I often have patients who come in to see me after doing an activity and either pushing themselves doing something they haven’t done in a while or ever before. With my weekend warrior patients, this is something that happens very predictably on Mondays. That tends to be the day with the most walk-ins or call-ins, by far.
Understanding How an Injury Happened
As I assess each patient and come up with my differential diagnosis list — what healthcare professionals who can diagnose do and something I learned to perfect through Chiropractic school and over the almost 24 years I have been practicing — one of the most important questions I ask my patients is: Do you remember what you were doing when your pain started, or have you done anything in the last 24-48 hours that was abnormal or intense physically?
I can then use this information to determine the mechanics used and the possible mechanism of injury.
When Doing Too Much Becomes a Problem
The patient that came in recently and triggered this topic for me to write about was a typical one: an older patient who had been doing something they had never done before or something they hadn’t done in 20-30 years.
This specific patient was a retired grandmother who decided to redo her fence with all the digging, lifting, and bending someone would need to do to accomplish this task.
I have done this exact task; however, it was one fence post, and I did the job with my neighbour. With my neighbour being 10-15 years older than me, he knew to let me do the heavy lifting and swinging. That was him exercising his knowledge about his limits.
I still took precautions, don’t get me wrong. I took my breaks, I checked my pride, and I used symmetry when swinging and digging — using my right and left side as equally as I could.
What Can Happen When You Push Past Your Limits
So, back to that patient of mine who redid her fence over the weekend. She was so hard on her body with this overzealous effort level that she really irritated a disc in her lower back.
It reached the point that I couldn’t help her resolve her symptoms, and as a result, she had to see a pain management specialist for fluoroscopy-guided epidural injections. Soon after this problem was resolved, her hip started to bother her badly. That eventually led to her needing hip replacement surgery.
Now, I know this is an extreme Chiropractic patient example, but like I said, it led me to want to create this blog topic.
Stability Comes From Flexibility and Strength
I often tell patients with injuries or reinjuries that stability is important when pushing yourself physically. Stability, in my book, comes from the right amount of flexibility and strength.
When I show patients a home exercise plan, this typically includes 25% stretching and 75% strengthening. This will help keep someone’s body resilient to unpredictable injuries and can even allow Chiropractic adjustments to last longer.
Learn the Art of Listening to Your Body
An important process I teach my patients inherently is the art of listening to your body. Everyone has heard the phrase, “You’re not a spring chicken anymore.” This phrase explains that we aren’t as young as we were when we last did a physically taxing activity.
Therefore, there is a chance your body will react poorly during this activity or with delayed onset of pain, soreness, or stiffness. I often say to patients, if it lingers longer than two days, come in and see me. Most injuries lasting 3-14 days will need help.
When you start to show fatigue or experience pain and stiffness from activity, it would be a good time to take a rest and recover. When I see Chiropractic patients like this, I encourage them to see and understand their limits.
Then it’s about educating them to understand that, sadly, these limits will change based on your activity level, conditioning, and age.
Education Is a Big Part of Chiropractic Care
When becoming a Chiropractor, I knew I would be treating patients, but the amount of educating has become a big part of treating patients — a bigger part than I thought, to be honest.
So, as you age, work out, and change, you need to be aware of what your current limits are and be real with yourself. Listen to your body and understand that soreness can be normal. But if it lingers too long, make it a point to see someone to make sure you recover properly.
Chiropractic is great for patients wanting a quick visit to get a reset and keep going. If you decide to sit on discomfort too long, you run the risk of having issues become recurrent or needing more care — physical therapy, pain management, or more Chiropractic visits — to recover from the injury.
Know Your Limits and Keep Moving
Know your limits. Know they change. Listen to your body.
Thanks for reading. Stay well – Dr. SJ
