# How to know when to push through pain



## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Several days ago I apparently strained my lower back when dumping out a giant manure bucket. It hurt, but I didn’t think it was too bad (maybe it should have tipped me off that I had to get my daughter to pick my horses’ hooves, though, because it hurt too much to do it myself), so I took some turmeric and a Midol and went to my lesson the next day. I was fine during the lesson, but in a fair amount of pain afterwards and for the next day as well. I guess maybe I shouldn’t have ridden that day? On the other hand, I only have lessons two days a week right now and I really didn’t want to miss one. Plus I’m feeling a lot better today. So maybe having the lesson was the right thing to do?

What I’m wondering is, how do you know when you should just push through pain and when you should rest and recuperate? I mean, aside from the obvious, likeserious pain, broken bones, etc.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I usually give something like a muscle strain, like your back, a day off, with no pushing through pain, at the least. Two days, even, is good, but then I'm older than you I think.


If , after one or two days of rest I still have pain but in a diminished form, I would then try to push through it.


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## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

Lower back strains are something I have trouble with every so often too. I usually give myself at least a day or two off things that might strain it more. I usually do a lot of yoga during this time though. If you do a search for "yoga for lower back pain", there are lots of things on Youtube or info on the internet as to what poses help to recover. I find cat/cow, down dog, and child's pose help. In the interim, to prevent more lower back strains, I am trying to strengthen the muscles that I think are weak and contribute to them. Mainly my core and my hip external rotators. I also think I have a bit of an anterior pelvic tilt, not a lot, but I need to remember to tuck my pelvis and tighten my core when lifting etc.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I also take the approach of giving my back complete rest when it acts up. Otherwise, I will be dealing with the consequences for weeks. 

Like @MeditativeRider, I also do yoga for back pain which helps accelerate healing. Google Yoga for back pain with Adriene. I always feel much better after, with increased mobility.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Your "go to" medicine is not what I would be after for a muscle inflammation and tear.
I know why you did, but my mind says not good enough...

Basically, you did tears in your muscles that are bleeding causing filling, pain and inflammation.
Ice and then heat, ice _first_ to stop the bleed, heat later to assist the body in reabsorbing the blood seepage. 
The ice...and _*rest is important.*_
Then the reabsorb time can be done via heating pad or sports creme applied then cover with something to keep area warmer I've found works best.
Someone who knows how to massage affected areas is a good treatment too, but this is not the feel-good massage but deep tissue and there is a huge difference.

My go to for muscle pain is Advil, Ibuprofen or one of that family of drugs.
I know Midol Complete offers some of the same properties but is really intended for menstrual pain issue...
Muscle is muscle medication like Advil.
If you take other drugs, prescription or OTC that does not allow the Advil compound...that is different and even then, Turmeric is known to promote more bleeding = more inflammation than some regulated OTC meds when used properly and dosage proper.

I learned from a very serious car accident that the secret to getting the most relief and that allows the best healing environment is to_ not_ make your body ache/hurt but keep a level of drug in your system at a constant level.
So, if directions say good for 4 hours, at 3 1/2 take the next dose so as one is really waning the new is picking up effectiveness.
Also, take this medication not all at one swallow, but a pill then wait 1/2 hour for another pill...
The body can only absorb so much at one feeding and excess is dumped and excreted same as our horses...
But "piggy-backing" allows the body to absorb more medication that offers anti-inflammatory to take place.
Start a loading/starting dose then do the piggy-back next dose and see if it helps..._but take medication *before* you hurt or your body hurts_, you twist and contort looking for a comfortable position and create worse than you have.

As for riding... the motion your body follows when you sit astride a walking horse is a gentle stretch to muscles, that is why riding felt good then hurt once off.
Stretched gently then contracted...a gentle rock of the hip stretched the torso muscles.
This was you doing your own "massage"...but nothing strenuous!!
If you must ride..._ No trot, no canter...go for a nice walking ride._

But your "not bad" I bet is worse than you think.
_Lay low and have the kids do the horse chores for the next* 2 weeks.*_
_Actually, the kids should be doing all chores of house and horse, outdoor yard...you become near a couch potato._
No joking...2 weeks _at a minimum_ for the least serious strain/pull or hurt of your back.
Yes, that long _if not longer_ to heal those tears in the muscles you did.
Soft tissue injury takes time to heal correctly..._more time than any realize._

Now that you "hurt" those muscles they will react faster to stress and pain as they are weakened...truth.
Learn to lift with your legs not your back and turn as a log, no twist of the torso allowed.
When I worked fire rescue we were taught tuck the butt, back straight and use that the butt and thigh muscles to lift not the thinner, less dense back muscles.

Take the extra time to be good to you and your back/body, now.
Pay now or pay a lot more later is no lie. :|
Feel better.....

:runninghorse2:...
_jmo.._


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## Kalraii (Jul 28, 2015)

It really depends - you know yourself better. When I came off Katie I bruised my tailbone. It was very tender first week couldn't sit normally. After that it was fine... until I rode. I was fine when riding too. But when I got off OUCH. I would say it took a full 2 months to properly heal from that probably because I didn't rest properly. I should know better but I've always just soldiered on >.< I think it's a pretty bad trait tbh coz we only have the one body... let's take care of it eh!


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## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

For icing, there is a new school of thought that icing strains and sprains is not something you should do because it reduces flow of blood to the area, and fresh blood is what is needed to bring all the things that help with repair. So rather than RICE the acronym for that is BE CALM. Breath, evaluate, compress, able actions (which is what you are asking about: when to move, when to rest), lift (elevate), and minimum icing. More info on it here.

So for my able actions following a back strain. I have had some where I cannot roll over in bed or stand up from sitting without shooting sharp really painful pain. At that stage, I do nothing that could strain it more, but I do lower back pain yoga as I don't get the shooting sharp pain then. I find doing the yoga multiple times per day that I can get back to pain free pretty rapidly.


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## ACinATX (Sep 12, 2018)

Thanks everyone! I had been doing extra sets of my normal stretches, once I was able to do so without shooting pain, and I thought that it helped a lot. Which I thought was weird, because isn't a muscle strain a small tear in the muscle? I didn't see how stretching it out could help. But apparently I was on the right track. I will look up the yoga stretches, though, to see if they're any different. I'm definitely better today but still a little iffy. Right now I'm thinking that I will keep my lesson tomorrow, but only ride at a walk. But still maybe make my daughter pick hooves, LOL.

I think one problem, honestly, is that my back HAS been getting stronger, my abs too, so I'm like, "Heck yeah I can pick up and dump that giant muck bucket!" Whereas a year ago I wouldn't even have considered it. So my back is getting stronger but maybe my brain is getting weaker, LOL? Got to start listening to my body more....


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## Lolapalooza (Mar 9, 2019)

It seems like you've got some great responses already, but I thought I'd add my two cents!

I think as riders, we often try to push through our pain because we are a tough brand of people; however, I was injured in January and as much as I wanted to get back on, the proper rest is what helped me to heal so quickly. I took some deep muscle bruising in my thigh to the point where I couldn't walk, as well as suffered a minor concussion. I took two weeks of taking it easy, not doing any physical activity, and really resting my body--I haven't had any recurring symptoms since! 

I think equestrians need to hear this more often: it's okay to take time off to rest. I know it feels silly, especially for what feels like a minor injury, but aggravating what we think is "minor" can turn into a major problem! My general rule of thumb is, if you're having any doubts about your body's condition to ride, err on the side of caution until you're feeling 100%. You don't want to further strain yourself and cause bigger problems down the road! I hope you are feeling better in no time!


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## MeditativeRider (Feb 5, 2019)

From my point of view, I think stretching helps because it brings fresh blood flow to the area to aid repair. And, it helps to get all your muscles in that area back to equilibrium/their normal jobs. Once you hurt yourself, some muscles tense and don't relax to overcompensate to protect you from your injury, and then it can get things all out of balance and can hurt you. 

I am definitely not a physio or anything (a chemist by training so very from from it!) but I spent years in physio for my knee as a child after I partially dislocated it and it was not properly treated after the injury. Then my thigh muscles and my glutes on that leg became incorrectly balanced and did the wrong jobs, so for years afterwards I had pain because my knee cap did not track straight when I moved my knee with the muscles pulling it incorrectly. Currently, I have some chronic hip and lower back aches that from what I have been reading are caused by muscle imbalances and stronger muscles overcompensating for weaker muscles to protect other areas of my body. 

Anyway, glad you are feeling better!


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## redbadger (Nov 20, 2017)

ACinATX said:


> Several days ago I apparently strained my lower back when dumping out a giant manure bucket. It hurt, but I didn’t think it was too bad (maybe it should have tipped me off that I had to get my daughter to pick my horses’ hooves, though, because it hurt too much to do it myself), so I took some turmeric and a Midol and went to my lesson the next day. I was fine during the lesson, but in a fair amount of pain afterwards and for the next day as well. I guess maybe I shouldn’t have ridden that day? On the other hand, I only have lessons two days a week right now and I really didn’t want to miss one. Plus I’m feeling a lot better today. So maybe having the lesson was the right thing to do?
> 
> What I’m wondering is, how do you know when you should just push through pain and when you should rest and recuperate? I mean, aside from the obvious, likeserious pain, broken bones, etc.



My thoughts in general are: work through discomfort - as in exercise, when you're not used to something, and you're a bit sore the next day. Or, you're coming back from an injury and you're nudging the edges of what you can do. Pain, do not work through. In spite of what the slogan says, pain is not weakness leaving the body, pain is the body telling you that something is wrong. 



Most injuries do not require total rest. Activity as tolerated is important to the healing process. A broken bone, obviously, needs to be kept in position to heal properly. The flu or food poisoning requires rest to allow the body resources to fight the invaders. On the other hand, I don't know if I can say if there's a solid line with "work through it" on one side and "rest" on the other. While I err on the side of caution, as a rule, particularly with back injuries or head injuries, I think it's good to look at "can do I my usual activities" as a guideline. When I think about calling out sick to work, for example, I think "can I perform all the necessary functions of my job safely?" If I have a virus, that's not safe for others around me. If I've sprained a joint, I might not be able to move a patient or do CPR. And with horses - can I do all the things I need to do for my lesson, like bring the horse in, tack them up, mount up, stay astride, walk (& trot & canter as suits you), grip the reins, etc.


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