Myth in physiotherapy: If it doesn't hurt, it doesn't heal

On many occasions I have heard athletes say: "Yesterday I went to the physiotherapist and I don’t think my injury is healing because I didn’t feel any pain in the session".

This myth of "if it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work” is very popular because many people have the idea that the more painful a physiotherapy session is, the greater the benefits or advances that are obtained from it are.

​The professional in physical therapy from KINEMED explained that it is normal for a physiotherapist to try to reproduce the symptoms during the evaluation with the objective of having a correct diagnose, however, causing constant pain throughout the session is not a synonym of a successful treatment.

It is important to clarify that some techniques can be annoying or cause a little bit of pain, but they won’t harm the patient. Although pain is an indicator that should be taken into account in the process, it is not necessary for a correct treatment.

In a sporting level, physical therapy allows the athlete (depending on the severity of the injury) to continue their workouts on a regular basis, so a painful session would not cause the desired effect.

Gladiators remember that as you move forward with the therapy sessions, the pain should decrease, NEVER increase. So if you ever feel a lot of pain after a session talk to your physiotherapist, tolerating the pain in silence can bring negative results.

#english