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Chronic cervical and low back pain...with stiffness and loss of range of motion
by Ron
Hello Doctor, Glad you gave the warning about the English....I guess, I am lucky; I made an 'A' in English in college...but anyway, I am 43 y.o. male, athletic build; and used to perform olympic weightlifting in my youth...I do not think my neck and back problems are related to the olympic weightlifting...since the symptoms started years after my prime...I think it is more work related...I work as a home health physical therapist and I am in a sitted position for a few hours a day while driving to my patient's homes...yeah, yeah, yeah..I have had people look at me and even laugh...and say.."Really?!....a physical therapist with neck and back pain?!.."..and they bust out LAUGHING.!!...Pardon me..but ...uhhh...physical therapist does not translate to SUPERMAN!!...News Flash!...I am human...wow!...image that!....;-D THAT is what I have tell some folks...believe it or not...I would love to be able to dislocate my shoulders and give myself grade 3 and grade 4 mobilizations to the spine...but guess what?!...I am unable to do that!...wow!..oh, yeah...I almost forgot myself...I am HUMAN!...I cannot dislocate my shoulders and move them in an anatomical position that would be impossible to do self mobilizations....THEREFORE; I need a chiropractor to do the stretching and mobilizations for me!...WOW!..What a stroke of genius! ;-D Let someone else who is skilled do the treatments on me... Ok ..ok...well, you can see what I am up against...I cannot function very well at home or at work because my neck and back pain is getting worse...if it goes untreated..I will be getting offers to play the TIN-MAN....or a ROBOT...in the upcoming movie!...(uhh, ok..that was supposed to be sarcastic!)..;-D... My question is how often do I need to get treatments....for my neck and back?...and once I get within normal or functional limits..how often should I come in to maintain a good functional posture? I do self stretching at home daily, but it is limited...I can only do so much..the neck and back is really where I need the treatments...especially the mobilizations to get my spine in proper alignment. Thank you Ron Hello Ron, I can see why you got an A for English! A fun read, perhaps you should think of writing as a side-line. It's fun - my hobby too. The probability is that the condition you have is typical of the spinal fixations that cause stiffness initially, then pain, and finally radiation to the limbs and arthritis (called Immobilisation Arthritis) if you do nothing about it. It's a Chiropractor's bread-and-butter. There are other conditions - like psoriatic arthritis, for example, really quite rare - that can cause these symptoms. So, what is needed is a thorough examination, and perhaps some X-rays. Your Chiropractor will advise you. It's great that you are already doing stretches and exercise. Vital for all of us, but especially with these symptoms and your heavy work. S/he will advise you if your program needs to be updated or changed. Your other questions I think will be answered at http://www.bernard-preston.com/Consulting-a-Chiropractor.html I hope this has contributed. Ps. Seriously, think about writing, starting with some short stories. This is my third book: New … hot off the digital press STOP PRESS: Stones in my Clog by my alter ego, Bernard Preston, his third book has just become available for the first time as an ebook for just $2.99. Our STORE … |
