But as you may recall from an earlier posting, my Body took quite a beating from the job I left back in February. In the three years I was there, I had not darkened the doors of a gym a single time (in spite of paying for my membership religiously), I had succumbed to the off-hours comfort of solitary eating and television, and worked long hours in an environment of chronic stress and wicked ergonomics. I was perched motionless in front of my computer screen for hours on end as if I’d been assimilated into the Borg - "Resistance is irrelevant." It’s a wonder I was still alive after years of such terrible abuse.
I had gained 40 pounds during my tenure at that job. My gut looked like it held a bowling ball; I had lost any semblance of normal energy; my muscles were so clenched from constant stress and computer use that an hour-and-a-half message session did little to ease my discomfort. One hapless, exhausted massage therapist asked me at the conclusion of a session: “What are you made of??!”
Beyond that, my cholesterol had skyrocketed, my triglyceride count was astronomical, my fasting glucose levels were inching up to the edge of “elevated” and my blood pressure, always normal even under considerable duress, had finally escalated into the “high” territory. Given my family’s extensive history of diabetes and hypertension, the overall picture was – to put it mildly – alarming.
My primary care physician had administered a statin and a water pill, but they seemed to be only marginally effective at normalizing the disturbing numbers. My problem was a body in severe decay, stressed in ways it was not designed to endure.
My immediate need upon departing the job was serious R&R. My estimate had been that it would take about two months to get back to “normal.” Let’s just say it: I underestimated. After two months, I was still 40 pounds overweight, still had high blood pressure, still had alarming blood chemistry, and was only starting to get some energy back.
One good decision I made as I was getting ready to leave my job was to enlist the services of a terrific chiropractor – Dr. Ken Lounsbury of Inner Balance Chiropractic here in San Diego. He, too (it turns out), underestimated the severity of my problems, but graciously agreed to take me on as a client.
And he, too, inquired after the first session as to my composition. He said, knocking on a wooden table, “Adjusting you is like trying to adjust this.” I knew my neck muscles were tight and sore, my legs were like rocks, and my neck hurt a little bit – but these symptoms had existed for so long – much longer than the three years I was at that job – that I had forgotten what “normal” was. Grabbing a hold of the granite knots in my shoulders, he said that normally these muscles are reasonably soft and pliant, even without adjustment. Attempting in vain to adjust my upper back, he said, “Normally I can give a patient immediate and noticeable relief with this adjustment – You, I can’t budge.”
He was as gentle as he could possibly be, considering the extent of the damage and injury. He used a powerful massage unit in his attempt to achieve movement in some of the affected areas. At times it felt like he was heaving boulders at my back (although honestly the experience was not really painful because the muscles were just too damn tight to register pain). And he smeared the muscles with a powerful SOMBRA
deep-heating gel that most people say heats the area for many hours – I barely felt the heat for more than an hour. He repeated these strenuous treatments a couple of times a week for the first two months of slow progress, gradually encouraging movement in new areas with tools and devices I had never seen before.The only real pain came when he pounded my chest to release my breastbone. He said, “In normal people, this area moves.” I honestly had no idea.
Nearly four months later, I’m down to weekly sessions, my shoulder muscles are actually reasonably soft in spite of my renewed computer activity, my leg muscles are starting to release, and my neck, although still painful, is clearly making progress. I took giddy pleasure at his recent compliment: “You’re almost like adjusting a human being now!”
He’s augmented my adjustments with targeted stretching, and the progress and improvement in my energy and well-being are obvious. For any readers who are similarly confined to a computer workstation, I recommend the kind of highly-targeted chiropractic Ken Lounsbury performs wholeheartedly.
A number of my friends initially discouraged me from consulting a chiropractor, saying “You ought to go to a ‘real’ doctor," as unintentionally insulting as that advice was. And in fact, I didn’t even bother consulting my primary care physician, because so often their evaluation of chiropractors is simply flat-out derogatory and prejudicial. I just made a decision and stuck with it. I am so glad I did. I’m not the same crippled wreck who hobbled into Dr. Ken's office, and it was all done without drugs or medication of any kind.
Dr. Ken told me that chiropractors used to be consulted as much for immune ailments as for spinal problems – such was the power of their craft. He said, “I’ll take care of your aches and pains, and enhance your immune function for free.” In fact, it appears that much fewer people who receive regular chiropractic care ever come down with the flu. I cannot attest to this from personal experience, and I plan to continue getting my annual flu vaccination.
As is true with every post on my blog, I’ll repeat it: Your mileage may vary. You may wish to consult your physician before plunging into chiropractic. You will want to do your own research. And you may not achieve the results I’m achieving. But I can’t deny the power of my personal experience. This stuff is working -- like gangbusters.
In the next post, I’ll address the curious bowling ball in my gut.
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