Snap, Crackle, Pop My Back!

 

 

 

All my life . . . (in my KC and Jojo voice) . . . my back has been all jacked up. I was a year round athlete by the time I was in fourth grade and despite my mother’s wishes that I'd be some sort of dolled up princess person, I was a tom-boy. Rebellion at its finest. Many years later I find that my back is still all jacked up. Guess it didn't help that I was an archaeological field technician that literally dug holes for 3 years. So when I say jacked up, I mean it was to the point at one period of life that I literally had to get a massage once a month because the pain of my neck and shoulders were unbearable. My mood was terrible. I felt so fatigued and sore all the time. Apparently, I had lived with the pain so long my body didn't realize anything was wrong. I had tried everything. Cracking it myself with some various different techniques, yoga, acupuncture and massage therapy. The different things would temporarily alleviate my pain, but it would always return. Recently a co-worker of mine went to see a chiropractor and I was intrigued. He said that the doctor had outlined a treatment of adjustments to fix not only his posture but his overall mood in general. For a long time the thought of seeing a chiropractor frightened me because I had some concocted some crazy notion that they were going to pop my neck and somehow kill me . . . or something . . . lol . . . Anyways, I put my fears aside and decided to schedule myself an appointment to see if my chronic back, neck, and shoulder pain could finally be alleviated. Below I have outlined the first couple of appointments so you can find out more about the chiropractor and what a visit is typically like.

 

DAY ONE:

                The first appointment is basically a consultation. You will be examined and x-rayed to pinpoint the areas that need to be adjusted. One of the procedures has you stand in front of a mirror with a grid to exam how evenly distributed your body and posture is positioned. My results were that my whole body was higher on the right side and leaning forward.

 

DAY TWO:

                The second appointment discussed my x-rays and a plan of treatment. There are a variety of things that go along with the treatment. Depending on the severity of the case, the doctor will have you come in more frequent in the beginning and less in the end after your body has had its frequent adjustments. The “adjustments” are moves that the doctor does in order to put your spine back into its natural form. Along with those adjustments, the doctor may have you do some physical therapy on your muscles so that the adjustments can keep their place. There may also be some acupuncture or deep tissue massages depending on the severity of your injuries. By the end of you treatment you shouldn’t have to revisit the office as often, maybe only even every few months or so.

 

DAY THREE AND BEYOND:

                You will know what day three and beyond will entail because your doctor will plan out a treatment plan for you.

 

MY EXPERIENCE:

                What I like about my treatment is that the doctor has combined adjustments with massages, stretches, exercises and acupuncture. So while before I was actively doing only one of those things which would only temporarily fix the issues, my treatment plan incorporates all of those things so that my injuries can be fixed as a whole. What’s important to know about the human body is that everything is connected and when your body is out of sync, other parts of your body or mood is affected. So in order for the adjustments to work, my muscles need to be able to be flexible and strong enough to support them in the correct position. I'm excited that finally my body will not be in pain because I had lived with the pain for so long, I was unaware that I was experiencing any discomfort. Thankfully my work insurance covers my treatments so that I only have to pay a copay per visit. If you have been experiencing pain as I have, maybe you should check with your health insurance to see if that this maybe an option for you. Have any stories about your achy bones/muscles? Share them below. They may help another who has also been experiencing the same thing!