Get properly better

Get properly better or face the possibility of becoming a chronic pain sufferer.

There is always the temptation, once you know a condition is resolving, to try and save a few cents and forego your doctor's directions. And, yes, sometimes it is fine to do that; but usually it is not. It may mean that you are not given the proper rehab to prevent the condition returning next month.

And whilst Maintenance Chiropractic Care remains controversial it is vital for some folk with chronic maladies. Medicine too rightly uses regular care for serious chronic medical conditions. Shouldn't the same rules apply to dentistry and chiropractic?

Whiplash chiropractic

Whiplash chiropractic doesn't just happen in motor vehicle accidents. Diving into shallow water is also notoriously dangerous.

In the weeks after the pain has nearly gone many conditions remain in a vulnerable state for a month or longer. Ongoing care, even if it involves no treatment, is often prudent. Your doctor simply wants to see you get properly better, not deprive you of your hard-earned money. Don't assume all will be fine.

Assumptions have been known to make an ass of you and me!

Get properly better

Get properly better because chronic joint conditions usually arise from neglected care.

"I injured my ankle falling down some steps in December. I didn't go to my follow-up appointment and took off my own cast as I assumed it would be fine.

Since then the pain seems to be getting more and worse; so I sat down the other day and made to move my ankle. It made a loud crunch and it was very sharp.

It has become worse since then, especially when resting. What should I do?"

Dear C,

I think you know what to do! Go back to the doctor who treated you.

Getting properly better after any condition, or injury is vital; otherwise you're faced with this sprain or fracture leaving a permanent mark on your ankle.

• Ankle fracture case file
  

What was the diagnosis? Was it a sprain or a fracture? Many hairline cracks are missed on plain X-ray. I'd ask for a CT scan. Or MRI if his assessment was a soft tissue injury; but this sounds like bone.

I hope this contributes.

Dr B

"Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I will book an appointment with my doctor and ask him to arrange the things you suggested."

Let me know what the CT shows. Fractures in the ankle are notoriously difficult to see on plain X-ray. So often there's a crack lurking. How long did you wear the caste?

Dr B

The long and the short of it is that, regardless of whether you have a neck or back injury, a sprained ankle or whatever, you must get properly better.

Chronic pain is frustrating and to be avoided at all costs.

When you know that something is going wrong and your doctor or chiropractor simply wants to ignore your inner sense, after a period you MUST be pushy. Don't be simply put down by Dr Know It All.

" In April I slipped and fell from the top step of a flight of stairs and landed on my back and hip on the concrete below. I immediately went to the emergency room and they said I would just be sore; the x-rays did not show any damage.

I have been to multiple doctors all of whom have said there is nothing wrong with me.

I know something has to be wrong; I never had these symptoms or anything close to it before the fall.

Symptoms:

Left Shoulder:

I have a burning feeling that starts in my shoulder blade when I do any activity that requires moving my arm. Simple things like driving, typing and doing dishes are painful; walking, swimming and especially sweeping too.

These activities make my shoulder blade feel like it is on fire. After doing such things it sends pain to the surrounding area; whenever I simply move my arm at all.

Right hip:

Starts stinging and tingling sending a electric like feeling down my right leg all the way to the toes. This happens after walking, swimming or sitting on a hard surface. If I have been on a chair longer than about 20 minutes when I go to stand up it feels like this section of my hip/tail bone area on the right side just doesn't want to move; kind of a feeling of being "bent in half" if that makes sense.

Before this tumble down the stairs I didn't have any pain at all. The onset of the symptoms were immediate after the fall. I am about to graduate college and pursue my lifelong educational dream of being a nurse specializing in kidney care; I would really like to get some answers before I go to work in constant discomfort.

Thank you so much for any ideas you have. I truly appreciate your time."

50 percent less pain

One of the great confusers is that pain diminishes must faster than conditions heal. As a result patients often stop doing their exercises; and may cease following their chiropractors advice long before they should.

The result is so often a setback, and the risk of chronic pain. There certainly is a place for maintenance chiropractic care after many injuries.

In fact I need it myself since a serious femoral nerve injury that very nearly placed me under the knife; even a sequestered disc may respond to chiropractic care.

• Femoral nerve damage
  

Wisdom demands of her children...

Do understand that if you practise being your own doctor, there are pitfalls. Common sense demands that you be wise and if you know that all isn't well, do the right thing. The Dutch have a wonderful saying:

"He who won't hear, must feel."

And so it is. Be wise.

When your instincts tell you in loud and clear tones that something is wrong, don't ignore that inner voice like this poor lady has done. "All the doctors said there was nothing wrong."

Clearly all those doctors had little idea of what was going on with those musculo-skeletal injuries.

But brought up in the medical world, she's been taught that doctors know everything and if they say there's nothing wrong, then there she must be a psychosomatic case. Trust your own instincts and get properly better. Regular exercises will be a part of it.

• Lower back exercises
  
• Stiff Neck exercises for neck pain
  

Find these pages interesting?

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Bernard Preston spent seven rich years in Holland, not without trials and tribulations. Come walk with me...