Get properly better

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

There's 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's fine to do that; but usually it's 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 conditions. Medicine too rightly uses regular maintenance care for serious chronic medical conditions. Shouldn't the same rules apply to dentistry and chiropractic conditions?

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 few weeks. 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 it will be fine. It's been known to make an ass-of-u-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 more so and I sat down the other day and made to move my ankle when it made a loud crunch and it was very painful. And has become worse since, 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 an injury leaving a permanent mark on you.

• Ankle fracture case file ...
  

What was the diagnosis? Sprain? Fracture? Many fractures are missed on plain X-ray. I'd ask for a CT scan. Or MRI if his assessment is 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 u 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 fracture 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.

April of 2009 I slipped and fell from the top step of a flight of stairs and landed on my back/hip onto the concrete below. I immediately went to the emergency room at the time and they said I would just be sore, and the xrays did not show any damage.

I have been to multiple doctors all of which 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, doing dishes, walking, swimming, and especially sweeping. These activities make my shoulder blade feel like it is on fire. After doing these activities it sends pain to the surrounding area whenever I simply move my shoulder 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 and swimming or by sitting on a hard surface. If I have been sitting 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 fall 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, and I would really like to get some answers before I go to work in pain all the time.

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 a setback so often, and chronic pain. And there certainly is a place for maintenance chiropractic care for many of us.

In fact, I need it myself since a serious femoral nerve injury that very nearly placed me under the knife.

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." And clearly all the doctors have little idea of what's going on with 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's nothing wrong. Bullshit, right! 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 ...

Useful links

• 50 percent less pain ...
  
• Find a good chiropractor ...
• Go from get properly better to slipped disc symptoms
  

1. Chiropractic Help
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2. Sprained ankle
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3. Get properly better

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...