Source: Wikipedia

Yesterday, I took Russ to his Chiropractor to get his side and back pain checked out.  He had fallen a few weeks back while taking Junior out for a walk and hasn’t felt the same since then. Prior to his visit we were discussing the fact that I myself have never been to a Chiropractor and that I probably should get myself checked out since I have been experiencing some neck pains for awhile. As his doctor was working on him, I decided to set up an appointment for myself.

Luckily enough he didn’t have any other appointments and was willing to take me in right after his appointment with Russ.

After filing in the appropriate forms, I had my first consultation with Dr. Richard Frey. He started off going through the usual questions of where my pain was, have I ever had pain elsewhere, how long has the pain been going on, etc. We than moved into a separate room where he started to exam me. We started first with some reflex items; hitting the knee cap. My left leg responded to the test, yet my right leg did not.  He hit it several times and even went back to my left leg. He was puzzled and I myself was a little puzzled at it. Not because nothing happen, but mainly because this was the second time a doctor has ever performed that test on me and the samething happened back then. He had me lie down on the table and he lifted my leg, one at a time, to see if there was any pain (experienced none), he had me sit up and he pressed and felt my back and asked me a question that surprised me – Where you recently in a car accident? Of which I replied No. He than asked if I was ever dropped as a baby (Mom do you want to answer this question cuz I have NO idea ).

After his examination he gave me some of his findings.  My right hip is higher than my left, resulting in my right shoulder being higher than my left (I’ve been told this before). He explained how our spin works and how we, as humans, always are adjusting ourselves to maintain a straight posture. He also said that sometimes through these adjustments the joints can pinch or compress nerves that result in less sensation and “feeling” to that paticular side of your body.  As a result you might not notice that you are twisted, or you might not notice that pain.  It is the job of the Chiropractor to loosen that joint and open up the nerve sensation (made perfect sense).

He let me know that he never starts off with twisting a patients neck as people have to be very relaxed for that to happen and he would start off with some specific area of my back. As I have always been scared about having my neck cracked, let alone my back I was glad he wasn’t starting with my neck.  I laid down on my stomach on the tab, where he pressed on a vertabre and caused it to crack. I then laid on my back crossed my arms, breathed in and as I exhaled he pressed on my chest and I felt another crack on my back. He than massaged pressure points on my neck for a few minutes to finish off my session.

There was a great sense of relief afterwards. I felt much better and I know I made the right decision to see him. I have another appointment this coming Tuesday and will probably have some more to come as I try to re-adjust myself. I never knew there was some actual benefit to seeing a Chiropractor.