Monday, August 21, 2006

Mother knows best

For the past 6 months I've been experiencing a lot of pain and stiffness in my right knee and ankle. All the Drs. I've been to see haven't been about to detect any problems, except a little arthritis in my knee. It's quite debilitating. When I wake up in the morning I hobble around like I don't even have an ankle. It's like my leg and foot are fused into one big unit. Not to mention the pain (I was eating 6 ibuprofen a day) and overall discomfort when doing anything physical. Even if I sat around for a while and then got up they would be locked up and didn't want to work.

But not anymore.

I went to see the Chiropractor, hereafter referred to as the crunch. I was skeptical because well, my experience with them hasn't been that great in the past. My mom has been going to them for 20 years and she never seems to get better. They just fix the problem for a while. I've been in the past and it's always a line of "I need to see you 4 times this week and 76 times next month and I'll take your first born as a down payment on the cost blah blah blah", which turns me off. I expect the problem to be fixed if I come to see you. I go to the Dr with a problem. She gives me a solution. Dentist, same thing. I expect that with the crunch. They haven't normally been like that.

But this one I found is a little different. He adjusted me and told me to come back when I was feeling poorly again. This is really the same thing as the other people, but I really have the power to determine how often I go in and it's determined by my body not by some generic formula he has in his mind to fix my problem. Not to mention, his adjustment fixed my problem.

Anyway, when he was examing me he mentioned that my right leg was 3/4 of an inch shorter than my left leg. (I'm like yadda yadda yadda. This is one of your hooks to get people to use your service. blah blah blah) But then he adjusted my right hip (my family has a history of bad right hips) and then when I was standing up I felt like I was going to fall over to my left. He explained that was because I was really leaning over to the right when I was standing "straight" (because of the height difference) and when he made my legs equal lengths my body took a few minutes to shift it's balance back to where it should be, so I felt disoriented. Not to mention as soon as he adjusted it I immediately felt pressure leave my whole right leg. It was the wierdest feeling. And my problem is mostly fixed. I still have some discomfort in the ankle but it is way, way less and the whole ankle feels a lot more fluid. I have thought it was strange that when I was riding my bike that my right leg had soooo much trouble pedaling the bike. I couldn't reach the pedal for the whole stroke and my foot was always on it's tip toe at the bottom of the stroke and jerking in a circle. The left was never like that. Now I know why. They weren't the same length. This morning on my ride in my right foot stayed firmly planted on the pedal the whole time. (He also recommended I start taking glucosomine sulfate to lubricate my joints and that might be helping too) Now I'm wondering what caused the hip problem. I wonder if it's my Costanza wallet...

Then he mentioned that my right shoulder was about an inch and quarter lower than the left one, showing compression on the right side of my body. This seemed to make sense to me too because whenever I sit I fall or lean over to the right side. I just figured that's the way it was. But he smashed on my back and ribs and my shoulders got more even and my ribs opened up and I could breathe better. I feel like I have more energy now and I can breathe deeper when I'm pedaling and sleeping, meaning less tiredness for me. I'm surprised how much of a difference it has made in just a few days.

I've been having migraines too and he adjusted my neck but I haven't noticed a difference there with the pressure in my head. So I don't think that was the cause of the migraines. But we'll see if that gets better over time.

I'm pumped that I'm feeling better after these fixes. I'm going back on Wednesday to have him check to make sure the hip stayed in place (I don't feel like it's moved) and we'll keep assessing it week by week. My only regret? I should have listened to my mom months ago when she told me go there. Kids, listen to your mothers.

FGLB

3 Comments:

At 1:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you.

I know it is not an almighty fix but lying in bed with back pain is not going to cut it.

Medication is not always the answear.

I am willing to try alternative options to going to the doctor for everything and if going to the crunch will take care of it I will.

 
At 6:53 AM, Blogger mary grimm said...

Hmmm--I also have right knee pain, etc., and I already know that one leg is shorter than the other. Maybe I should break down and see a chiropractor, too?

 
At 8:28 AM, Blogger Matt said...

Give it a try Lucette. To steal a tagline, it worked for me!

 

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