Slip and falls happen, even when we’re careful and prepared. This month’s case study highlights three important recovery concepts:
- Chiropractic at Satori is much (much!) more than “cracking backs!”
- LASER therapy has the potential to accelerate your healing rate well beyond your body’s natural ability.
- Not all of our patients present with neck & back pain.
Cold Laser Therapy to the Knee
One of my patients went running early one icy morning last month. Yes, it was that Tuesday morning when our city was covered in a sheet of ice. Ironically, he did not “slip & fall”, but rather, he “tripped & fell” on the boardwalk. Ouch! The result was minor aches and bruises and one nasty cut on his right knee. For minor aches, bruises, and cuts, people don’t typically think they should seek out care from a chiropractor (or anyone for that matter). After all, don’t chiropractors just “crack backs?!” Of course, by now, you know that I welcome the opportunity to treat all sorts of injuries. Back and neck pains, with or without neurological symptoms are a chiropractor’s bread & butter (gluten/dairy free, of course); But, quite commonly, I treat the extremities as well (shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, ankle, hands, feet, fingers & toes). In truth, musculoskeletal treatment is very similar throughout the body – it’s all about understanding the interplay between the nerves, muscles, and joints.
Beyond this, I also get patients presenting with simple bruises, cuts and scrapes. Sometimes a nasty bruise in an unsightly location creates a fashion dilemma with an important event around the corner. In these situations, time is of the essence. Can we get a bruise to disappear a few days earlier than if we would have left it alone? YES! Laser Therapy does wonderful things to accelerate your body’s healing:
- Laser dilates blood vessels to bring more nutrient rich blood to the area.
- Laser interrupts pain pathways leading to decreased pain.
- Laser stimulates an increased energy production within the injured tissue, accelerating the time-frame for recovery.
Case (within a case-study) in point: Remember years ago my patient who tore his bicep muscle lifting a box in a store? His medical doctor told him to rest and the injury would recover in 6 weeks. Well, with Laser, soft tissue therapy, and exercise, this man recovered in close to half that time! Click here to jog your memory (Warning: Graphic bruising images ahead).
And, also, “rest” is not the correct recipe. Our tendency when injured is to “rest”, and say things like, “don’t touch it!” Please understand that the application of therapies like Laser not only promote faster healing, but also promote “cleaner” healing. By “cleaner”, I mean the tissues that are healing heal more like the tissue pre-injury rather than forming a lot of scar tissue. Think of a surgical incision that, when healed, leaves a visible scar on your skin. Now, imagine that type of scarring deep inside your body on your important muscles and ligaments! Ouch!! Your strength and range of motion (ROM) will certainly be reduced. And, not only does Laser Therapy promote cleaner healing of the tissue, but hands-on “forces” and using the tissue as it is designed to be used help direct the tissue to heal “cleaner.”
Back to our case-study: My patient showed me his cut knee so I applied Laser Therapy. Within a few days, the superficial wound was healed (this, in and of itself, was a minor success). The real success was that during this visit, we identified a clicking of that same knee while walking and climbing stairs, and the onset of some back pain. These issues were dealt with swiftly by myself and colleagues (chiropractic, osteopathy, massage therapy). He recovered quickly and is continuing with his usual exercise routine. But, it was the minor nuisance of the cut knee that led to the efficient care of his back, hip, knee, and ankle mechanics. This case is is a great example of how something relatively minor (eg. cut knee) has treatment options and by dealing with the minor issue efficiently, you can save yourself from something major down the line.