I shouldn’t be complaining but here I go: my back hurts like hell. I have been taking megadoses of ibuprofen for quite a few days. Yes, I know the side effects, and yes, I also know that even though the medication is not really improving the situation much, it does take the edge off. Without ibuprofen, there are waves of pain shivers going through me.
After wrestling with myself over the expense, I’ve decided to try chiropractic care again with Dr. Michael Berry at La Costa Chiropractic. Previously, I visited Dr. Berry when I had unexplained dizziness for over three months. I had seen specialist after specialist without any relief. I had so many tests done to rule out brain cancer, ear cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, other inner ear abnormalities, and after thousands of dollars and many weeks of hand wringing later, nobody could tell me what was wrong.
One evening, sitting out at the public pool, I met up with my friend, Kathy. I told her all that I had been going through and I mentioned I was tired of conventional medicine and that I was now going to find an alternative treatment. I figured at this point I could do no harm. She highly recommended Dr. Berry and I made an appointment for the next day which happened to be a Saturday. I love that La Costa Chiropractic has Saturday appointments.
Fast forward three weeks and my dizziness is gone. As a side effect of treatment, my back pain is also gone. What an incredible side effect — nothing incredibly scary sounding like on those commercials for Xylinex (a made-up Rx).
I had the kind of back pain where I received steroid injections a couple times per year. In my spine. Sure, the shots helped for a little bit but then they would wear off. Sometimes they didn’t help at all, and there were times when I truly worried that the doctor was going to accidentally paralyze me with his needle.
Imagine my surprise and delight at my back not hurting anymore on top of not being dizzy after visiting Dr. Berry. I don’t think I could have gotten any happier or thankful for the pain relief I had. I was so convinced that Dr. Berry was the key to my back happiness that I canceled all my future appointments with my spine dude.
And now here I am once again in pain. In all fairness, it’s been four years of bliss. I may have had an issue now and again but it never lasted very long, and it has been approximately two years since I’ve seen Dr. Berry. He does recommend monthly tune-ups once he gets you all fixed up, but I either never found the time or I didn’t think I could afford the treatment. Of course I could have paid for the treatment, but I always found more interesting things to buy instead like sweaters.
My third appointment is this morning. Typically when you get started, it’s a couple back-to-back (no pun intended) and then he starts spreading the appointments out. It’s meant to get your body back to its correct position. I guess it’s like when orthodontists use a retainer — your teeth, like your back, want to go to the position it is used to.
Pain is not a pleasant state to be in, and I cannot wait for the sweet relief.
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