems.

There are times when things like herniated disks, pinched nerves, narrow bone canals, etc. can cause unwanted sensations.

However, they are proving to be rarer than previously thought.

It is routine to find many structural issues in most people that report no pain. 

It is also common to not find structural issues in people that do report pain.

4. “Bad” posture leads to pain.

“My head is too forward…”

“My shoulders are too forward…”

“My back is too rounded…”

There is no “perfect” posture. 

There never was.

It has somehow become a popular cultural buzz word/idea that has become responsible for everything from having more energy to avoiding pain.

The degree of “straightness” a person has, how forward or back their head or shoulders are, or how much they bend their necks forward does not correlate or predict how much pain they will or will not have.  

People with what can be considered “terrible” posture often have no pain and vice versa. 

5. I did something active that caused the pain.

Carrying something on 1 arm for too long (backpack, child, suitcase)…

The way you sleep…

The way you twisted or lifted something…

Unless the amount of force was so great to exceed the breaking (or tearing point) of some tissue, the way you moved had nothing to do with your pain.

Waking up with a neck ache and blaming the way one slept lacks some logic.

The chances that every other night of sleep was done correctly while the one night’s sleep was wrong is not very likely.

The same goes for bending, lifting, and twisting.

6. My lack of flexibility is why I’m in pain.

The amount one can move in different directions, while in different positions does not correlate or predict how much pain they will or will not have.  

This is evidenced daily by observing people in pain with greater mobility than those with less flexibility.

How We Should Think About Pain

We need a thought process that looks beyond the scopes of the previously mentioned and easily disprovable fallacies.

We a need thought process that considers the individuality of each person in multiple aspects.

We need a strategy that addresses how pain may exist in someone who experienced something very minor when someone who experienced something more severe has less pain.

We need a process that speaks to the fact that different people can have the same structural issues and the same surgeries and have wildly different pain and function outcomes.

That is what the strategy of a Certified Muscle System Specialist does.

The only thing wrong with you may be the thought process that you are engaged in to try to get better.

IMPROVE YOUR MUSCLE SYSTEM QUALITY TO MOVE BETTER TO FEEL BETTER TO USE YOUR BODY BETTER!