Friday, January 25, 2008

The Pain Scale

The recent discussion on Dragon Door about the pain of foam rolling and the Z health admonition about not doing any movement in pain got me to thinking about the various levels and intensities of pain. Here is my short list,from my own personal experience, of the spectrum of pain.Please note, my tongue is partially in my cheek :)) The scale is from best to worst.

1) Basic deep tissue massage
2) foam roller work
3) High rep snatches
4) climbing long,big hills on a road bike, fast.
5) 20 rep breathing squats
6) DOMS from heavy bodybuilding/powerlifting
7) Deep tissue work on psoas
8) full shoulder dislocation
9) full knee dislocation
10) lumbar disc herniation
11) persistant sciatica

and the winner

12) being forced to listen to Rap music.

As one can see, the pain from foam rolling doesnt even come close to the deep levels of insight one can get from real pain.rolling on the foam isnt pain to me, it's a joy.

13 comments:

Taikei Matsushita said...

Drinking cold beer with empty stomach. I always regret it.

Mark Reifkind said...

lol, havent done that recently but it's gotta be low on the scale eh?

Brett Jones said...

Couldn't help yourself could you...? Rap ranks high for me as well but hey - to each their own.
BTW - if you get a chance to get "Explain Pain" by Butler it would be a great read on this subject.

Brett Jones said...

Oh - and the sciatica/nerve pain from nerve root compression - yeah - that is pretty high up there.
the memories...

Mark Reifkind said...

brett,

lol, yeah no impulse control I know. Ihave heard good things about the book,will pick it up.and man, I had sciatica for 18 months!9 on the right 9 on theleft. crazy constant pain,no drug would touch it. bigtime suck.

Jordan Vezina said...

No one can force me to listen to rap music.

Howie B said...

Rif, any recommendations on the type of foam roller one could use? I remember what my martial arts instructor used to tell, "Pain is your friend. It reminds you that you're alive. When you're dead, no more pain."

I could also add to your list, long periods of horse stance training.

Franz Snideman said...

Disc herniations and lumbar/ S.I joint are the worst for me!!!!

Foam rolling.....not too bad ([pain wise that is).

Franz Snideman said...

one more thing.........

We all dislike pain.......but.........pain teaches us about challenge, it teaches us to appreciate health and well being.....and it helps us to grow!!!

Mark Reifkind said...

Howie,

I like the high density foam rollers, you can get them from power-systems or Elite Fitness systems but even the softer ones work just fine, I used them for many many years very productively.

Franz,

true on both counts.Pain is a great teacher; it's just that no one wants to go to the classes.

Mark Reifkind said...

oh yeah, howie, no experince with long periods of horse stances so I coulnt add it in, but I bet it is horrible.

Joe Sarti said...

I am so happy to know I have not had to reach the depths of the pains you mentioned and i think I go to class...

fawn said...

Pain is a sensation... a deep tissue massage is a different sensation than a muscle tear. I don't really get the foam roller... but I can understand the attraction.

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