What to do and not to do after the AC joint injury?

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What to do and not to do after the AC joint injury?

Time Heals All Wounds, or Does It?


OK. Let's face it. It is going to be painful and inconvenient after the AC joint injury. Based on the degree of the separation, you might be told to stay put and take it easy for a while by ED/family doctors. You might refuse to accept the surgery because you don't like to be cut open or you just want to try conservative approaches first.

You are having the difficulty of putting on and taking off your shirts and pants and shoes, even socks. In other words, you are limited temporarily.
Here is the tricky question: Time Heals All Wounds, or Does It?
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I am here to provide you more information and help you make the decision.
Time heals NOTHING. It's what you do with that time.
Why?
All the joints in our body are balanced by muscles, ligaments, cartilage, bones shape, and your habit of doing.
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There is a chance that you might feel less irritation with time. But you are paying the price by making the group of muscles equally weak! Then more troubles might happen from there. In other words, your body is compensating with one way or another. When you don't have much cartilages and ligaments to support your joints, you are going to have a lot of trouble. No medications will help restore the mechanics of the joints.

I noticed quite a few clients ended up with more trouble when they waited for the recovery by doing nothing. Timing is essential in these situations. My recommendations are to start using the muscles correctly without hurting other tissues around the joint. The intensity and repetition of exercises might be different based on the body part involved, the healing stage and your overall fitness. In this article, I will only focus on the AC joint injury.

Things not to do:
1. Don't wait and ignore the joints! Time heals nothing.
2. Don't force it. The pain is a sign of structure dysfunction. "No pain no gain" does not work here.
3. Don't rely on exercises only. You only spend 25-45 mins per day for your workouts. Ask yourself, what and how do you do with the rest 23 hours per day?
4. Don't ignore the numbness of the distal limbs. The nerve travels from your spine to the distal arms so the numbness or tingling might be the first sign of nerve impingement.

Things to do:
1. Take time to understand your condition. Learn anatomy by googling or asking professionals. 
2. Do the exercises without sharp pain or numbness/tingling of the limbs. 
3. Apply the same muscles from the exercises to daily tasks. Put the joints and muscles to use, and you will never forget the exercises.
4. Report to your physician or therapist about the numbness and tingling;  avoid them as much as possible.

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*Disclaimer:*The information contained herein is compiled from a variety of sources for educational purpose. It may not be complete or timely. It does not cover all diseases, physical conditions, ailments or treatments. The information should NOT be used in place of visit with your healthcare provider, nor should you disregard the advice of your healthcare provider because of any information you read on this topic. For more info or service of physical therapy in Albuquerque, please visit www.PTcares.com.

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