Chiropractor- The return visit

A week has passed and it is time for my return to the chiropractor.  I am not so crippled as I was, but my back still feels “weak.”   What do I mean by weak?  I still have a deep uneasiness that stems from my lower back.  It gets sore when I sit or stand too long, and it feels like I am just an awkward bend away from full disability- Medicaid here I come.  Hopefully, today’s visit will help my back regain its stability.

                 Today’s visit has an added bonus.  Included in my $25 co-pay is a 20 minute massage.  I am introduced to a 40 something year-old masseuse who invites me back to his room and massage table.  He has me lie face down  while remaining fully dressed.  I am a bit bummed that he doesn’t at least have me strip off my shirt.  I rightly assume  this means no massage oils, and a limitation to the deep probing.  Despite this he quickly identifies the tight muscles up and down my spine. He spends the allotted 20 minutes probing and massaging my neck and back.  It is quite satisfying. Once I am loosed up to his satisfaction he sends me over to the chiropractor.

The chiropractor wastes no time. After a quick consultation of my x-rays taken last week, and a few perfunctory questions, he gets down to business. Mercifully, he again forgoes cracking my neck (the maneuver which seems most likely to cause paralysis).  Despite my having had a massage, he uses a handheld vibrating machine to tenderize my back muscles a bit further, and then has me lie on my side with my upper leg bent up as he adjusts my back by pushing down quickly on this leg. He elicits a satisfying pop and he is done.  It is a short, but satisfying visit.

Over the following week I note continued improvement in my back. Each time I run it causes a bit of a setback, but by and large I get better. No more radiating pain.  I also start to do more stretching.  I read that exercise – of almost any kind- is the best approach for lower back pain.  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/to-prevent-back-pain-orthotics-are-out-exercise-is-in/?_r=0

                Regular exercise it will be-  a bit less running, but more swimming, biking, and definitely yoga.  Does chiropractor care make a difference?  The jury is still out.  My prior research certainly did not find overwhelming supportive evidence for chiropractic care. I will probably return when I have flares of my back pain based on the notion that something is better than nothing. 




to see my prior conclusions and evidence review:
http://alternativemeddoc.blogspot.com/2011/07/chiropracter-my-final-analysis.html

Chiropractor- It must be my leg

           It is just three days since my visit to the chiropractor and I must admit my back is considerably better.  I no longer have pain radiating from my lower back down my left buttocks. My mobility is much improved. I am now able to tie my own shoes, much to my wife’s relief.  I am even able to drive my son all the way to Athens, Georgia for an ice hockey tournament.  I am not sure if the improvement in my back is related to my chiropractic visit, or if it is just the fact that is now two days further from the time when I strained it.  Regardless of the reason, I am not complaining.  It does make me eager to see the chiropractor again next week.

                I want to address the root cause of my back problem.  Perhaps it really is due to my left leg being shorter than my right leg. I have been told this by two chiropractors and a physical therapist. Previously, I was prescribed a heal lift which I never picked up. I decide to address the leg length discrepancy myself.  I dig into the inner recesses of my closet to find the orthotics that I was given several years ago for plantar fasciitis.  Rather than place them in both of my shoes as the podiatrist had recommended for plantar fasciitis, I decide to wear one in my left shoe only.  It feels a bit odd at first; like I am a bit cock-eyed, but after a while I adjust my gate.  It is not until around noon that I realize I have put the right foot orthotic in the left shoe. Duh.  A neurosurgeon I am not, of course Ben Carson is a neurosurgeon…Hhmm…  I wear the appropriate orthotic in the left shoe the remainder of the weekend, but by Monday I decide to abandon it  until my legs have been properly measured.   When my wife, Beth, finally helps me measure my legs we find they are the exact same length.  Amazing, my left leg must have had a growth spurt over the weekend.  

On further appraisal of the situation, I think the interpretation of standing films of your back and pelvis is deceiving.  It is not surprising one side of my pelvis might be higher than the other when my back muscles are rigid.  Additionally, most of us don’t stand perfectly straight- hence curvature of your spine and pelvis tilt. This seeds doubt in my mind regarding chiropractors. Nevertheless, I plan to return to tomorrow, and I am looking forward to the visit. The healing of my back appears to have slowed, undoubtedly hindered by my runs with my son, David, over the past couple of days.

Chiropractor- My back brings me back

         I have finished all my planned alternative adventures.  My book is finished and submitted to my agent.   One would guess that I will wipe my hands clean of this whole alternative medicine business and get back to my bread and butter- western medicine.  But no…I am a changed man.  This past Sunday while skiing with my family, I bent over awkwardly to help my 8 year old with his ski bindings and pop went my back.  During the drive home I could tell I was in trouble.  I suffered through work on Monday,  I called in sick on Tuesday, and by Wednesday I knew I needed help.  Where did I turn for help?  The chiropractor. 

