General | June 9, 2022

Pain Doesn’t Always Equal Damage!

Dr David Tang-OSTEOPATH-Double Bachelor of Health Science/Applied Science (Osteopathy) – Member Osteopathy Australia

Pain is a subjective experience and may vary with each individual. It can be due to a number of factors such as injury, tissue damage or underlying health conditions. However, sometimes there isn’t an obvious reason, as pain can be felt in the absence of any tissue damage. For example, some individuals with low back pain, who have insignificant results shown through MRI imaging can still experience low back pain!

Other examples include,   

  • Paper cuts – Everyone has experienced a paper cut and knows how painful they are despite it being such a minor injury. 
  • Sunburn – Sunburn can be very painful and damaging to the skin. While taking a shower or touching areas of the sunburn can be painful, we are not further damaging the skin. At this point, it is more irritated and sensitive. Similarly, our joints can become irritated and sensitive with certain movements. However, this does not necessarily mean it’s causing more damage. 
  • Bruises – Generally bruises are a clear sign of tissue damage. However, there are times where we don’t know how they got there and don’t feel any pain at all.  

If you’re unsure of what kind of pain you are experiencing, and need advice on what you can do to manage it, book yourself in for an assessment with one of our friendly osteopaths.