How my last tennis tournament reminded me of the risks of quick-fix pain relief
to you
Sorry for leaving a vacancy in your inbox last week.
I had just 3.5 days in between family vacation and USTA tennis sectionals. With a bunch of appointments in between, and having to review client progress with Coach Kayla, among a bunch of other things, I ran out of time.
But what do you do when life gets in the way? Get right back on track, ASAP! So, here I am, back to sending you thoughtful insights to improve your health and wellness!
And the sectionals tournament I played in this past weekend is actually the inspiration for today’s insight.
The tournament is a team format, and we had five matches in three days. That’s a lot of tennis, especially considering the division I played in was limited to men who are 40 and older.
Not surprisingly, there was some limping, moaning, and groaning throughout the weekend.
There was also frequent discussion – and generous consumption – of “vitamin I.”
If you’ve never heard of vitamin I, you’re not alone. Despite my nutrition PhD, I had no idea what people were talking about and had to ask.
It’s slang for ibuprofen (Advil), or in a more general sense, over-the-counter pain medication (also including Tylenol, Aspirin, Aleve, etc.).
Last weekend, it was being gobbled up in handfuls, as if it were Skittles.
For the record, I’m not at all against using pain meds. Although they certainly have downsides, they can also turn an awful situation into something much more tolerable. And this past weekend, they enabled some of the guys on my team to do something they love – with less pain.
But it’s easy to let reliance on pain meds become a regular habit, which is a slippery slope.
Many people rely on pain meds like they’re a standard part of proactively caring for your body, like warming up before a workout. And that’s where the sarcastic nickname “vitamin I” comes from.
The problem is, in most cases, you’re just shutting off the check engine light without doing the repair that caused it to come on.
There’s likely some kind of minor (or maybe major) injury triggering the pain. While “vitamin I” might lessen that pain, it won’t resolve the cause of it.
And with less pain, you’ll likely push your body harder, which may worsen whatever is causing the pain.
This is why using pain medication as a “proactive” tool to lessen pain during physical activity is a slippery slope. It can make a bad situation worse, and prolong the resolution. In effect, you’re borrowing from your future.
Tight spots in muscle, called “trigger points,” often refer pain in ways that feel like an injury or even a serious joint problem. And they can facilitate real injury when left unaddressed.
In conjunction with a well-rounded exercise routine, self-massage is a highly effective and budget-friendly way to manage muscle tightness – and ultimately eliminate pain and decrease injury risk.
The workbook below is a tremendous resource for identifying and managing trigger points that are causing avoidable pain. I’ve been relying on it since the second version was published over 20 years ago!
The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair & Amber Davies
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When you’re in pain, the most appropriate thing to do is facilitate recovery (rest, therapy, etc.) and rehabilitate to regain lost resilience.
Once the pain is resolved, the truly proactive approach, rather than gobbling up handfuls of vitamin I, is to follow an intelligently designed strength, power, and mobility program that identifies and addresses your limitations while making you more resilient all around.
And, of course, if you play a sport like tennis or golf, it’s also important to identify and address technical flaws that may be overloading certain joints.
The objective here is longevity. You want to continue doing what you love … as well as you can, for as long as you can.
Demonstrating this point, two of my teammates this past weekend are in their 70s (one of whom I wrote about beating me earlier this year). And they happen to be two of the better and more physically fit players on the team.
It’s not vitamin I that got them there. In fact, they were two of the few teammates who I did NOT see gobbling it up or hear talking about it!
By all means, take vitamin I when you need it, but also do the work to not need it in the future. And if you’re using it to be active in spite of pain, be mindful of the possibility that you might be causing additional damage that steals physical capacity from your future self.
To pain-free longevity,
Dr. Vin
🆘 Want help building nutrition and exercise habits that will help keep you active, fit, and pain-free well into old age? Schedule a free call with Coach Kayla to learn more about how we can help!