I have always sworn by my chiropractor. He is not the kind that pops you or does really fast work. He is slow, methodical, measures your body, does some sort of energy healing thing wit your brain and center point of your stomach. Really, it’s amazing. When I was 15 I was running out the door to jump in the car with my mom to go to my Granny’s, when I slipped and fell on the ice. Being me, I jumped up got in the car half heatedly laughing and crying telling mom I fell and it really hurt. It was that sort of pain where you want to cry when you hit your funny bone, but laugh too? Fifteen minutes later we were at Granny’s and within an hour I could not move. I couldn’t sit, stand, lay, nothing. I was in tears and I was a tough kid, for me to cry was a pretty big deal.
My mom called my dad who brought the truck and drove me to the hospital.


I will never forget the procedures that followed. They involved a strange ER doctor, his thumb, and parts of my body that NO ONE will ever explore again. Not without me kicking and screaming anyways.. Alas, after that painful experience and an X-Ray it was determined I had a broken tailbone. After some pain meds and a few days of rest (and no, we did not get the little inflatable donut because I refused ..) I was back at it.


Fast forward to that summer I started training on mu high school’s competitive cheerleading squad. I was a base and did a LOT of heavy lifting. But I loved it. About one year after that slip on the ice, we were working hard practicing long hours to prepare for Nationals. My back really started to bother me; we went to several doctors, I wore the best shoes for back pain, I was prescribed many pain meds and different exercises to do to strengthen my back (which I was already doing as part of practices). But nothing helped. I was able to sit in a weird position with a coke bottle behind my back and it would alleviate the pain a bit; it was more comfortable either bent over touching my toes or laying on my side. Finally, one day I popped my top girl up, she fulled, came down like she was supposed to and as I cradled her, I fell. I couldn’t move and the tears just started streaming. She was my best friend and was immediately concerned. My coach was a tough coach, but knew my practice ethics. She told me to get up, asked if I could do it again; I told her I would try. We did the stunt again and this time, I was done. I collapsed and could barely walk. I spent the next few weeks sitting out doped up on pain medicines and really pissed upset that I couldn’t practice. We saw doctor after doctor. They did XRays and tests, because they couldn’t see anything it must be “in the muscle” and I was given more medicines for pain.


We finally found this doctor who was like German or something… he didn’t speak clear English and was too smart to understand even if he did. Another doctor came in the room to explain what the primary doctor saw on the x ray.


I had a broken vertebrae. It is the L5ish area, my lower spine. We can only assume it happened when I fell that day on the ice, running to the car. I continued with cheer practice shortly after that and made it to Nationals with the help of my top rubbing me down every single day with icy hot. My cheerleading was altered as I had to modify how I did everything, although no one really knew that. I remember coming home from Nationals, my mom had bought me a photo album to fill up with the next years’ pictures from cheering. I just cried and cried telling her there was no way I could cheer again. I hurt too bad.


I am now convinced that had we known what miraculous things a chiropractor can do, I would have been able to cheer again. Like in everything, it isn’t the practice of chiropractic medicine that’s a problem; it’s the doctor you go see. I’ve heard horror stories of doctors that pop, get on top of you and cause more pain. My doctor in Hot Springs is so gentle, easy, relaxed and takes his time. He also believes in a holistic approach to medicine and well being.


From that winter in 2000 until 2007 I had more back, neck and shoulder pain than any young person under 25 should ever experience. A friend of mine told me to go see someone similar to this seattle orthopedic surgeon, just in case something was wrong. You hear of all these horrible stories about neck pain and you always have that thought in the back of your mind that this is more serious than you thought. I’d even heard that neck pain can be one of the symptoms of Craniocervical instability (CCI) which is where the ligaments supporting your head and upper neck become loose which could lead to many more issues if left untreated. So obviously you then do your research and I found that places similar to this CCI Institute at Centeno-Schultz Clinic would be able to give me all the advice I should need if I do actually have this condition. But without getting it checked, you will never know. I just hated being in this pain. I was miserable; J.Tom was constantly rubbing out my shoulders, my jaw. I had TMJ so bad there were nights I could not eat dinner; not surprisingly that started when I was about 16. I would cry, I was in so much pain and I started to get headaches from my jaw hurting and being to tight. Then one morning I couldn’t get out of bed. I asked J.Tom about his Castle Hill Chiropractor and wanted his number and I went. I saw him once a month for 3 months, then about every 3 months for another year or so. Between him and getting a massage every 6-9 months, my body didn’t even feel like it belonged to me! I was a new person.


Today, I have NO jaw pain, NO back pain, NO shoulder pains, and NO neck pains. None. No, really, none. And I have carried and delivered a nine pound baby. I believe in the power of an overall health approach; physical and spiritual. Do you think those doctors would have told my mom to send me to a chiropractor when I was 15? Absolutely not, because somewhere in history the FDA probably said that is not an appropriate therapy for children. And can you image why the FDA would say that? Money. Because it would be too effective and would not cost enough money, like the continual use of medicines would.


I am convinced that my chiropractor, the use of occasional massages, and stretching my body though yoga truly changed my quality of life. Not a pain pill or some other medicine that puts money in the pocket of some millionaire billionaire company while it masks the symptoms I feel (and causes other life debilitating side effects). No. Me (and my “physical therapists”). I was persistent, found GREAT therapists to do the medicine, and here I am today feeling a million times better.


Now, what got me on this topic is a new blog I came across. This girl impresses me to the core. She is what I aspire to be. No, I’m serious. It’s amazing. You can find her here:http://mamaandbabylove.blogspot.com/
She posted a blog about using a chiropractor for her daughter; she was born with misalignment. The things the doctor told her are what I have always believed- that being in good alignment can really change your life. You have to be persistent and stay on top of it, but it truly can help your health. You ENTIRE health. This doctor pointed her to a study showing that children who died with SIDS had the same misalignment in their neck that her daughter did. This was because the nuerons did not fire properly from the spine and brain to get oxygen through their tiny bodies. (I have also read studies done that showed a correlation to the timing of vaccinations to that of SIDS).


I am due for an alignment, as it has been sine well before Lexie was born that I needed adjusting, and I think it is time just for my well being. Also, women use adjustment during pregnancy to turn a breeched baby, help with labor pains, release pressure in the lower body and pelvic area, all sorts of things. It is truly amazing. At her blog, “Mama and Baby Love” talks about how easy and gentle, slow and methodically her doctor works, and it describes my doctor to a Tee. I was very excited to read about her daughter’s experience, and how he has helped them.


Being out of alignment, as she writes from her doctor, changes the amount of oxygen your brain and body receive. Can you imagine the health issues we have because our bodies are out of alignment? And some of us are so severely out of alignment that it could take months and months of therapy to get to normal. Another reason why you need to continue it periodically is because we wear shoes and carry bags, tiny humans 27 lb babies, furniture, etc. that gets us all out of wack again. I suggest reading her post, doing a few google searches, and then asking around for a good chiropractor who works from his OWN office *not some mainstreaming clinic*


Just give it a try. If you are miserable now, I promise it can only help.