Let's talk about pain

Most people who come through the doors of Diamond Physiotherapy are in some kind of pain or distress.

Pain can be one of the most frightening experiences for people. Fear of the unknown is a huge component of this. Our role in the clinic is to reassure you, and to give you options and strategies that will relieve your pain. The goal of course is to get you moving again within the limits of your pain and to help you on your journey to recovery.

Many times I've heard someone describe their pain tolerance as either low or high or find it difficult to describe their pain and you may find it difficult when someone asks you about your pain. The reason we ask these questions is because we don't actually get to experience your pain, we don't know what pain feels like for other people.

This is what makes PAIN unique. We cannot compare two people with the same symptoms because pain is personal. The sensations we feel are part of the picture and you get to decide where in that pain you're willing to work. If your goal is to squat, but your knee pain prevents you from bending it, then we have to find other ways to help that movement happen. We may do some unique things, and we may look at different ways to attempt movement, but our role is not to increase your pain.

If your pain DOES increase while you're seeing your physiotherapist, this is not necessarily a bad thing, because it gives us more information about what your system is happy or unhappy with.

We ask lots of questions because we want to give you as many strategies as possible to get you out of the struggle and into the progress.

Nicola Robertson

Registered Physiotherapist