Have you ever been stretching after a nap, made the mistake of moving your neck wrong and found yourself with a severe crick in the neck? Or do you wake in the mornings and find that you simply can’t move your head without screaming pain in your neck? This was me for years. The smallest movement in the wrong direction could leave me unable to twist my head at all. I hated feeling like I was wearing a neck brace, and it was happening at least twice a month. The worst part is that it would take a few days for the pain to fully subside so I could enjoy full range of motion again.
I kept complaining to my wife about it. She kept telling me to go see a doctor. Then I would inform her that it wouldn’t matter, there was nothing they could do beyond telling me to take a Tylenol or prescribing NSAIDS. I was out on the golf course with a friend one day when I turned my head just the wrong way and found myself unable to finish the game. He pulled out his business card and scribbled the name of a chiropractor in the Totem Lake area on the back. Handing it to me, he made me promise to make an appointment. No excuses were allowed. He promised me that they could help and extracted a commitment that I would go see the doc.
The problem it turns out was a sublaxation of the spine in my upper back. It affected my neck and was causing the intermittent problems. I couldn’t believe there was a problem with my back because my back never really bothered me. The misery was all in my neck, so imagine my surprise when treating the spine actually worked. The frequency of my neck attacks gradually dwindled until it was no longer a problem.
Today, there are times when I make one of those little movements and I freeze, expecting the pain to return. But the pain is gone and I believe it’s gone forever. I still have to see the chiropractor occasionally to ensure that things stay in place in my spine, but I will happily do that if it means I never have to bail on a golf game early again.
