After a few weeks of seeing new patients, I felt the need to address this question as it came up in almost every single visit. There were a wide variety of dysfunctions and people over these two weeks, but I would like to focus on two specific cases.

Case One

A very healthy 60-year-old who has suffered with chronic “irritating” neck pain since his 20s that has gotten much worse over the last 5 years. In this case he religiously stretched and exercised his neck and has always been able to do what he wants and isn’t limited. What he found over the years was dealing with pain every day has begun to make him tired and less able to deal with other forms of stress. A take-home point from this case is to seek professional help with injuries; don’t assume your injury will just heal on its own, often times it won’t. Secondly, don’t consider living with any degree of unexplained pain to be normal. Pursue solutions even if it is just a little nag.

Case Two

An athletic 50-year-old that is just starting to have shoulder pain for no reason. She was wise and sought professional care within a month of this pain beginning. Most pains will go away within 2 weeks. If they don’t, seek professional help. Sorting through her history, she had a bad ski fall a few years ago onto her hip and ribcage, suffering bruising and stiffness, which she states resolved…or did it? In this case, she thought the injury was resolved because pain initially resolved. Evaluation revealed the ribcage to still be very stiff, placing excessive stress on the shoulder to lift the arm. Treatment to the ribcage relieved the shoulder pain. This case illustrates how just going to get checked out after a traumatic incident can prevent pain down the road in the injured area, or even worse, a seemingly unrelated area that is compensating.

Accidents happen in life, more often for some than others. Make sure you are always proactive with your health and don’t allow anything to linger. The sooner the injury can be evaluated and treated, the better your prospects for a full recovery. Don’t compromise with your health. Live your best life EVERY DAY.