Hurt Vs Harm – When To Seek Care

Hurt vs Harm? When is it best to seek professional care? Outside of the obvious break or significant trauma, it can be hard to tell if everything is ok and will heal on its own. Here are a few rules to follow to help you decide hurt vs harm:

1. Does pain persist? Pain that last days at a time or pain that is persistent or consistent with certain movements should be checked. Is it consistently waking you at night? If so, it’s good to seek care.

2. Range of motion. If your ability to move the area is worse and remains worse two or more days, this could be a sign of tissue harm.

3. Swelling is also another indicator. While there are different types of swelling, you are looking for obvious changes in swelling that persist a couple or more days.

4. Bruising is another to watch. Bruising is an indicator of a tear to a tissue. It can take 2-3 weeks for bruising to go away and even take a couple of days for it to appear after an injury.

If pain persists or worsens, range of motion is limited, and swelling presents and remains, give us a call or ask your doctor how we as physical therapists can help you with these issues!