Did You Know?

The Broken Wrist Analogy

If you fell and broke your wrist, you would go to the local emergency clinic where the orthopedist would x-ray your wrist, set the bone, cast your wrist and send you home. If it felt better the next day and you went to the clinic to ask if they would remove your cast, what do you think they’d say? They would laugh at you. Why? How long does it take the bone to heal? In a healthy teenager with a simple wrist fracture would take 4-6 weeks for the bones to heal and the cast would have to remain on for the duration. At the end of six weeks they remove the cast. Would your wrist be 100%? Would you be able to do everything that you were able to do before the fracture? No, it will take at least another 4-6 weeks to strengthen and stabilize the wrist joint. Now suppose you are a 53 year old woman who slips on the stairs and suffers a complicated fracture of the wrist. Now we are talking about 3-4 months to heal the fracture and another 3-4 months of rehabilitation.

So when we recommend your initial care in our office we consider your age and the extent of damage to your nervous system. Our recommendations include the time to heal and time for strengthening and stabilizing the spine to prepare you for wellness care. Why? We don’t heal overnight. Healing is a process, not an event. Chiropractic is a Lifestyle, not a Treatment. What changes are you willing to make in your lifestyle for better health next year?