Sprains, Strains, Slips and Falls... What to do?

We are going through the driest winter in recent memory. We may see the rainfall increase soon and we should be aware of the potential problems ahead. There have been many times that we have either directly or indirectly experienced accidents and the pain they can cause. Even when we catch ourselves before we fall, the sudden shock of stopping can cause a wrenching trauma to our body. It is a time to be extra careful in order to avoid individual- and automotive-based pain problems.

There needs to be no physical damage to begin a cycle of pain and loss of movement. The quick acceleration of our body then the quicker stop when we slip on a wet floor, duck and lurch away from an umbrella held unaware, or catch someone who is falling can “fool” our body and leave a chronic tension or pain where normally there was ease and comfort. The body can also get stuck in an unfamiliar pattern while we travel, pulling luggage behind us, wrestling it in and out of overhead bins sitting in weird and uncomfortable seats, sleeping in unfamiliar beds.

The body believes everything is fine and continues on in these patterns while we fight our aches and stiffly try to get through the day. These patterns picked up quickly or slowly show up throughout the body. They can show up in a sore neck, stiff shoulder, achy wrist, and sore hip besides the standbys of low back pain, sprained ankles, and stiff knees. We now have a pain problem that “won’t go away” that “just came out of nowhere“. As the pain and restriction continue, we can develop inflammation and swelling, further complicating our problem that came out of nowhere.

When we do have a dramatic fall or sprain, we may think about getting treatment, but more often than not we’ll see nothing is broken or bleeding too badly we’ll just go on about our business, trusting that we won’t have any future problems. Which is when the pain problems start. And start growing.

If we don’t attend to the shock or repeated stress the body begins to work around the problem, finding ways to move or not move to keep the pain down. This starts a bigger spiral of workarounds that can finally force us to seek treatment for pain and stiffness that “just came out of nowhere”.

Timely care prevents little problems from becoming big ones. If an injury or shock is caught early very little needs to be done to restore wellness. In this case the cliche “the sooner the better” is very true indeed.

In a business meeting a colleague caught an ankle on a four-inch step and was hobbling in a great deal of pain. Addressing the problem right away with some hands-on work  and she was walking normally. If she had waited, her ankle, and leg and back would have conspired to lock up from the imbalance. A client with a sore shoulder after air travel and yanking luggage form an overhead bin took care of it right after they got home, presto no long-term pain, no long-term problem.

When you have a pain problem that “just came out of nowhere” act on it right away to send it back where it came from, out of your life quickly and easily.