Why Painkillers, Scans and Rest are Keeping You Injured

We’ve all been there. A niggle crops up in your knee, shoulder or back. You brush it off at first, but it lingers. Before long, you find yourself stuck in the classic cycle:

1. Pop some painkillers to take the edge off.

2. Wait for a scan because you’ve been told it’s the “next step.”

3. Rest up in the hope that time will do the trick.

Sound familiar?

The problem is, while each of these steps might seem sensible, relying on them too heavily can actually keep you in pain longer — or worse, make the situation harder to recover from.

Let’s break down why painkillers, scans, and rest aren’t the magic solutions they’re often made out to be and what you should be doing instead.

Painkillers: The False Friend

Painkillers are brilliant in the right context. They can help you get through the day, sleep better, and keep moving when discomfort is getting in the way.

But here’s the catch: painkillers don’t solve the problem, they just turn down the volume on it.

Imagine your body’s pain signal as a smoke alarm. The alarm doesn’t mean the batteries are broken — it means there’s smoke somewhere in the house. Painkillers are like taking the batteries out of the alarm without looking for the fire.

Why it’s a problem:

• Masking pain = masking movement issues. If you hobble around on a sore knee thanks to ibuprofen, you’re still hobbling… you just don’t notice it as much. That can lead to poor movement habits and further strain.

• Long-term use has consequences. Stomach irritation, liver stress and even slowing down the healing process are all associated with overuse.

• You become reliant. Instead of addressing what’s wrong, you rely on tablets to get through your daily activities.

A better approach:

• Use painkillers sparingly, mainly to take the edge off in the early days.

• Focus on finding and addressing the cause — whether that’s weakness, stiffness, poor movement patterns or overload.

• Movement, exercise and structured rehab are the long-term solutions.

Scans: Not the Silver Bullet

When something hurts for more than a few weeks, many people expect — or even demand — a scan. After all, it seems logical: if we can see what’s going on inside, we’ll know how to fix it.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Here’s the surprising truth:

Plenty of people walk around with “abnormal” scans but absolutely no pain. In fact, research has shown that:

• A large percentage of adults with no back pain at all show disc bulges on MRI.

• Shoulder scans often reveal rotator cuff “tears” in people who are completely pain-free.

• Knee scans in adults often highlight arthritis changes that are just part of normal ageing — like wrinkles on the inside.

So a scan doesn’t always tell us whether something is truly the source of your pain. Sometimes it simply tells us what your body looks like after a few decades of use.

Why it’s a problem:

• Scans can cause fear. If you’re told you’ve got a “tear” or “degeneration,” you may avoid movement altogether — even if that movement is exactly what would help you recover.

• They’re not always necessary. For many injuries, your history, symptoms and a proper assessment are more useful than an MRI.

• They can delay recovery. Waiting weeks (or months) for imaging often means doing nothing in the meantime and that “nothing” can set you back.

A better approach:

• Use scans when there’s genuine uncertainty, when surgery is being considered or when symptoms don’t match up with a normal recovery.

• Remember that your pain is not just about what a picture shows — it’s about how you move, how strong you are and how your body responds to load.

• A skilled therapist or coach can guide you towards what really matters: getting moving in safe, progressive ways.

Rest: The Recovery Myth

For years, the old acronym RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) was the standard advice for injuries. But we now know that too much rest is one of the worst things you can do.

When you stop moving, several things happen quickly:

• Muscles weaken.

• Joints stiffen.

• Blood flow reduces, slowing healing.

• Your body loses confidence in the area, making you more cautious (and sometimes more sensitive to pain).

The result? You return to activity weaker and stiffer than before — and the injury cycle repeats.

Why it’s a problem:

• Inactivity feeds the problem. Your body needs movement to heal — gentle loading stimulates repair and adaptation.

• Fear builds. The longer you avoid using the injured area, the more daunting it feels to get started again.

• You lose fitness. A sore ankle can quickly turn into overall deconditioning if you stop moving completely.

A better approach:

• Think “modify, don’t stop.” Instead of halting all activity, switch to something that keeps you moving without overloading the injured area (e.g., cycling instead of running, strength training instead of tennis).

• Follow the modern PEACE & LOVE principle: protect in the very short term, then load progressively, add optimism, manage vascularity (blood flow), and keep exercising.

• Active recovery doesn’t just heal the injury — it keeps the rest of your body and mind ticking along too.

Pulling It Together

Painkillers, scans and rest aren’t “bad.” Each of them has a time and place. But they’re not the whole answer — and if they’re the only tools you rely on, chances are you’ll stay stuck in the pain cycle.

True recovery is about active solutions:

• Building strength where you’re weak.

• Improving movement where you’re stiff.

• Gradually reloading your body so it learns to tolerate the stresses of daily life, sport or training again.

And yes, as we get older, the body doesn’t bounce back quite as quickly. But that makes it more important than ever to stay proactive, not passive.

Final Thoughts

Next time you feel tempted to just grab the painkillers, wait for a scan or lie on the sofa until it “goes away,” ask yourself:

👉 Am I addressing the cause or just putting things on hold?

Movement is medicine. The right type, in the right dose, is what makes the difference between a niggle that nags for years and one that you get on top of quickly.

So, if you’re caught in the pain → painkillers → scan → rest → repeat cycle, maybe it’s time to flip the script.

Don’t just live with it. Restore it!