Friday 8 February 2008

‘Day of the Chiropractor’

Today has been the ‘Day of the Chiropractor’. My back has been pummeled and clicked back into alignment. The most immediate effects are that I can again rotate my head more than 90 degrees to each side and that I can sit up straight again and the ache at the base of my spine has gone. It doesn’t sound much but believe me it is.

Back pain can take many forms and have many root causes. I placed the cause of mine back to my childhood. I was running down a slope to see a steam train (that dates me!) when I caught my foot in a small bush. I ended up on my back, head pointing down the hill, while my foot was still facing forward stuck in the bush. Being young (8’ish) I hobbled home and the sprained ankle soon recovered.

I didn’t think of the incident again for nearly 30 years. Around then my hip started to ache and quickly got to the point where when I got up in the morning I was bent double in pain and thinking I would be in need of a hip replacement before I was 40.

An X-ray of my back at a chiropractor’s showed the cause immediately. My pelvis was canted and to compensate for that my spine had bent and twisted to the point where the knobbly bits that should run down the centre of your back performed a quarter twist on mine. All the twisting and deformation puts strain on the attached ligaments and muscle, which then get tight and pull more and so it goes on.

It took a few years of treatments getting progressively longer apart but my back was more or less straight. Apart from losing the pain I had two additional benefits I wasn’t expecting. I was always someone who could twist my ankle standing still; I put it down to having weak ankles and was always reticent to walk on uneven ground or jump across things as I usually fell if I tried. With my back in balance I very rarely (she says touching wood just in case) twist my ankle now. I also used to wear through the soles on the inside edges of my shoe heels within 5 weeks. They barely wear at all now and the wear that does happen is even across the heel.

So I am a fan of chiropractics, it might not work for everyone but it certainly does for me. It been over a year since my last treatment and I’ve shifted a lot of boxes and heavy farm equipment since the last time so my back deserved some attention.

The rest of the day has been spent taking it easy doing the minimum I need to today. Animals are fed so they’re happy and by tomorrow I should be fully up to tree planting – only 200 to go.

1 comment:

Rafaela Burgy said...

Indeed. Going to see a chiropractor works for some people and the best way to find out how effective it is is to try it firsthand. I'm glad that your back pain problems are more or less fixed. Good for you!