Peripheral Neuropathy and Ortho Injuries

[firefly]

Does anyone else struggle when at the doctors office for an injury?

I wrecked my bike and dislocated my shoulder on Monday, and while I was there, they kept asking me if I was hurt anywhere else... but I didn't know how to respond b/c I don't feel my legs all that well to start with. My shoulder was the only part bothering me, but that's mostly because I could feel it pretty darned clearly... that night though, when I got home, my right leg was also totally black and blue from the hip right down to the knee.

How do you guys approach normal doctor visits? How do you explain that you don't know if you're hurt or not, but something should probably be looked at?

[AMFADVENTURES]

Does anyone else struggle when at the doctors office for an injury?

I wrecked my bike and dislocated my shoulder on Monday, and while I was there, they kept asking me if I was hurt anywhere else... but I didn't know how to respond b/c I don't feel my legs all that well to start with. My shoulder was the only part bothering me, but that's mostly because I could feel it pretty darned clearly... that night though, when I got home, my right leg was also totally black and blue from the hip right down to the knee.

How do you guys approach normal doctor visits? How do you explain that you don't know if you're hurt or not, but something should probably be looked at?

Regrets on the crash, hope you experience a speedy recovery.

Add a little "cog fog" to the rest of it and yes, PWMS do face a little different situation in communicating with their Dr. Having had a few similar experiences over the last several years, here are a couple of quick thoughts.

Followup. It seems rare to address all of the problems right after an accident so it's critical to followup with your Dr.(s) as needed.

It may help to write things down as you experience them. Take a short list with you to your Dr. visit on followup.

It also takes time to heal what will heal and find the problems that won't heal and get them addressed.

Seek out or get a referral to the right kind of Dr. An internist is probably not your best bet for a shoulder injury.

Don't make things worse by trying to get back out there too soon, take the time to heal what you can.

Good luck, been there and done that several times but am still in the saddle. In fact, I'm headed to the "Copper Triangle" right now!

Larry

[celia]

Larry's covered most of this really well. You might also do a "visual search of extremities" after an accident: check over your legs and feet to see what they look like. People with peripheral neuropathy need to do this every night, to make sure little injuries are noticed, and don't get worse.

[kko]

Take photos of your injury on your phone

We use our phones to take photos of everything-use it to document your injuries. Not saying that I would remember this right after a bike fall. Take the photos you are able to and have someone else take photos of your backside and parts that you don't think are hurt, especially if you can't feel the parts. Then do the same two or three days later. Are bruises still appearing, is something looking more swollen, is there a lot more infection around a cut or abrasion? My right foot is always blue and I can't feel it. One night I noticed my big toe was bright red, probably from a little scrape. I put my thumb next to my toe to contrast it with normal color and took a photo and then treated the scrape and my toe got better. The next time I saw my podiatrist, (foot doctor who has helped me a lot with orthotics), I showed her the photo. She said that anytime a foot infection wasn't getting better, come and see her because most other doctors would just blow it off as nothing. I do the photo thing for infections and injuries. To give perspective to the size of the problem, you can use a quarter, a ruler, your hand. This has also helped my neuro understand more about my life. Then, I delete the photos!!!