My new Chiropractor >> Every Doctor I've seen in 2 decades

Some of you may find this hard to believe but your spine and even minor misalignments between vertebrae can cause your central nervous system to function improperly, wreak havoc on most any nerve ending in the body, and cause muscular pain and distress. This is kind of a winding story and it's kind of just dumb luck that I found this treatment but it's done me a lot of good in only 3 weeks.

Being a corporate desk jockey who spends dozens of hours in front of a computer station per week, I tend to get neck and upper back pain frequently and I'd say 2-3 days out of 7 it's to the point where it's nearly debilitating--the pain is bad enough so that I don't want to do things like exercise or even lay in bed and watch TV because it constantly hurt. I've also suffered from anxiety more and more lately and a number of other unexplainable but mild ailments that I can't explain. But more on that later...

A Bit of Background

I went to my family doc about the neck pain a year or so ago and when I described my symptoms (neck and upper back pain) of course they looked at me like I was a heroin addict looking to score some pain killers, wrap a belt around my arm and bang that shit into my vein as soon as I left the pharmacist.

This wasn't the case. I hate needles and if I really really wanted some really good pain killers I could go buy them at a very high price (I have a past and still have a few connects, I'll admit, but I wasn't necessarily even looking for pain meds, I was looking for relief or treatment or at least ADVICE or common decency and RESPECT for God's sake, none of which I got).

So they thought I was full of it, didn't treat me with respect, and prescribed muscle relaxers that nearly put me to sleep when i was at work and then when I said I didn't like those they gave me....steroids??? Yeah like that's gonna help. So I took the steroids and they did--you guessed it...NOTHING! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Then they said well just keep taking Ibuprofen. Thanks doc, I'll just destroy my stomach because you suck at your job. Chump. I know I can take fucking OTC pain killers for pain. Thanks for telling me the sky is blue and the grass is green.

My take on that doctor and many others

Thanks guys. Way to waste whatever you did during the 8 years you were supposedly studying medicine. Then they bill me $130 for a 10 minute office visit after waiting an hour in the lobby and back waiting room. Thanks but no thanks. I'll do my annual physical and blood work but unless I'm literally dying I won't set foot in a doctor's office again.

Enter the Chiropractor

I was picking up my race packet for the half marathon recently and a local chiropractor had a booth set up at the race expo and he was doing free back scans using a technology that was developed by NASA. This device was originally for use on astronauts to determine effects of low gravity on the spine and muscles surrounding it but is now being used by about 500 chiropractors across the U.S. to diagnose misalignment / left or right bias of vertebrae and develop treatment plans (that can be very very effective from some reading I've done).

So I got a scan, saw the misalignment in my neck, and was fascinated so I went in the next day after the race to the office for a visit. After seeing their technology and the science behind what they do I paid for a year of service up front which was actually pretty affordable. Then we started the treatment....

See that big red bar at the top of my spine? That's a big misalignment in my C1 or Atlas vertebra. That's the one that most every nerve in the body from your feet to your face go through and connect to your brain stem. So it's one to worry about because it can cause all kinds of weird symptoms like anxiety, gastrointestinal problems, allergies, stomach upset, and dozens of other unexplained ailments.

It's not always the cause of central nervous system related problems, but it has been in many people who have gotten chiropractic treatment when traditional methods have failed. When nerves get pinched or even bunched a bit tight, bad things happen. That makes sense to me.

All worries of those symptoms aside, I went because of intermittent pain and if it helps my anxiety go away, that's just an added bonus. The next picture shows the image scan of muscular distress in my back and neck and they also use that in developing the treatment plan.

See those two big red bars on the right side of my neck and the three in my lower back? That's exactly where I feel the most pain most of the time in my neck. And the lower back pain was from the half marathon the day before and the device picked that up too. That device could show the chiropractor where I hurt without me even telling him. That's when I was truly sold that this stuff is legit. So there is something to this....OK I'm really glad I'm doing this!

After they do the scan and develop a treatment plan, they use a spring loaded tool in which the force of the impact on your spine can be adjusted to gently, over time, push the vertebrae back into alignment (not use their hands to crack your back and neck like many people think of in terms of traditional chiropractry).

I also learned that today's chiros go through about as much schooling as doctors do and they go through even more hours of diagnosis training and in training centered around the central nervous system than regular docs, but they don't get as much respect from some people. Well they've earned my trust and respect which some doctors have lost.

The two that work in the office I go to are a young couple and they're great people and I always get a really good vibe there. During my recent visits (after the initial 2 hour orientation, diagnosis, and treatment plan proposal) I've never been in and out the door in more than 12 minutes but I get effective treatment. You heard that right-EFFECTIVE and FAST! Always. All the people who work there are super friendly and seem very happy at their jobs which is more than I can say for my place of work. It's a really great place and I'm very lucky to have stumbled into their booth at the race expo the day before my race.

After 3 weeks of treatment, I've only had mild neck pain one day and it was because of something I knew I did that day which was my fault (normally I'd have had 5-9 days of bad neck pain during that time period). I also feel a bit more calm and I sleep better on the days that I get my adjustments and sitting at my desk is less difficult on my body. So I guess I should be thankful for this!

In my post yesterday I talked about a lot of things going wrong recently but this is not one of them. This is something great, and I am very thankful to have found these great people and their practice.

I'm not saying it's for everyone or that it's a definite cure for everything, but I have less and less faith in traditional medicine as time passes and doctors and insurance companies are no more interested in helping their patients than I am paying their ridiculous bills for shitty treatment. I'll take the new technology, my wonderful chiropractors (some days one treats me and some days the other treats me), and friendly staff who so quickly get me in and out of their office and relieve and keep my neck and back pain at bay.

I'm not saying there's not good doctors out there, but there's plenty of bad ones. And if this post leads even one person to give chiropractic care a try if you're having pain or issues that your doctor can't figure out, then it was well worth writing every word of.

My wife and step son have since started getting this same treatment and he started feeling benefits after his first adjustment, as did I. My wife will require more time as her spine has major issues, but hopefully this treatment will help her as well and keep us relatively pain free and vibrant as we age. I know I've felt physically better as far as my neck and back are concerned since I started the treatment.

So that's my story behind the kind of odd post title. Funny how one can just stumble into a solution to a long standing problem when and where the answer is least expected.

EDIT: I didn't really explain the technology as well as some of the websites of the specialists who use this technology....here is some information if you want to explore more in-depth than what I've posted here...Here are a couple of chiropractic practice websites that explain the method in more technical terms.

http://www.chiropractic4all.com/services/nervous_system_scans.htm

https://www.premierwellnesschiro.com/subluxation-station/