It Doesn’t Come In A Bottle: How Assisted Stretching Provided Pain Relief for My Student

One of my students spoke up in my Assisted Stretching class last week to tell me a success story she had experienced.

She and her husband are avid bike riders. They had biked 30 - 40 miles the previous weekend.

After the ride, her knee was killing her. 

She would have normally taken a Tylenol for pain, but she remembered what I had said about stretching to relieve muscle pain, so she decided to grab a foam roller and give it a try.  

It worked! Her pain was relieved—without needing medicine.

She could allow her body to heal itself by stretching her tight muscle tissue.

She was amazed and couldn’t wait to tell me her story!

The truth is… medications for pain are only temporary. When it wears off, we need more of it to reduce the pain again. The cycle continues. 

This is the problem:

Medications don’t correct the source of pain. They only numb it. This is how people become reliant on or addicted to pain medications.

Daily doses of medications to reduce pain can have serious side effects and lead to other health issues.

“Heavy use of acetaminophen is associated with kidney disease and bleeding in the digestive tract,” a recent paper on the long term use of Tylenol suggests.

Dr. Philip Conagher, lead author of the paper and professor with Leeds Institute of Rheumatic Musculoskeletal Medicine in England, says that lifestyle changes like strength training, physical activity, and weight loss are proven sources of pain management.

“The problem is, all of those things are not as easy as taking a pill,” says Conagher, “and so they aren’t as attractive to people.

WHOA… a very profound statement!

Our health doesn’t come in a pill bottle.

We must proactively invest time in the care of our bodies so they can function at their highest capacity. Otherwise, we are spending our time and money on doctor appointments and medicine.

Investing in the care and health of your body is the best investment you can make—it pays high dividends over time!

I can’t tell you how proud I am in my student who “paused” for a second to make a big investment in her body and life. She made a better choice to stretch instead of taking a pill for her knee pain.

It lifted my spirit to know that she listened to my words and applied them to her life.