Thread: Chiropractors?
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Old 10-06-2006, 03:39 PM
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GenuineRisk GenuineRisk is offline
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Hey, Gander,

I've done chiropractic, acupuncture, feldenkreis (or however it's spelled), etc for chronic back pain, in my case. I think the treatment depends on what is causing your neck pain. If it is from years of bad posture, yes, it'll take a while, but if you haven't felt any relief yet from chiropractic, I wonder if that will work for you (has anyone had it where they didn't feel relief soon after the first session, but eventually did?). When I went, I felt the same after the session, but the next day I woke up and realized I wasn't in pain anymore. So if you're not getting relief yet, I start to wonder if it's the right treatment. But I'm not a chiropracter; I don't know.

If it's stress, or something like that, acupuncture might really help. I promise it doesn't hurt, and actually feels pretty cool when they get a needle right into a bad spot-- I feel the muscle clench up tight around the needle and then start to relaaaaax and I get so very sleeeeeepy. I never didn't fall asleep during acupuncture. If the acupuncturist trained in Asia, they might do some other odd techniques-- vacuum cupping and... I can't remember the other one-- coining, or something like that.

If it's all bad posture related, I suggest, if you can find it in your area, anyone who might offer the Alexander technique of movement-- it's a way of learning to move, walk, etc. that focuses on getting the body into proper alignment and stuff. I really liked it in college-- actors study it because a tight body can block emotional responses so we really need to be able to be relaxed onstage. Great for gently moving you back into alignment for the long term (and not a bad workout, either, as it keeps you moving).

In my case, I finally realized my back pain was connected to my hips (bad hips run in the family) so I started doing yoga stretches designed to stretch the hip muscles and that seems to keep the pain at bay for me. Your neck problems may result from another part of your body not moving right. So you might want to look into a yoga class-- I know, it seems girly, but it's really quite a physical workout and where else do you get to see oodles of women stretching and contorting without having to tip them?

I should note there are lots of great partnered stretches in yoga you can do with your wife...

But check with your doctor first-- yoga is not for everyone. Again, it depends on the cause of your pain.

Hope that helps and hope to see you tomorrow at Belmont!
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