Tale of Two Tendinitis’s (what’s the plural?)
Recently I had two women come in for help, both with pains in the upper body. Neither is very young, both have been to M.D.s. They got very different results. What happened?
Amelda (name changed, of course) developed a pain in her shoulder that made it almost impossible for her to lift items lighter than five pounds in her husband’s restaurant. She went to the M.D. who told her that it would “heal itself”, gave her painkiller/”anti-inflammatory” drugs and sent her to a Physical Therapist. The therapist had her do some exercises and it got worse. After six months, the M.D. and therapist have nothing to offer, she came to me.
The Diagnosis was quite straightforward, as was the Care Plan. I told her that it would take 6 weeks IF she followed all me recommendations. She scheduled once a week for six weeks and paid the whole thing with one credit card swipe (which makes for a nice discount on the total fee for her). After six weeks, she can move her arm normally, lift comfortably (she still avoids heavy lifting) and is able to work in the restaurant. I told her to come back if it starts to bother her again. She says she is doing great!
Linda is a highly educated professional. Her shoulder, upper back developed some awful pains during her gym workouts. She was pretty sure that she could get a handle on it, but it wasn’t getting better and her M.D. didn’t seem to even be interested.
She came into my office “so you can try your’ chiropractics on it”. Again, a straightforward Diagnosis. I put these in a written Report with the problem areas illustrated and labeled for all my patients. Slightly different reaction though, “Ooohhhhh, you mean there’s a PROBLEM? Weellllll, I’ll just have to get to my Doctor and get this straightened out”.
She cancelled her next appt., called and left a message “oh, my doctor said it’s a muscle strain and all I have to do is rest”. Well, muscle strain was on your Dx report from me and when we do appropriate care, you may not have to stop activity. She didn’t hear that.
Several months later, “oh, it’s not better, but my doctor sent me to Physical Therapy. They’ll take care of it.” Well, I hope so, nothing against P.T.s but they are not going to addresses the spinal misalignment that causes the muscle spasm when you put stress on it, like from a gym workout.
A few weeks later, another update “they diagnosed it as ‘trigger points’ and injected them with lidocaine, boy, they really hurt still”. I told you that trigger points were part of the problem when you first came in…oh well. She hasn’t been in the gym in months and isn’t headed in that direction anytime soon.
The lesson?
One person, recovered and back to work in 6 weeks
Another, still chasing drugs and medical therapies, not progressing in the direction of health and full activity.
What do you want out of Life and YOUR Doctor?
Stuck Shoulder
She walked into my office accompanied by a solicitous male. He did all the talking. His English was marginally OK. She didn’t speak English at all. I’m not even sure where they came from. Japan, I think. She couldn’t lift one arm, and cried from the pain when I asked her to demonstrate the problem.
I proceeded through the entire exam with virtually no ability to ask the usual OPQRST questions that were so meticulously drilled into our thick skulls in Chiropractic college. How could I get a traditional diagnosis?
I didn’t know why she couldn’t lift her arm, no obvious muscle tenderness or impingement anywhere in the shoulder, but her upper thoracic and lower cervical spine were sure locked up and not working right. I told her that and asked her for permission to proceed. Did she understand? I’m not sure, but I got an up and down head shake. Guess I’ll go with that.
I’m confidant in what I find, but never sure of a patient’s response. Especially when it’s not completely obvious that my findings are directly related to the problem. I would gladly communicate all these ifs, ands, and buts…but…you don’t speak any English at all. You just look at me with fear and hope in your eyes.
So I adjusted, just like I should. Lots of snap, crackle and pop. Boy, did her eyes light up with all that force and noise. Now she’s really terrified!
Not knowing what else to do, I asked her to stand up and raise her arm. I had to point and demonstrate. She looked at me like I was crazy, then started to lift, wincing in anticipation of the horrible pain to come. Slowly, she kept lifting until the arm was straight overhead. The smile of amazement that came over her face as she literally stared at her arm overhead said it all.
How cool is that?
Little kid with ear pain (I think)
You get to know your seatmates on an airplane flight pretty well. The mother and her antsy little boy were OK with me. How else do you expect a young boy to act on a long airflight?
Naturally, she found that I was a Chiropractor.
It happened fast, on the long, slow descent, when the boy started crying, then screaming shrilly. The Mom was losing it big time “do you have any idea of what his problem is?” The air Attendant is looking at me expectantly.
“Probably his ears, the increase of pressure needs to equalize inside to match the increase outside or it hurts”. Did you hear a word I said in your current state of Hysteria? Your boy screaming his head off, not responding to anyone else at all.
“CAN YOU DO ANYTHING???!”
Well, we learned this technique, called Endonasal, which involves me sticking my finger in your son’s throat, hoping he doesn’t bite my finger off , let me take half an hour explaining all the legal and clinical implications of this procedure, like I was taught to…“Uh, yes, I need to have your permission to proceed, of course” What is the legal Scope of Practice in an airplane, do I need the pilot’s permission, does my malpractice apply here, do I really care?
I held the little boy, told him he would not like what I did, but please don’t bite me. I stuck my finger in his mouth, way up past his teeth, behind the inside jaw, planted my little finger, and stretched the inside as I pulled my hand out. Then, I switched and did the other side.
No, he didn’t quit crying, but the screaming stopped. Decibels down by a magnitude. No more shrill notes. He sobbed until we separated at the airport. I can’t count the number of times the mother said Thank You. He didn’t bite me either