I went to a chiropractor on Wednesday — one who was recommended and whose services are covered by our health insurance. It brought back memories of when we took Mikah to a chiropractor when he was 2-1/2 months old. More on that later…
I was doing push-ups about 2 weeks ago and I felt something happen in my left trapezius muscle. I couldn’t say what exactly happened because I’ve never felt it before. The result has been an extremely sore neck and shoulder area, with changing areas of tenderness, and limited movement.
The chiropractor didn’t attempt to tell me what I could have done. Actually, I think he didn’t have a clue about what could have happened. He said any muscle injury along the spine that doesn’t stop hurting after 3 or 4 days will begin to pull the spine out of alignment. The tight muscles pull the spine over to where they are more stable. (And the result of that is that the muscles on the other side of the spine stretch.) His point was that we should never allow any injury to skew spinal alignment, for a couple reasons — better healing and prevention of joint degeneration.
Anyway, he said I was really out of alignment. After almost falling asleep under a heating pad placed on my back, he performed “the adjustment.” I heard some loud cracking sounds when he realigned my neck vertebrae during two manipulations. Then he did another two adjustments on my upper back vertebrae. What he didn’t tell me is that I would feel worse for awhile. I certainly dd and still do. My whole spine area hurts, my neck started hurting worse and I got a headache right away.
I will go back next Wednesday because it is likely that the adjustment didn’t stick. My tight muscles are probably pulling the spine out of alignment again. I am committed to being treated a few times to get through this injury, whatever it is. But I admit that I just keep thinking about those cracking sounds and the days of hurt following. 
I am certainly learning what it is like to live in pain. I’m not claiming that my pain is anything like those who suffer with extremely painful back injuries or fibromyalgia. But I have gotten a taste of the discomfort and I have more compassion for those who struggle with chronic illnesses or pain. God bless them.
And now I will tell you about our chiropractic miracle with our sweet Mikah…
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I went to a chiropractor after I was in a car accident many years ago. I fractured my sternum, and the hunching forward to favor that injury created some spinal misalignments, also there was slight whiplash to my neck. The first adjustment was so shocking, painful, and disorienting, that I went out to my car and cried a bit before going home. I did always feel sore for a day or two afterwards, because those muscles that were now being pulled into aligment rebel and want to contract to their injured state, I guess. Stick with it, I hope it helps!
My older son also went for a while after he was diagnosed with scoliosis at around the age of 9 or 10. The adjustments through his growth years helped, but when he became serious about weightlifting and developed his upper body muscles as an older teen, things really straightened out, and by his college physical, there was no trace of scoliosis left!
The right chiropractor can make all the difference! I had a great one when I was a kid — I babysat for his family, in fact. But then he moved away, and I couldn’t find a good one.
L&D with my first son was mostly good… but I had back labor/back pain SO BADLY that I almost caved and got medicated — not from the actual labor, but from my back. After that, I determined that I would have my back well-maintained by a good chiropractor throughout any other pregnancies.
I tracked down my old chiro, asked him to recommend someone, found that guy, and have been with him ever since.
I’m not 100% faithful to go all the time to the chiro, but I *always* make it a priority when I’m pregnant, and with my babies #2, 3 & 4, did not have back labor/back pain at all.
Dear Wardeh,
As a physical therapist, I want to reiterate what Dailystitches mentioned in terms of how weight training has helped her son’s spinal alignment. Your chiropractor should be able to recommend some exercises that you can do to maintain the alignment he achieves. I find that a lot of women live in a state of rotation stemming back to pregnancy, nursing, and the years of carrying a baby on the same hip all the time. In addition to greatly impacting the alignment of the cervical and lumbar spines,I have also found that thoracic misalignment seems to impact blood flow and can leave you feeling sluggish.
One more note: any time you get a massage or joint mobilization, be sure to drink extra water over the next couple of days to flush out the released toxins.