Healing from an Injury
By Sara Butler
An injury is something almost everyone can expect at some point in their lives – it’s part of the human condition. In the event you are injured, your chiropractor can be your ally in recovery in the immediate aftermath and beyond. Here’s what you need to know about recovering from an injury to get back to your best and how your chiropractor can help you to achieve it.
A Plan
When you go to your chiropractor for injury treatment, they will create a plan with you to help you heal. You will likely have scheduled care that is important to stick to. Remember, the most important thing you can do is allow your body the time to heal and follow the recommendation of your chiropractor in the process. This will pay off big because it can:
- Help you to prevent re-injuring yourself.
- Help you to heal faster.
- Reduce your medical costs.
- Return to work faster.
- Feel back to your old self sooner.
The Phases of Healing
To help you understand the importance of time when it comes to healing an injury, here are the phases of healing.
- The first phase – In this phase, you will experience inflammation for anywhere from three to seven days. Your body will automatically initiate this process after you hurt yourself. You just need to be careful that the inflammation does not get out of hand since that can cause chronic issues and increase your overall healing time. In this stage, your chiropractor will seek to help you control pain and inflammation through manipulation, ice therapy and maybe even a little soft tissue work. Rest is going to be your ally during this stage.
- The second phase – In this stage your body begins to repair and it can last anywhere from one to four weeks! Make sure not to aggravate your injury in this stage by following your chiropractor’s advice. Treatment in this phase normally consists of moist heat, manipulation, stretching and perhaps some exercises to help your body repair. Your injury can feel good some days, and bad others. Just take it day by day!
- The third stage – This is the remodeling stage and can last from three weeks to four months. Many people reach this stage and then become stuck here since pain is almost gone but some symptoms remain. Strength and stabilization of the injured area are the most important things to focus on during this stage.
After four months, continued pain may mean you have chronic pain, so make sure you discuss any lingering symptoms with your chiropractor!