In the past two articles in this series, I gave you a general overview of the typical path most people take to the chiropractor’s office as well as an overview of the first stage, Pain & Avoidance.
Have you have ever had an injury that went away only to come back worse than before? Maybe you helped a friend move and lifted something at a strange angle and twisted your back or hurt yourself mountain biking on some of Asheville’s great trails. You put a bit of ice on it for a day or two, and avoid doing anything to hurt it (Fear & Avoidance). After a while you feel better. But what’s going on behind the scenes?
In some cases, the injury may be minor, but in others you may have pulled your musculoskeletal system out of alignment. In this case your body works to accommodate the joint that is no longer functioning properly. As your body begins to deal with the injury, it immobilizes the area around the joint. Your muscles are constantly straining to hold the area tight so that it can work to heal the problem.
So it’s healing, you might think, that’s great. Actually, it’s not as great as it sounds.
One of the ways you can unconsciously assess a person’s age from far away is their range of mobility. Do their arms swing, do they have a long stride when walking, or do they shuffle barely moving their feet or body? As people age, their body begins to deteriorate.
The same happens, once your body manages to immobilize an injury. That area begins to go into a state of disuse and deteriorate as well. This can be a big problem, and the worst part is, you may not even feel this happening.
Many people get very used to living in a state where one or many joints have a limited range of motion. How do you know if that is you? Here’s a free home assessment you can do on your own to find out [link to home assessment]
The good news is that your health can be restored. As a chiropractor, I often use a combination of both chiropractic care and acupuncture to address both the underlying issues as well as deal with the pain.
But what if you still do not seek care at this point? Patients who do not fix the underlying issues move to the stage called Chronic Painful Musculoskeletal Dysfunction, which I will discuss in my next article.
-Dr. Bart
Questions or comments? Put them here, email me at drbart@bellsouth.net or post on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/RiverRidgeChiro
