chiro-quack-tor

when you ask people about chiropractors, most seem to have a pretty firm opinion. they either swear by them or consider them total quacks. i’ve toyed with the idea of seeing one for quite a while now. it’s always bothered me that every injury i ever suffer is on my right side and i figure there has to be some reason for that. and given my current injury and seeming lack of improvement ~ which easily could be simply that i’m absurdly impatient ~ i figured now was as good a time as any. especially with the fact that ever since running on sunday, i’ve felt more discomfort in my lower back than i did prior.

i wasn’t sure where to start. i asked a couple people but no one had referrals, and i was disappointed to find that my health insurance web site gives no review or evaluation of chiropractors, even those in-network. so i found a few near my office, scoured reviews and web sites that i could find any info from and settled on a guy who seemed to largely stress sports related pain or injury. like any doctor, i had form after form to complete. signature here. information there. history of this. current state of that. funny how when filling things out i didn’t see it. goodness knows he did!

a question on page two
when did your pain first start? … about two maybe two and a half months ago. i just ignored it for a while. typical runner.

a question on page 653 ~ slight exaggeration maybe 😉 
do you have a history of car accidents? … one in august of 2000. pregnant. hospitalized blah-dee-blah-dee-blah. one in march of 2010 with no injuries.

wait. an accident three months ago? pain starting two and half months ago? could there be a correlation? it seems silly to have never really considered there might be. in retrospect, i think SR even made a comment along those lines the first day i saw him for things. but at that point i was so self-diagnosed with piriformis syndrome and he came back in agreement. now, i admit to being a total skeptic who questions motives and honesty of anyone out to earn a buck. my first thought was that this guy was seeing dollar signs. cha-ching! let’s cash in on the insurance company. but then i stopped and thought about it. either way he was going to get paid. whether it be by me, my health insurance (which from what i can tell covers lots of chiropractic care), or my car insurance. so if i was going to keep an open mind to the concept of chiropractic treatment then i needed to consider what the problem might really be.

long and the short of today. he did an electro/heat kind of session that SR has been doing but his focus was my back not my butt. and he did an adjustment. i’m still a little undecided how that felt. my back and neck cracked so hard and so loud you could have heard it in the next room. i won’t say i came off the table feeling some incredible sense of relief and recovery nor will i say it hurt and i feel he screwed up my body. but i also know that i suffer pretty severe tension and relaxation issues through much of my body ~ always have no matter what i do or try. maybe it’s the control freak in me but relaxing and letting go is not something that comes easy. and maybe my body has finally been pushed past a point. and on a more tangible level he also took xrays. first glance showed no major concerns or trauma but he’ll read them closer and review with me on friday. and he wants me to go under then hands of his in-house massage therapist ~ man i felt guilty telling SR that. cheating on my therapist. i’m a massage hussie 😉

i don’t know if this guy will cure my aches and pains and there’s a part of me that thinks it makes a lot more sense for a medical doctor to stick a cortisone shot in my butt. but i figure this is worth a try. he asked for 10 days run free. ten more! and i have to say at this point i’m considering doing nothing for those 10 days. no swim. no approved elliptical. nothing. maybe my body is begging for the break. maybe i need and deserve a week-and-a-half of couch potato.

yeah right! who am i kidding?! we all know i won’t last three days before i’m back in the gym.