Recurrent Injuries

Dear Dr. Caraotta and Dr. Bowman,

I understand that you have an Injury Care Center in your office and am wondering why a person could have recurring injuries in the some joints and not in others?

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Dr. Caraotta's Response

Recurrent injuries are often the result of scar tissue and / or not taking the opportunity of pursuing proper rehabilitation. Often times when a person has an injury the pain is short lived, but when the pain subsides, if an individual has mis-allignments in the bone structure, and prematurely performs activities that they are not ready for, they could be setting themselves up for a chronic problem.

There is a patient of ours that was involved in an automobile accident two years ago. After the accident, he was taken to the emergency room. He was examined by the physician and x-rays were taken. The emergency room physician diagnosed him with having a neck strain, gave him a prescription for pain medication and instructed him to follow up with his family physician. The patient went to his family doctor. The doctor apparently did not look at the the x-rays, gave the patient additional medication and told him that his neck would get better with time. After 2-3 weeks, the patient's pain went away and he did not think any further of it, until he woke up last week with severe neck pain.

After reviewing the past medical records, it was apparent that even though he had a low impact collision, he sustained a whiplash injury.

Often times pain is the last thing to come in a condition and the first thing to go. When the pain subsides, if the joints affected by the injury are not rehabilitated properly, a person may be set up for recurrent problems in that region. This is why it is very important to have a chiropractic check ups after an injury. Chiropractic can help rehabilitate joints affected and minimize the possibility of recurrences.

If you have a question that you would like Dr. Caraotta or Dr. Bowman to address in their column, you could send your question to their office at 4921 E. State Street, Rockford, IL. 61108 or call your question in at Caraotta Chiropractic Orthopedics,(815)398-4004 and ask to speak with one of the doctors.