With all the ice we currently have in Juneau and all the people telling me how often they have been falling, and getting injured, I thought it might be appropriate to talk about how soon after an injury you should consider seeing a chiropractor. First off at Happy Family Chiropractic We love the maintenance care aspect of chiropractic. We love seeing people especially if they are symptom free because we can make great progress with the individual’s overall health and well-being through that maintenance care. Maintenance care isn’t for everyone though, it is a personal choice that you should consult your chiropractor about. If you aren’t already seeing a chiropractor in Juneau and you take a spill on the ice or sustain another injury this article is for you. 

I just injured myself, now what?

What most people do first after they have fallen or been in some type of accident is make a mental check of all the body systems. What I do is ask myself, “Are my arms still working? Am I bleeding? Are my legs still working? Does my head hurt? Can I see? etc..” After I get through that checklist, usually with some movement to make sure everything is intact and in place I mend my pride and I go on through the day. If however, the system does not check out because I’ve acquired a new pain somewhere and I don’t need to go to urgent care, I see my chiropractor as soon as possible. The reason I want to get in as soon as possible is because I want to give my body the best chance to heal properly. With the help of a chiropractic adjustment, my body can communicate better with the brain. The brain knows what needs to happen for the body to heal, all it takes is a strong communication system for the body to heal itself, as long as there is not a major injury impeding healing. 

The body is healing and it needs to communicate effectively

Without proper communication, the body can not appropriately gauge what needs to be done to heal. A chiropractic adjustment can help with the body’s ability to communicate and therefore help with the healing process. The sooner your body is communicating properly the sooner you will heal from any injury. We can look at it this way, if there is an emergency in your hometown and no one calls 911 will first responders ever make it to the scene? Probably not, at least not promptly. When you experience an injury the first thing that needs to happen is communication to first responders that are going to make their way to the injury site to start the healing process

Get it taken care of sooner than later

In my experience with patients, I have seen that chronic injuries, injuries that happened a long time ago but were never addressed, tend to take way more time to heal when compared to acute injuries (injuries that happened recently). There are a few theories concerning time elapsed with an injury that has not been addressed and the time necessary to heal from that injury when it is finally addressed. Basically when you’re injured your body establishes patterns that help you avoid painful scenarios. If you hurt your hip from falling on the ice, you might start to limp to avoid excess pressure on the sensitive area. If that painful stimulus continues the limp will continue and your body will adapt to walking with a limp. Rewriting that pattern takes time. You literally have to break a habit, and we all know how long breaking a habit takes. In short, it is easier to take care of an injury right when it happens instead of waiting to take care of it.    

Examples in professional athletes

One of my favorite examples of getting care of quickly is at sporting events. Many professional sports teams have chiropractors on staff and are ready to adjust the athletes at the sporting event. This is because professional athletes know how important it is to take care of something that is affecting their performance quickly. When you get injured, the quicker you get care the quicker you will get better. 

Dr. Derek, your Juneau Chiropractor 

If you’ve taken a fall or gotten yourself injured, come see your chiropractor in Juneau sooner than later. You never know how much an adjustment might help in your healing process. Let Dr. Derek with Happy Family Chiropractic be your Juneau Chiropractor!