That Pain In My Neck...

My Chiropractor saved the day again!

On Sunday morning, after getting out of the shower- my entire upper back tensed and seized. It hurt. it hurt like hell. I was standing at the time- and the pain forced me to sit down. I was physically unable to remain standing (at least in that posture). It subsided enough that I was able to get up and move around, but it still hurt. I popped a few Ibruprofen tablets- they did nothing. I put a heating pad on it (for 4-5 hours)- it did nothing. I began to fear the worst- being the hypochondriac that I am, and began looking at symptoms for Meningitis- but the symptoms didn't match: I didn't have a fever, no real severe headaches, and I was able to touch my chin to my chest... even though it hurt like hell.

I left it alone- thinking it would resolve itself. It didn't. The following morning things (initially) got a LOT worse. I couldn't turn my head at all! To look a certain direction I had to physically turn my entire body to that direction. Naturally this made driving VERY difficult. During the day it would relieve, slightly. Even still- I couldn't turn my head more than 45-degrees from looking straight ahead in any direction. The tension in my shoulders radiated to my arms- making them partially numb, and to my legs- resulting in aches and pains throughout.
I gave meds and heat another try- but to no avail.

Sleeping was extremely difficult- my already tense muscles were no longer moving at all, forcing me to change positions sleeping about every 20 minutes. Obviously I didn't sleep well last night as a result- and waking found me in the exact same situation as the morning before: unable to move very much at all.

I had an appointment with my Chiropractor scheduled for tomorrow- but after 2 full days of agony, I called to see if I could bump it up to today. I'm very happy I did.

When I got there, I explained what happened. I told him what I've tried to do to relieve the pain- and how both painkillers and heat failed. Immediately he says,
You've pinched a nerve. If painkillers don't do anything, then it isn't anything muscular- so painkillers won't do anything"

So he put me on the "bed" and began probing my back muscles to get an idea of the 'lay of the land' back there. All along I was terrified that if he tried to crack something that the pain would either send me through the roof- or kill me.
He hit three points along my spine- the last one being towards my lower back (and area almost completely unaffected my my symptoms). They all cracked pretty good- so obviously something was out of alignment.

he asked me,
"Are you stressed?"

I actually LOL'd, thinking to myself "oh if you only knew the half of it", but only responded with "yeah, something like that".

He explained that he could tell just by how a certain area of the spine was misaligned, that I was stressed because that is the area where the Adrenal glands are located, and as we become more stressed, the Adrenal glands work more, ultimately resulting in a shifting-around of things in that area- like the spine itself.

He continued working on me- cracking my neck a few times. Man was that LOUD. And then he worked my sinuses as well- as he usually does when I see him every few weeks. Working the Sinuses alone almost sent me through the roof- but it still wasn't as bad as it was the first time I saw him just over a year ago (it was like someone turned on a faucet in my face- it ALL drained, but only for one day).
This alone was a relief as my sinuses have been going nuts for the past week-and-a-bit because of the weather & climate changes that seem to fluxuate in Calgary. These changes in weather have left my facial sinuses full almost to the point of being numb, and I've been dealing with "popping" ears for several days now. After having my sinuses worked on during my appointment- it's all gone. I can breathe and my ears don't 'pop' every time I chew or 'flare' my ears.

it's been about an hour since leaving my appointment, and the difference- even just while driving back to my office- has been amazing. Driving back, I did a shoulder-check while changing lanes (something that had me in agony on my way to the Chiropractor's office), and realized after doing it that I didn't have to shift my entire body to see behind me- and I could see a lot more of what was behind me!

I'll be so bold as to say that my Chiropractor has done more noticably positive things for me in the past year than a handful of MD's have for me in the past 10 years. I'm positive that if Ihad gone to a walk-in clinic to see a Doctor about my neck & back- they would have prescribed a muscle-relaxant and sent me on my way (not without sitting in a waiting room for an hour, and the examination room for another 20 minutes). And ultimately it wouldn't have resolved the problem anyways!

The bottom line though, having discussed with my Chiro about the root cause of the pain, is that the problem likely stems from a simple source: Stress.
I suspected this might be the case, though I wasn't sure about the techicalities of it. But it does make sense ultimately.

I won't go into a big sob story about the stress in my life right now- but there's a lot. As if everything up until this point in the year (being "let go" from my previous job, nearly having my wife flatline on the operating table during a routine procedure, turning 30, and the misacarriage of our first child) wasn't enough, trying to start a business without ANY start-up capital- effectively working for free for the entire month of November (making rent was fun!), and deciding to move the week of Christmas (which has been an emotional rollercoaster unto itself- but I wouldn't expect certain people to understand that), has definitely taken it's toll on my already-strained stress levels.
The pain I've experienced for the past 3 days is merely a physical manifestation of that stress. So I'm extremely thankful that my Chiropractor is capable to do something that can help relieve the physical pain and pressure. The stress itself, though? That's all up to me to deal with- and maybe it's as simple as saying "No" a little (or a lot) more often- and simply not giving a fuck about anyone elses' opinions or suggestions.

Gee... even that is starting to feel better already.