Chronic or persistent pain is pain that continues to occur beyond the healing time expected after trauma, illness or an injury occurs. It affects over three million Australians of which two thirds are still currently working or of working age. Persistent pain impacts severely on an individiual’s work, social and family life. The majority of persistent pain is presented via musculoskeletal pain which carries both physical and mental challenges due to it’s long term onset and complexities. While exercise may be the last thing someone with persistent pain wants to engage in, researchers have found that exercise has many lesser known benefits for persistent pain sufferers including:
• Better sleep which helps the bodies nervous system wind down and can improve relaxation helping to manage the pain response.
• Decrease sensitivity to pain, as even small amounts of exercise can help improve pain tolerance post exercise.
• Improved mood after exercise via the “feel good” response from our bodies hormones. This reponse can help reduce our perception of pain.
• Improved immune response through increased circulation can help to reduce inflammation leading to feeling of pain and flare ups
For those living with persistent pain, it is important to learn how to exercise best for you and your symptoms. Starting with small amounts (10-20 minutes) of walking, pedaling, cycling or swimming may be a good place to start. This is also where working with an Exercise Physiologist or Physiotherapist can help find the right type and amount of exercise for you, especially if you are just starting out. For many people, as their exercise tolerance increases, their pain severity will begin to subside.