My 1st visit to a chiropractor was roughly 20+ years ago. I had fallen off the back of an ATV. Everything seemed ok and I brushed it off. I started to develop pain rolling over in bed at night and when I turned to look behind me while driving. After a week, it wasn’t getting better, only worse. It was time to do something.
Now I had two choices. Go to the doctor and they would most likely prescribe something for pain and send me on my way, as I had experienced before or go to a chiropractor and “fix” what was wrong. I chose the latter and it was the best health decision I ever made.
A friend had told me a about a chiropractor she liked and I made my appointment. I didn’t know what to expect as I waited for my turn. The atmosphere was so calm and relaxing, except for the distant sound of a weird banging noise. That noise had me a little nervous. What were they planning on doing to me? It definitely sounded painful, but I wasn’t hearing any screaming. I told myself to relax and keep an open mind. Before I could decide otherwise, Victor (my very well dressed, handsome chiropractor) was calling my name. Ok, I'll check it out.
Being a new patient he took x-rays. Funny, I didn’t think of that when I dressed for the appointment. My friend had told me you keep your clothes on during adjustments. As the lovely assistant handed me a Johnny, panic set in as I realized I was wearing a thong. So as Victor and female assistant positioned me in front of x-ray machine, there was no covering my bare bottom. I so wished I had worn briefs instead. The process was all professional and they kindly ignored my red face. After he went over results of x-rays, he showed me a vertebra that had been pushed inward causing my pain. I got dressed and now it was time to get on the table.
As I lay there face down, a fearful thought came to mind. Is he going to break my back? He reassured me as he pushed on areas of my back. He twisted and turned my body in ways I didn’t think possible. Nothing hurt, I just wasn’t used to the hands on approach. The banging noise, much to my relief was the table. As he pushed on my back the table section drops down a little, making the banging noise. Whew!
While on my back, he pointed out one of my legs was shorter than the other. This meant my hips were out of alignment. I always thought that was just one of those weird things about me. He proceeded to put me in a pretzel position and voila, my hips were in place and my feet matched up!
He shook my hand and sent me on my way. Well, that wasn’t so bad, no real pain to speak of. The visit and x-rays didn’t cost too much. My legs are now the same length, but my back wasn’t completely better. That night I was quite uncomfortable and not sure if my visit helped or not. The next morning I woke up feeling great. The pain didn’t come back. No more pain while turning to look back. No pain rolling over in bed. My back pain wasn’t cured or masked by meds, it was fixed!
From that moment on, I was hooked on chiropractic care. Their field of expertise makes sense. Fix the problem, don't mask the problem with pain meds. I believe medical doctors are best at handling emergencies and major health problems. You should schedule your yearly physicals and discuss your game plan for optimal health with your regular health care provider. If your physician doesn’t take the time to listen to you, tells you second opinions are not necessary, tells you alternative health care is wrong, that they are the doctor not you, etc. Find another doctor!
Find a doctor that is willing to be a part of YOUR team. We owe it to ourselves to seek out information, advice and services provided by alternative health care means. Take charge of your own health. Ask around, do as much research as you can and be your own advocate. Ask your physician if there are other options before going on prescription medications. Knowledge is power and a good physician will thank you when you show up for your appointment well informed with notes in hand. You will gain respect and make it easier to get to the point in your allotted 10 minute visit.
I've always been curious about going to a chiropracter, and have just lived with the back and neck pain thinking that taking a few Ibuprofen was the best I could do....after reading about your experience I think I may try...and thanks for the heads up about the underwear..that part was hysterical!!!!
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