                I manage to schedule a visit for Thursday after work.  The office is in a nice section of Asheville located on the second floor of a newer office building.  I am impressed with the office’s display of technology.  First, there is the electronic sign-in via a touch screen computer. Prompts help you illustrate where you have pain.  Everything appears modern- business must be doing well.  I meet my doctor, a short man with close cropped hair.  He s affable and about my age.  He quickly reviews my history and takes a couple of x-rays.  We review the films together and he notes that my left pelvis rides lower than my right- likely due to a shortened left leg.  I have been told this before- now I am beginning to believe. My spine has a normal curvature, but there is narrowing between my L4-L5 vertebra and in my left sacroiliac  joint.  He has me lie on the table and examines my back. It is pretty cool the way he feels around and then finds the point where the pain is most intense. With this knowledge in hand,  he then loosens up my back muscles with a vibrating machine and proceeds to adjustment my lower back.  It takes a few tries, but he eventually elicits a satisfying pop and exclaims that it worked.  I have been spared the high intensity cracking of my neck that I  dread.  I then am taken to a second room where I lie face up on an automated table  which has a roller which pushes up from the table and massages while also stretching the space between each vertebra.   It feels pretty good.

I walk out of the office feeling better, but not cured.  I wish I would have that eureka moment that others describe where a maneuver is performed and then as if by miracle all the pain is gone.  The next day at work I still have lower back pain, but perhaps not as bad.  Is it the adjustment or just another 24 hours of healing?

Craniosacral Therapy- The results

I have just completed a session of craniosacral therapy (CST). I have been told that as a result of the therapy my cerebrospinal fluid pulsations have returned to normal.

I get up slowly.  I am very relaxed.  I should be hurrying out of the office to pick up Thayer, my youngest son, and take him to his in-line hockey game.  Despite my normal Type A’ness, I am too calm to be rushed.  First, I must pay the bill.  The session costs $75 payable by credit card.   As I exit the office I again appreciate how blissfully calm I am. A pretty impressive short-term result: remember, I am a tiger dad.  I conclude I should have a pretty good next couple of days to weeks now that my CSF rhythms have been restored to normal.   I wonder why my CSF rhythm was so irregular to begin with.  I give my dad a call. Perhaps he can tell me about the conditions of my undoubtedly traumatic birth which must have led to my abnormal CSF pulsations.  Ideally my mom, the true eyewitness, would have related my birth experience to me, but she passed away four years ago, so my dad will have to do.  He is a retired obstetrician and should be fairly reliable.  Contrary to my assumption that my birth was a difficult one, he says it was fast and easy: no nuchal cord around my neck, no need to use forceps to extract me from the birth canal, no extended labor.   I guess it must be those lifelong hardships which have thrown me out of whack - exactly what those hardships are I am not sure.

A week after the CST session, I assess my general condition.  I have a bit of a headache, and my lower back discomfort is unchanged.  Reestablishing my CSF rhythm seems to have had no measurable impact.  Perhaps I need to go back for another session.  Maybe the plumbing of my cerebral system is out of whack again.  I did watch the Republican debates this week, a traumatic experience or perhaps more of a comedic one.  Could that have set me askew once again?  No, I think I am done for the time being. 

As I research the published scientific literature about CST, I come upon several articles regarding the use of CST for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  This is a topic which hits home for me.  My oldest son has Asperger’s syndrome, more recently renamed as high functioning autism.  Due to my obvious skepticism of CST, I am surprised to see the Autism Research Institute, a reputable group, included CST in their list of therapies to treat autism in 2011.[1]  CST is also included in a book on Cutting-edge Therapies for Autism published in 2010.[2]  Wanveer, a certified instructor for The Upledger Institute, was asked by Dr. John Upledger (yes, the very same founding father of modern CST), to address the benefits of CST for Autism.  Wanveer hypothesized that persons with autism have increased pro-inflammatory cytokines, neuroglial activation, and inflammatory changes in their cerebral spinal fluid.  The inflamed spinal fluid leads to loss of flexibility and likely inflammation of the membrane layers surrounding the brain. These can result in hampering of the brain function.  He claims that CST is able to “decrease the abnormal and often enormous strain the brain has been under” and thereby help the ASD person “come to newfound levels of tolerance, understanding, and response within themselves and with the world around them.” [3] 

Once again, I am skeptical.  Should my autistic son really receive CST?  Connor is a brilliant child.  He will want to see proof that CST really works before he gives it a try.  I log onto the Autism Research Institute site to confirm they still recommend CST for the treatment of Autism in 2015.[4]  What do I find?  Nothing.  All references to CST have been wiped clean from the site.  Apparently, they have had a change of heart.  I too am ready to move on.

---

[1] Zane T. A Review of Craniosacral Therapy- Science, Fads, and Applied Behavior Analysis. The Current Repertoire, Fall 2011, Newsletter of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies.

[2] Siri K, Lyons T. Cutting-edge therapies for autism: 2010-2011. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing, 2010.

[3] Wanveer T. Autism spectrum disorder: How craniosacral therapy can help. Massage Today. 2007; 7(7), 1-4.

[4] http://www.autism.com/ accessed 12/22/2015.