If Pain Is Getting Worse

Today I share an incredibly important point for any hiker who is going through a training process and also struggling with pain or injury.

Episode Transcript:

[0:00] All right, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So today's episode is specifically for any hiker who struggles with some type of pain and injury and if they're going through a training process. And ultimately what I wanna say is if you have a pain or injury and you're going through a training or hiking process and that pain or injury is getting worse, please, please, please, please, please don't ignore it and don't just hope it's gonna get better. Please you want to take action on this and that's the main main main point i want to hammer through today because it's such an important thing and it's a story i hear from a lot of hikers out there who kind of going through training going through hiking they got an ache or pain start to get a little bit worse and they kind of just cross their fingers and kind of hope things are going to get better on their own sometimes they do but very rarely they don't and realistically you know for a hiker who maybe does have a bit of a history of pain or injury and they start on a training process, maybe they're leading up to a big trip or they're just trying to improve their fitness or whatever it may be. If you already have a history of this type of thing, it may be expected that you're going to have some levels of discomfort. It may be expected as you're working through this, some things may be uncomfortable as you're trying to build up your capabilities and this and that. But the general rule of thumb is if things are getting more painful.

[1:22] Or the injury is getting worse, that is a sign that something needs to change. Now, this typically doesn't mean you have to completely stop your hiking or completely stop your training, but it does mean that something needs to change. Something needs to be tweaked. Something needs to be worked around to help you move forward without this risk of just making things worse. Ultimately, if you're going through a training process, and this is kind of sounding familiar to you. You're like, you know what, actually, this has happened to me right now. This is what I want you to do. Number one is if you've never had this issue looked at by a professional, like a physio, a physical therapist, a podiatrist, or whatever it may be, now's the time. Finish this podcast up, find your local physio, book in, get it looked at, get it assessed. You know, it sometimes is as simple as just getting a diagnosis so you know what's going on, and they can say, you know what, actually, in this situation, this is something that may be be aggravating it, so maybe just ease off on that. Or they may say, you know what, this area actually needs a little bit of strengthening and you're not really doing that, so maybe just do a little bit of work on that or whatever it may be. If you've never had this looked at by a professional and it's getting worse, now's the time, make it happen.

[2:33] Alternatively, if you're already working with a physio or a coach or some other type of professional, and maybe you're working with them for another reason, or maybe this is an old issue, whatever it may be, but you haven't mentioned this this particular pain or haven't mentioned that this thing's getting worse, please let them know.

[2:50] Because in all honesty, when it comes down to health professionals, you know, they can only work with the amount of information they have available. And, you know, some people listening to this might be like, well, what are you talking about, Rowan? Does that really happen? But realistically, there's a lot of stories and a lot of hikers I've talked with who just haven't mentioned a recent thing to someone they're seeing. For one reason or another, it does happen quite a lot.

[3:11] And number three, if none of this is accessible, if you're like, you know what, it's just tricky for me to see a physical therapist i gotta go through a whole process or you know what i just honestly not i don't have access to a physio or whatever may be then you know it obviously does get a little bit trickier but you need to kind of put on your detective hat and you need to start looking at what you're doing and really identify what is causing the pain through your training and through your hiking and sort of say you know what actually x y and z is causing things to get uncomfortable and then you need to pull things back temporarily and pull things back so you're not just constantly re-aggravating this issue and making it worse. Now, obviously, option number three is an ideal because that can sometimes be a little bit tricky. So I strongly advocate for finding a professional and getting someone to give you some advice. Because realistically, when it comes down to this type of thing, if you've got a pain or an injury and you're going through a training process, if you're going to act on that early, when it first starts to ramp up or first starts to get a little bit worse or whatever it may be, and take action that you just don't constantly keep on making it worse and worse and worse and keep on aggravating it.

[4:12] It's usually pretty easy to work around and manage. Like it's, you know, sometimes you've got to take some thoughts, sometimes you've got to be a little bit intentional, but usually in the grand scheme of things, it can be pretty easy to manage.

[4:23] But alternately, if you just ignore something and it just gets worse and worse and worse and week after week and even month after month, and you kind of keep on pushing forward or pushing through, it is going to get more and more complicated. And sometimes these short-term things, which could be sorted in a week or two of adjusted training, can turn into these sort of longer-term things where it's

[4:39] like, like, oh my gosh, this is going to be a long process to get on top of. So general rule of thumb, if you feel it, act on it. Make sure you get on top of it early. Now, there is a certain subset of people in the hiking community where this can obviously get a little bit tricky. In the general day-to-day like hike up, if you've got an issue, if you've got a pain, you know, sometimes you need a bit of a kick in the bum to get it looked at, which is fair enough, but you know, sometimes it's not that big a deal. But there is certain hikers who may be training for a particular date and they've got a particular big adventure in their sights. And they're like, oh, you know what? I've only got eight more weeks to train. I've got this pain. Who cares? I'm just going to push through it for eight weeks or whatever it may be. Because if I go see someone, they're going to tell me to stop training or to stop hiking. And then I'm not going to be able to go on this trip. You know,

[5:25] that is fair enough if that's in your mind. But even in that situation, I strongly advocate for you to take action, talk to someone and see how it is. Like in all honesty, you worst case scenario, if you have an issue, you go see a professional. And they ask you absolute worst case scenario. They say, you know what? I want you to take a break from your hiking. I want you to take a break from some type of training temporarily.

[5:48] Worst case scenario, you know, there are always other ways where you can progress your fitness and your strength and move towards your trip while working around the injury. You know, for example, if you've got a foot issue and that's getting worse and worse and worse, you know, there's always the option where, you know what, for two, three, four weeks, you could just do some really long cycling where you're not putting pressure through the feet and we can cruise around the bike, still work on your aerobic fitness, still work on your leg endurance, but you're helping out your feet.

[6:13] You know, that's just a really simple example, but there is always a way to work around things. And in all honesty, it's always going to be better than just pushing through and making things worse and turning into this longer term issue. You know, that's worst case scenario. Best case scenario, you might say, you know what, I've got a hike coming up in eight weeks. I've got this issue. What do I do? And they're like, well, okay, fair enough. Then we just want to manage X, Y, and Z. We want to take these things out that are aggravating things and move you forward. And sometimes it's literally as simple as that. So please, ultimately, if you are listening today and you're like, oh, you know what? This situation does sound a little bit familiar. Take action. Get off this podcast, book in an assessment, get it looked at, take action and take it seriously. Alternatively, if you've got a friend or a hiker or a family member who maybe is doing this and they're always complaining and things are getting worse and they're not doing anything, maybe send them this episode, see if you can get through them or whatever may be.

[7:07] So with that being said, I'll wrap this episode up today. Really, really, really important for the few hikers who may be listening in this situation.

[7:15] Don't ignore pain and injury that are getting worse. If it is getting worse, if it is getting more painful, take action and you can thank me later. So thank you so much for listening. I hope this helps a few people out. I hope it sort of comes at the right time for a few people who may be listening. And I really hope it changes a few people's trajectories in their training, their hiking and their pain journey. So thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you soon. Bye.

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