Is it Time to Call the Doctor?
Ever get up one morning to a strange new pain? Or maybe you were just going about your day when wham…ouch. A part of your body that seemed just fine yesterday was extremely unhappy. Time to call the doc?
Nah, most of us hate going to the doctor. So we decide to wait and do a bit of self-diagnosis.
We’ll take an OTC pain reliever and see what happens. Maybe we’ll try a hot bath, icing, or just rest the area. But what if it doesn’t improve?
Let me share a story…
Last spring while it was still too cold and rainy to want to walk outside, I decided to take up yoga. Found a good YouTube guru and followed along. Took it nice and easy…or so I thought.
Then came stabbing pain in my groin. First just problems going up and down stairs.
I was pretty sure I’d pulled a groin muscle and my massage therapist thought so too. Little Advil, little ice, take it easy, stretch the muscle gently. Go for easy walks. No improvement, nada.
A big believer in alternative medicine, I saw my chiropractor. My pelvis was out of alignment. He got me rebalanced and things were a bit better.
Then we were in the middle of a move and discomfort got relegated to the back burner. Packing and preparing… then unpacking took precedence. Oh, and then there was a vacation. The pain plagued me the entire trip. Sitting for hours on the plane was the worst.
A friend mentioned hemp balm so I got some of that and tried it topically. It did seem to alleviate the pain. But the Problem didn’t go away.
Finally – after six months I went back to my chiropractor. Two minutes of manipulations and he told me, “Degenerative arthritis in your hip. Go see your PCP and get an x-ray.”
I did, and then went home and researched. Options could help it… yea!
The doctor’s office called the day after the x-ray and wanted to refer me to an orthopedist. I put them off and waited until I could consult with my chiropractor. He burst my bubble. No cartilage. Back to my PCP.
Two weeks later I finally saw the orthopedist. He confirmed the diagnosis. No injections would help. Only option – replacement. So… I’ve got that scheduled.
I have to wonder…What if I’d had called the doc months ago? How different might the last six-eight months have been?
Conclusion?
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to ignore pain or try to work through it.
WebMD advises that if acute pain doesn’t go away in a month or two, maximum… see your doctor. If you have shooting pains or it’s worse at night, don’t wait that long. Acute pain shouldn’t be ignored for six months!
Get pain investigated. Call your doctor!
