Pain

Caveat: I am not a doctor, I am not an EMT, I have no medical training, education and very little personal knowledge taking care of my pain and suffering. This is meant as information for further research and that means when ever you are injured, in pain from training, you should stop and seek immediate medical attention and advice. I don't recommend working or training trough the pain as pain is a signal that something is wrong with the mind/body and should be addressed immediately. 

As martial artists we will encounter pain, injuries and the mental effects of both. In order to endure pain when in a conflict we need to learn how to deal with pain, a mind-set, so our tolerance will allow us to continue acting properly until the danger of conflict is removed and we are in a secure safety zone/area. 

Pain is a communication tool of the mind-body. It tells us that something is wrong with our body and/or mind. It is that sensory and emotional experience that causes is stress while informing us that something has gone wrong. It has a variety of causes and people respond to it in a variety of ways. We call this "pain tolerance." 

The types of pain should be understood for martial artists or anyone training in a mental/physical discipline. Martial arts because like football and other contact disciplines (notice I didn't say sport or categorize martial arts as a sport) there is deliberate physical contact between individuals. 

You need to separate pain into one of two major categories, i.e. acute and chronic. Acute pain is a sudden pain with a short duration. It is caused most times from damage to tissue such as bone, muscle, tendons, cartilage, or organs. Chronic pain lasts a lot longer than acute and is thought as resistance to treatment. Chronic pain is associated with long-term illnesses. It also can be the result of damage to tissue, but is attributed to nerve damage. 

Both pains can be debilitating, can affect or be affected by your mind-set. This is where we are going to go with this post, listening to your pain when it occurs and making the decision to take proper precautions to reduce the chances of a more debilitating injury that will adversely affect your training and practice. 

Remember that pain is most often classified by the damage that caused it. There is tissue damage and then nerve damage. Don't forget that there is pain that is affected by psychological factors as well. 

Also understand that pain is classified by the type of tissue involve or the part of the body affected. Is it muscular pain or is it joint pain. 

Pain as tissue damage. This comes from damage to the bodies tissues. It is bone, soft tissue, or organs. It might be an ache, a sharp stabbing pain, or a throbbing pain. It might come and go or remain constant. The question you might ask yourself, is the pain acute, i.e. sport oriented injuries like a sprain. 

Pain as nerve damage. Nerves are like the electrical circuitry of the body transmitting signals to and from the brain. When damaged the signals become disrupted, etc. You might feel a burning sensation even though no heat is being applied, etc. In martial arts nerve damage is usually caused by trauma. The damage could be either within the central nervous system or the peripheral nerves, i.e. the nerves that the rest of the body use to transmit signals to the central nervous system. 

Now that we have a smidgeon of information about pain we can discuss some general information regarding pain and training and practice.

Burning muscles and general fatigue. Other types of pain are associated with injuries or the start of an injury. Working through the pain of burning muscles and fatigue we create a higher tolerance over time. It is a mind-state effort built through training and practice. Shugyo in martial arts is one method to create a mind-set that increases pain tolerance. Listen to your body when pain occurs. Distinguish the other pains from training pain, etc.

Pain other than burning muscles and general fatigue should be listened to with concern. Stop and seek medical advice and/or treatment. 

Develop coping mechanisms to increase your pain tolerance. Regular sweat and blood effort in training and practice can change the way you perceive and tolerate pain. 

When in doubt, STOP and seek medial treatment and advice. Remember, this is not about teaching you to endure pain or to self-diagnose but simply to let you know what pain is and help you discuss it with your doctor so you can make an informed decision.

As a novice martial artist I feel each individual who experiences pain for the first time STOP and get it diagnosed by your doctor. Couple that information with this and then decide, with your doctor, what you can endure or ignore and how you might do this so you can build your pain tolerance while remaining healthy and fit. 

Some Suggestions:

Joint pain, stop immediately. See your doctor. If you are experiencing a lot of pain it may be a sign of inflammation in the joint or joint damage and the requires treatment.

Joint pain after exercise. See your doctor. Switch your training to a model that puts less pressure on your joints. From a fundamental principles perspective your doing something wrong, i.e. alignment, posture, etc. are incorrect, etc. so you need to stop training and have sensei provide guidance, after your doctor approves returning to the dojo, on proper alignment, etc. per fundamental principles, etc. 

Moderate to sever joint pain a day after. See your doctor, cut back on your training, take a day off, do shorter sessions, reduce to less strenuous training regimens.