My knees hurt or back hurt after running/ exercise, what should I do, when should I be concerned?

If you are experiencing severe pain or loss of function it is always important to consult with your doctor and potentially get imaging. That being said, if you are experiencing pain it does not mean that something is wrong. It does not mean that you did something wrong. Pain is not a damage meter. Pain does not equal damage. If you did not have a traumatic point of injury and your pain is more chronic, comes and goes, moves around from one part of your knee or back or wherever to another part then you are likely in much better shape than you think. The single strongest predictor of chronic pain is a person's beliefs about their body. This is not some energy crystal-energy-align-your-chi opinion, this is backed up by clinical data on chronic pain. Okay so what does that matter if you are still in pain? It matters because the fear and anticipation of pain, the thought that pain is a result of damage or your own actions limits physical activity which is also a strong predictor of chronic pain. The most common type of pain I hear about is something that has lingered and not gone away and ranges from mild to sometimes making it difficult to get things done throughout the day. I can't change your beliefs about your body over night, but I can show you how to move in ways that do not flare up your pain, and that make you feel and get stronger. Lingering pain is frequently a form of overuse injury, or just overuse irritation (meaning no long term damage is done, just an irritated elbow, back, wrist, knee etc). Changing the way you move and changing the type of stimulus you put your body under can dramatically reduce pain. Having someone help talk you through pain onset, frequency and severity can be a great tool for managing how often you are in pain. We are here to help!