I toyed with the idea of seeing a chiropractor for 10 years
when my lower back began to feel painful and stiff. I was leery - the spine
seems such a fragile structure. I decided that I'd go if I was referred by
someone I trusted - no letting my fingers do the walking. I had to do something
when my back pains grew more severe. I was losing mobility in my neck and
shoulders. Acquaintances, including Joanna, my yoga instructor, recommended
Dr. Trimboli and said she had helped them. "She's not only a chiropractor.
She's a gifted healer," Joanna told me. That was all I needed to hear.
I called for an appointment.
On my first visit, after x-rays, Dr. Nancy didn't see arthritis in my hips,
surprising me. Aching hips kept me up nights for almost a year. I had arthritis
in my neck, a pinched nerve (subluxation) and a compressed disc. I started
treatment three times a week. I was nervous. She assured me the adjustments
would be gentle. "My last patient was eight months old," she smiled."And
she did okay." I was appropriately humbled.
After my second adjustment, my hips stopped aching and the tension from the back of my neck and head eased. I looked forward to decreasing pain in my lower back, mimicking sciatica.
I couldn't bend or stoop without extreme pain.
I could walk or run, but sitting hurt. I worried that I would become an invalid,
like my father had. Three weeks into treatment, Dr. Nancy scheduled a workshop
on trigger points and asked me to attend. I was extremely interested, having
found a book on that topic in her waiting room. I skimmed The Trigger Point
Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, and read the chapter on lower back and hip pain. I read about Kenny, 42,
a long-haul trucker who suffered from aching and burning that thrust deep
into the buttock and down the thigh. This sounded like my symptoms. "You
may find yourself constantly changing position while sitting. Your hips may
feel stiff, you may have difficulty getting up out of a chair. You can no
longer bend over and touch your toes." Exercising did not help, but instead
exacerbated the pain.
Realizing that my back problem was described so exactly, I had to find out
more about trigger points. In an illustration, the book showed where to place
a tennis ball to massage a trigger point deep in the muscle. I attending a
workshop before trying the deep tissue massage technique. It looked simple,
but I wanted to be sure I knew what I was doing. In the workshop, we practiced
locating and holding pressure on trigger points in the shoulder and along
the side of the spine. The next day, I tried massaging my hip and back with
a tennis ball. The muscles behind my left hip were so tight, I could no longer
bend without pain. Placing a tennis ball on the floor and pressing my hip
against it felt excruciating - I did it only for 30 seconds, moving it slowly,
according to the book's descriptions. Afterward, I held ice to it. The next
day, I tried again and felt improvement. In fact, I was able to bend slightly
in ways I hadn't been able to that morning. Excited, I decided to continue
the treatment. On my next visit to the chiropractor, I told Dr. Nancy I had
a breakthrough in my pain. "That's exciting, isn't it?" she said.
I did still have pain in one section of my lower back, close to the spine.
She worked on the nerve in that area. I worked with the tennis ball every
day, massaging for a minute at a time, twice a day. After several days , I
felt my muscle flatten and the pain recede. It was so pronounced an effect
that I immediately stood up to see if I could bend forward without pain. I
could.
After a month of chiropractic treatment, I still have some discomfort when
I sit, but the searing pain I suffered is gone. I am back to working in my
garden - I have complete mobility restored so that bending and stooping are
no problem. I can exercise again. When I feel my muscles tense, I make sure
to massage those trigger points when I get home. I even bought The Trigger
Point Therapy Workbook at a local bookstore so I could know more about how
it works.
I am grateful to Dr. Nancy for her adjustments, restoring my spine and nerves
to health, and for her natural approach to healing. There is nothing like
getting well without expensive medication, without the trauma of surgery,
and with treatment I can do.
Connie Sowa Wachala
