When should you rest an injury?

One of the biggest questions I hear is, "Should I rest an injury?"

The answer is: it depends.

Some injuries absolutely need a period of rest to heal. Others need movement. Knowing the difference is one of the most important parts of recovering well and getting back to the activities you enjoy.

When is rest the right choice?

Rest has an important role in injury recovery.

If you have a broken bone, a stress fracture, or you've recently sprained or dislocated a joint, there is usually a period where protecting the injured area is exactly what your body needs. During this early phase, rest allows the healing process to begin without placing too much stress on the injured tissue.

That doesn't mean complete inactivity forever. It means giving the injured area the time it needs before gradually introducing movement again.

Why does movement help most injuries heal?

Once the initial healing phase has passed, many people continue resting because they're waiting for the pain to disappear completely before they start moving again.

The problem is that our bodies adapt to what we ask them to do. When we stop moving altogether, muscles get weaker, joints become stiffer, and your body loses some of its ability to tolerate load and stresses. Even if your pain improves while you're resting, your body may not be any better prepared to return to running, lifting, hiking, or your favorite workout.

That's why it's so common for someone to take several weeks off, feel better, and then have the exact same pain return as soon as they get back to activity.

In many cases, the injury didn't come back because you moved. It came back because your body wasn't prepared for movement or workouts. The goal isn't just to reduce pain, but to rebuild your body's capacity so it can tolerate the things you want to do.

Staying active is especially important for back pain

Low back pain is one of the best examples of how our understanding of injury recovery has changed.

Years ago, people with back pain were often told to stay in bed until the pain went away. Today, research consistently shows that for most people with low back pain, prolonged bed rest isn't helpful. Staying active, modifying activities as needed, and gradually returning to normal movement generally leads to better outcomes than avoiding movement altogether.

That doesn't mean pushing through severe pain or ignoring symptoms. It means finding movements that feel good and that your body can do.

For some people, that's walking instead of running. For others, it might mean temporarily reducing the weight they're lifting, improving hip or thoracic spine mobility, or working on exercises that build strength and stability.

Movement isn't the enemy, in many cases it's part of the treatment.

What if I need surgery?

Even when surgery is the right option, movement still plays an important role.

Many orthopedic surgeons recommend prehabilitation, or "prehab", before surgery. Improving strength, mobility, and overall function beforehand can help you recover more efficiently afterward.

If strengthening and moving an area before surgery helps improve recovery, it makes sense that movement is also an important part of recovering from many injuries that don't require surgery in the first place.

Final thoughts

If there's one thing I hope you take away from this, it's that rest and recovery aren't the same thing.

Recovery is active. It often includes the right exercises, improving mobility, rebuilding strength, and slowly increasing what your body can tolerate.

That's why I spend so much time helping patients figure out what they can do instead of giving them a long list of things they shouldn't do.

If you're dealing with back pain, a tendon injury, or an injury that just won't go away, you don't have to figure it out on your own. At Grohmann Chiropractic and Sports Medicine in Fountain Valley, we help runners, lifters, and active adults understand what's causing their pain and build a plan that keeps them moving while they recover.