Picture this: you hurt your back picking something up off the floor. You decide to rest for a few days, avoid bending or lifting, and maybe even try a few stretches. A week goes by, and you’re feeling better. You did it! You successfully navigated the waters of acute injury recovery, and you’re ready to return to your normal daily life… right?
But then the next day you bend over to pick something up, and—bam! The same pain hits again, or worse! What the heck?! You thought you were past this, but the reinjury is rearing its ugly head once more. Why?!
Whether you’re dealing with short-term back pain or experiencing another sharp shoulder pain, reinjury is frustrating and discouraging—especially when you can’t figure out why it keeps happening.
Reinjury is very common. One of the biggest risk factors for any reinjury is having had that injury before. In other words, if you’ve sprained your ankle once, you’re at a higher risk of spraining it again. If you’ve experienced back pain, you’re more likely to deal with it again in the future. If you’ve been bitten by a dog before… well, okay, maybe that one doesn’t fit perfectly, but you get the point!
Why does this happen? There are both physiological and neurological reasons. Take an ankle sprain, for example: when you sprain your ankle, the ligaments stretch slightly, and the proprioceptive fibers (which help your brain sense joint position) get damaged. This reduces the ankle’s structural stability and control. On the neurological side, once your nervous system experiences pain, it remembers it. This can make your brain more sensitive to pain in that area, sometimes even when no actual damage is occurring.
So, what should you do about it?
“Option A” is to throw in the towel and accept that you’ll have to experience reinjury forever. Not a great choice.
“Option B” is to avoid any activity that might hurt you. Never bend over again, and hire someone to follow you around and tie your shoes. Also, not a great option—plus, personal butlers are pricey these days.
“Option C” (the smart choice) is to rehab the injury in a way that fixes the root of the problem, builds resilience, reduces your risk of reinjury, and reintroduces normal activities through progressive exposure.
Let’s go back to our friend with the low back pain. He started off well: he rested and let the pain subside. But he missed a crucial next step—working to improve range of motion, strengthen his back, and reintroduce normal bending and lifting activities before diving back into his usual routine. This is where physical therapy is crucial. If he had followed a more comprehensive rehab plan, he could have built up his lower back’s strength and resilience while training his body to tolerate those movements without setting off pain signals.
Even after he felt better, continuing to practice squatting, lifting, and bending patterns would have strengthened his back and reduced the risk of reinjury in the future. And no, this doesn’t mean he needed to commit to an intense, five days-per-week strength program (unless he wanted to). But incorporating 3-5 simple rehab/preventative exercises into his regular routine would have gone a long way in keeping his back healthy and less prone to setbacks.
Is there a foolproof way to guarantee your back (or any other body part) will never have pain? Unfortunately, no. But by taking your recovery and rehab seriously, acknowledging your personal risk factors, gradually reintroducing activity, and building resilience, you can make a world of difference preventing reinjury. Even if you do have a reinjury, you are much more likely to have less pain and a quicker recovery.
It takes patience, dedication, and sometimes a little help from an expert physical therapist. If you feel like you need guidance through this process, come see us here at Village Physical Therapy or reach out to another trusted PT provider that will spend the time to thoroughly evaluate you and treat you one-on-one. Your body will thank you!
