Don't Tenderize That Meat!

A new patient comes to me. I take care of her 2 girls for regular pediatrics stuff. She came to me for help with her legs after her husband made the suggestion.

A year ago, her 5 year old daughter stubbed her finger. It was swollen and mildly bruised. They were pretty certain that it was not broken, but she complained so much about the pain that they had to bring her in. I looked at it. It was a simple digital compression along the long axis of the finger. I held her hand and proceeded to reduce the strain. With my back to her dad, I intentionally hid what I was doing. Suddenly, the whining turned to giggles. Her dad was incredulous and could not figure it out. No, its not broken. Its fine. There should be no problems.

Six months later, they come in for another problem. As I was leaving, with my hand on the door, the dad says, "Say...Dr. Hoang, I know I'm not your patient, but could you help me with something?" Sure. What is it? "Six months ago, my daughter hurt her finger and you helped her. I didn't see exactly what you did but I remembered that she got better. Well, several weeks ago, I stubbed my finger and I tried to do what I presumed you did. It still hurts. The knuckle is still swollen and bruised. I can't even make a closed fist. Doggone it! I've been yanking on this finger now for 3 weeks."

I took his hand and looked at the massively swollen knuckle. "Well, here's the problem..." I proceeded to explain to him where he went wrong. At the same time I am treating him. In several minutes, we are done. I tell him to test the finger and hand. He is amazed! The pain is gone. He can make a fist. No problem. The swelling will resolve on its own within the week.

"Wow! That's great!, " he says. As we walk out he is so thankful, he says, "How much do I owe you?" Nothing, it was only 2 minutes of my time. He insists, "No really, I want to pay you."
"Don't worry about it," I told him. He persists. OK, give Melva $20 bucks so she can have a nice lunch. He gave her the money and was still so pleased with the results, smiling as he walked out the door. I thought to myself, "Hmmm...I should have said 40, so I could have a nice lunch too."

Six months after that, the wife comes in. She is a mess. She is one of those power women who take control and work through the pain trying everything and anything. I figure out where her problem is and proceed to work on her. Her tissues are so damaged that I get very little change in them on this visit. What did she do? She been to chiropractors and for years have had her back cracked, she done heat and cold, deep tissue massages, ultrasound, physical therapy.

What do chefs and cooks do to tough, grisly cuts of meat? They tenderize them - pounding the fibers to smithereens. What do these "therapies" do but help to break down your own muscle tissue. Sure you get temporary 'relaxation' of the muscles because you've beaten them down into submission. But don't you notice over the long run, the same problems keep coming back?

Think about it.