Since I broke my arm far from home, I had to find an orthopedist back in Indianapolis. There happened to be a good one sharing office space with my family practice doctor. He checked my arm, examined the x-rays, and wrote up an order for physical therapy in a few weeks. He said that the main problem will be breaking through all of the scar tissue that forms around an injury.
I set up appointments with an occupational therapist near work. Since it was only a five minute drive, I set them up for after work. Progress was very slow. The therapist decided to add heat up my muscles with a wrap to relax them. I could straighten my arm out, but I was having trouble making it my arm bend. She applied a warm wet towel over my heavy winter sweater. It felt very hot. I didn't question that at the time. When I got home and took my sweater off, I had blisters and burns on the back of my arm. I still have a scar from that burn on the back of my arm. Apparently, the heat setting was turned up too high.
Lesson learned: Speak up and question your health care provider. If something doesn't seem right, it probably isn't. No matter what their status, education, or standing in the medical community, they can and do make mistakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment