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It's Time to Move Beyond "Rest and Repeat"

Updated: 3 days ago

When Rest Alone is Not Always Best


Injured athlete resting with leg elevated and iced at Zenith Performance and Wellness in Eugene, Oregon—highlighting that rest alone is not enough for injury recovery.

You’ve sustained an injury, so you take a break from the aggravating activity. However, when you go back to exercising, that same familiar pain comes right back. The strategy of rest, then repeating what you were doing before (i.e. jumping back into running) is rarely effective. Often, resting alone is not enough to fix an injury. Let’s take a look at why rest alone isn’t the answer. Then, let's talk about what you should be doing to minimize time sidelined from injury so you can return to sport feeling better than ever.


When you have an injured tissue from either an acute injury or from accumulated strain/overuse, it’s true that some degree of rest is required to allow the injured tissue to repair itself. Your body heals damaged tissue via the natural process that starts with inflammation, where the tissue reacts to the stressor. Then tissue proliferation, where new tissue starts to build up and get laid down at the injury site. Lastly, remodeling/repair occurs where that new tissue is strengthened. However, movement and stimulation of blood flow is required in accordance with your body’s natural healing process to direct healing. So, resting and your body’s three-step healing process alone is often not enough to get you back on track to where you need to be.


Rest is Not a Panacea

If we completely offload, or rest, an injured area, this can often do more harm than good resulting in excessive stiffness, as well as impaired motor control and tissue atrophy from disuse. Chances are, when you go back to the same aggravating activity that you avoided with rest, your symptoms will return. The stiffness, weakness, or poor movement pattern that plagued you before is still there. This can of course be frustrating!


Why does this happen?! Although tissue starts to recover when stress is removed, rest did not fix the underlying problems that contributed to the issue in the first place. In this way, rest as the only treatment is similar to taking a painkiller. The painkiller may help short term, dulling the pain for a few hours, but the underlying issue will still be there when the medicine wears off, not effectively moving the dial forward.

Physical therapist demonstrating resistance band ankle rehab exercise to improve strength and mobility during recovery at Zenith Performance and Wellness in Eugene, Oregon.

Embrace an Active Recovery

You’re in luck, that is where we can help. At Zenith Performance and Wellness, we know that recovering from an injury requires a lot more than just rest. We will thoroughly investigate what is going on to cause your symptoms to get to the source of it. We will set you up with a targeted plan to address the cause or causes of your underlying problem. While we will perform techniques to help mitigate your pain, physical therapy at Zenith Wellness and Performance goes well beyond that.



Getting on the road to an active recovery, that goes beyond a simple “rest and repeat” may include:


  • Building Strength. We will work to strengthen areas that have become weak


  • Introducing Movement at or around the injury site. You have probably heard the phrase “motion is lotion”. We will either actively, or with assistance, promote movement to further stimulate healing and to maintain tissue health


  • Improving Mobility. When joints are stiff, we will work to mobilize them with both manual techniques and through movement


  • Improving Motor Control. This is your ability to perform controlled, coordinated and efficient movement


  • Cross Training. Injury doesn’t mean you have to rest your whole body either! There are plenty of alternative exercise modes you can implement to maintain your fitness or overall health


  • Making a Plan. Together we will make a strategic plan to safely re-introduce your favorite activities as your injury heals


Rest alone is not enough to effectively address all aspects of your injury. We are here to help you make the most of your recovery process. Contact Zenith PNW to set up an appointment with Jenn or Jesse today.



 
 
 

Commentaires


Zenith Takes PT to the Next Level — Running Pain-Free

I started experiencing a persistent pain in my right hip after returning to running after several years. I am active and participate in sports and the pain was keeping me from my routine runs, races and my overall fitness. Mike evaluated me and got to the root of the issue. He is innovative in his approach and integrates elements of massage into the work. He is fun to work with, communicates regularly and uses humor as we approach some difficult movements that push me out of my comfort zone. After each visit, I receive a set of exercises to complete at home between sessions. As I got stronger, the pain decreased and I was able to return to my routine. We targeted goals, and he continues to tailor each session and prescribe a set of exercises to meet the unique characteristics of my body type and performance needs. I highly recommend Zenith; they take PT to the next level.

Kanoe B

From Misdiagnosed Adductor Pain to Running Strong Again

I can’t say enough good things about Zenith. After over a year of lingering adductor pain that seemed to come out of nowhere, I finally found answers and treatment here. As a semi-professional runner, lingering pain isn’t something I can afford. It throws off my form and affects every part of my training, including lifting. So I went to a doctor who thought it was iliopsoas tightness and they sent me to a PT who thought it was an adductor strain and made it worse. Then I came to Zenith and started working with Jesse. He took the time to understand the full story and offered a completely different perspective: this wasn’t a strain or tightness but actually a nerve issue. That insight alone was a game changer. He worked on the problem during our first session, gave me daily stretches, and even made simple lifestyle suggestions that I hadn’t considered (like actually using my standing desk throughout the day). The progress was slow and steady. After the first follow-up, I still had some discomfort, but the plan felt like it was finally targeting the root cause. Jesse introduced strength training specific to the problem area, which I was initially nervous about. After my first lift, my muscles were sore in and around the adductor area, but the pain didn’t worsen. That was the turning point for me. After just four sessions and a few months of consistent stretching and strengthening, I’m nearly 100% better and still improving. I’m back to running and lifting with more strength, confidence, and most importantly almost no pain.” “If you’re dealing with a nagging issue like me or an injury then I would highly recommend Zenith. It’s an investment, but for me I saw it as a long-term investment in my body’s future, and I’m glad I did because it was absolutely worth it.

Jake R

A professional bike fit—life changing

I worked with Mike and he was incredible! I was experiencing so much knee pain on my bike and he was able to help me move to feeling confident and pain free again by making some adjustments to my bike fit and prescribing some exercises that changed how my body functioned. I never knew how life changing it would be to have a professional bike fit, it has changed my riding!

Geoffrey H

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Eugene, Oregon

Phone: 541-250-0195

Fax: 458-201-4465

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