Alex B. To exercise or not to exercise

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Question

Rehab exercises and breaking the pain cycle:

I have been diagnosed with disc compression, bulging and osteoarthritis. I have been told the damage is minimal so I don't believe it accounts for the severe pain I am experiencing. It is also clear to me that there is a psychological link.

I have a number of rehab exercises that help alleviate the pain, but I usually do them when the pain is flaring up, so in an effort to break the pain cycle I have been avoiding doing them. But now I am just being more sedentary, and I definitely don't believe that that is good for me. Is there a way I can keep doing the exercises without feeding the cycle, and if not, how do I figure out what I should do instead?

Note: some of the exercises are neural repatterning exercises, could this make them helpful in breaking the cycle?

 

[Alex Bloom LCSW]

Answer

Hi, thanks for the question.

I think it is important to remain physical and challenge yourself to overcome your symptoms, so long as your physician feels that they won't create a structural issue. Being sedentary is never a good idea.

With regards to "feeding the cycle", the most important issue is to address the fear that is associated with your symptoms. So for example, if you are doing these exercises out fear and anxiety, they probably won't be helping you break the cycle. Try to remind yourself that you don't need to be afraid of the symptoms and that you can take on physicality without hurting yourself. My understanding is that the neural repatterining can help with this.

It could also be helpful to address that psychological link that you spoke of. Fear of issues physical or emotional, that cause you to avoid them, is the best place to do the work.

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