Untwisting
ByI am a mess, so says my chiropractor. I’ve been in for three adjustments in the past two weeks, and things are not yet beginning to feel better. Apparently, I have worked my way into a twisted up state–like a gold chain left to its own devices in the bottom of a purse. Muscles in my neck and lower back have crossed on top of each other. Muscles in my quads are like piano wires from overfiring while those in my hamstrings are lax as noodles.
I went to see Dr. Nichole Freeman because she works in my acupuncturist’s office and I really like her. A lot. She’s spent whole hours working on me, not just adjusting but maneuvering muscles, using traction on my neck and lower back, using capsacin ointments and massage. And, she’s nice to boot.
The Saturday before the wedding I barely made it through the day taking narcotics and muscle relaxants because my lower back was on fire. Rack it up to stress or being sedentary or too many dips at the salsa club the weekend before, I couldn’t stand or walk or sit comfortably. Flat on my back was the only posture that gave me any relief.
My neck and my low back have given me problems for years–my neck since my first car accident in 1990, when I was hit head-on by a driver whose car jumped the median as he endured a seizure while driving, my low back since my worst accident in 2003, when the Jeep Grand Cherokee was broadsided by a drunk driver going fast enough that the impact of his Toyota Camry spun my SUV one and a half times. That accident dislocated my lower spine and my hip, reversed the curve of my neck and put me into months of neuro-rehab after a moderate closed-head injury that made me blow my left pupil. Scary times, which I (gratefully) don’t really remember. One benefit of short-term-memory loss, I suppose.
Chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and physical therapists, along with copious amounts of ibuprofen, Flexerall and narcotic painkillers, have kept me up and moving since then. Sometimes, I can get adjustments to hold for many months. But if I don’t go in for tune-ups, then I wind up where I am now.
My previous chiropractor closed her doors over a year ago, and I hadn’t bothered to find anyone new, relying on acupuncture and massage to keep me moving. As long as I add PT-style exercises to the regimen, I do OK. But since late July, I’ve been lazy, relying on dancing as my sole source of exercise. Big mistake. About six weeks ago, my lower back started to ache in this spiky-burning way I know means nothing good. I ignored it, caught up with work and the wedding. I got a massage two weeks ago when I couldn’t sit in my office chair but for about 15 minutes at a time, and that only made it worse. Which brought me to Dr. Freeman.
Apparently, the reason my back hurts–and likely also the reason I’ve had a shitload of trouble spinning and keeping my balance while dancing lately–is because my left hip was partially dislocated (again), pulled up and back. Who knows how that happened. My right glute muscles have been compensating, as has the right side of my neck (because everything is connected like a bunch of pulleys). Over the past three adjustments, we’ve gotten my hips almost realigned, but the adjustments aren’t holding so Dr. Freeman gave me a very sexy hip belt that actually feels wonderful to wear. In getting my hips back in place, my neck had become a huge, swollen, hot mess–literally hot to the touch.
On Thursday, driving home from work the pain was so much I almost vomited. I had another adjustment on Friday afternoon which made things feel better for a few hours, but by yesterday, my neck was back to it’s twisted mess and the nausea and headache have been unbearable. Last night we went to Steve’s sister’s house, and his brother-in-law, who has MS, gave me a couple of his meds that help with nerve pain, which I’m using today to stay upright somewhat.
I’m not certain I’ll be able to make it through the day at work tomorrow. I may need to add some physical therapy to my regimen, and I’m out of my muscle relaxants and pain meds, which allow me to groggily get through the day. I’m calling my doctor first thing tomorrow for an appointment, with the hope of getting in tomorrow. I’ll go back to Dr. Freeman, maybe Tuesday. I have no idea if I’ll make it to salsa rehearsal tomorrow night, and if I do, how much I’ll be able to do. No back bends, and since I can barely turn my head to the left, spins may not be in my immediate future either.
Dr. Freeman says that the compressed nerves in my neck at C2, which are being pinched because two muscles that should lay side-by-side have twisted over themselves, have an effect on mood, which may explain my sense of malaise lately. All I know is I haven’t felt well enough for the past two days to do much more than sit upright on the couch and walk around the house a bit. We’ll see how tomorrow goes, but I don’t have high hopes.
Yep, I’m a mess.
