OT Now I really hurt myself

Luna wrote:

In article , George Parton
wrote:


Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds me
of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve your
discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is your
choice.


What makes me suspicious of chiropractors are the claims that it can cure
just about everything. You're depressed? It's because your spine is out
of alignment! Got cancer? It's because of your spine! That kind of crap.
I also remember reading the results of a study saying that chiropractors
weren't any more effective than massage therapists. I've been to a massage
therapist before, and while it is relaxing, if I have a real injury in my
neck I don't think rubbing and squeezing it would be a good idea.


Recently, within the past couple of years, Reader's Digest did a
national test here in Australia, sending *patients* with the same
symptoms to several dozen chiropractors, country-wide. Only a half dozen
or so made the same diagnosis and even they did not all recommend the
same treatment. The same thing was done by a current affair/news program
with similar results. They also interviewed a range of people with
damage attributed to chiropractors or to failing to obtain timely
medical assistance because they were relying on the chiropractor.

How could you take the *profession* seriously?

Regarding the neck pain however, if it recurs, it will need to be looked
at by medical professionals. A number of illnesses and diseases have
sudden onset, acute neck pain as a symptom. Lyme disease for one. Have
you been bitten by a tick in the past year or two?

Regards

David



--

To reply, please include the letters DNF anywhere in the subject line.

All other mail is automatically deleted.

Luna wrote:
In article , George Parton
wrote:

Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds me
of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve your
discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is your
choice.

What makes me suspicious of chiropractors are the claims that it can cure
just about everything. You're depressed? It's because your spine is out
of alignment! Got cancer? It's because of your spine! That kind of crap.
I also remember reading the results of a study saying that chiropractors
weren't any more effective than massage therapists. I've been to a massage
therapist before, and while it is relaxing, if I have a real injury in my
neck I don't think rubbing and squeezing it would be a good idea.

There's more to massage therapy than 'rubbing and squeezing'. If what's
happened with your neck is that you triggered a muscle spasm and now have
ischemic areas in the muscle that are causing serious pain,
re-establishing full blood flow to the spasm area is about the only way to
relieve the pain without medication.

You can try this on yourself without risking any damage. Find a spot that
really hurts when you press on it. Apply pressure with a fingertip for
15-20 seconds - just a little more than you think you can stand. When you
release, you should feel temporary relief as the blood flows back into the
target area. If that helps, repeat it every few hours until the pain
recedes. Icing in between is a big help since that will first reduce any
swelling and then increase blood flow once you've removed it. Don't be
tempted to overuse ice, 15-20 minutes several times a day is plenty.

Necks are very susceptible to spasm problems since so many people tend to
have low-level tension in them most of the time and have tight, shortened
muscles from stress and bad postural habits.

Dan
325/199/180
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

Luna wrote:
In article , George Parton
wrote:

Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds me
of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve your
discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is your
choice.

What makes me suspicious of chiropractors are the claims that it can cure
just about everything. You're depressed? It's because your spine is out
of alignment! Got cancer? It's because of your spine! That kind of crap.
I also remember reading the results of a study saying that chiropractors
weren't any more effective than massage therapists. I've been to a massage
therapist before, and while it is relaxing, if I have a real injury in my
neck I don't think rubbing and squeezing it would be a good idea.

There's more to massage therapy than 'rubbing and squeezing'. If what's
happened with your neck is that you triggered a muscle spasm and now have
ischemic areas in the muscle that are causing serious pain,
re-establishing full blood flow to the spasm area is about the only way to
relieve the pain without medication.

You can try this on yourself without risking any damage. Find a spot that
really hurts when you press on it. Apply pressure with a fingertip for
15-20 seconds - just a little more than you think you can stand. When you
release, you should feel temporary relief as the blood flows back into the
target area. If that helps, repeat it every few hours until the pain
recedes. Icing in between is a big help since that will first reduce any
swelling and then increase blood flow once you've removed it. Don't be
tempted to overuse ice, 15-20 minutes several times a day is plenty.

Necks are very susceptible to spasm problems since so many people tend to
have low-level tension in them most of the time and have tight, shortened
muscles from stress and bad postural habits.

Dan
325/199/180
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

In article ,
"J. David Anderson" wrote:

Luna wrote:

In article , George Parton
wrote:


Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds me
of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve your
discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is your
choice.


What makes me suspicious of chiropractors are the claims that it can cure
just about everything. You're depressed? It's because your spine is out
of alignment! Got cancer? It's because of your spine! That kind of crap.
I also remember reading the results of a study saying that chiropractors
weren't any more effective than massage therapists. I've been to a massage
therapist before, and while it is relaxing, if I have a real injury in my
neck I don't think rubbing and squeezing it would be a good idea.


Recently, within the past couple of years, Reader's Digest did a
national test here in Australia, sending *patients* with the same
symptoms to several dozen chiropractors, country-wide. Only a half dozen
or so made the same diagnosis and even they did not all recommend the
same treatment. The same thing was done by a current affair/news program
with similar results. They also interviewed a range of people with
damage attributed to chiropractors or to failing to obtain timely
medical assistance because they were relying on the chiropractor.

How could you take the *profession* seriously?

Regarding the neck pain however, if it recurs, it will need to be looked
at by medical professionals. A number of illnesses and diseases have
sudden onset, acute neck pain as a symptom. Lyme disease for one. Have
you been bitten by a tick in the past year or two?

Regards

David

Nah. But as I said before, I've been in a car wreck, I've been hit in the
head a couple of times with basketballs, and I don't know if I mentioned
this but my computer chair isn't super-comfy (it's supposed to be a dining
room chair) and I don't have the best pillows or mattress either. So,
there are tons of things that could be contributing to the neck pain. I do
get swollen glands there when I'm sick too, which do hurt, and even though
I don't feel sick now I was definitely exposed to something at DragonCon
because most everyone I worked with got a cold. So, maybe I have a mild
infection and this is the only, or the first, symptom. Oh, there's also
the TMJ, which is stress related, and the jaw muscles and tension in the
jaw could definitely affect the neck, right?. That's actually my first
guess as to why I have this recurring neck pain.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

In article ,
"J. David Anderson" wrote:

Luna wrote:

In article , George Parton
wrote:


Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds me
of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve your
discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is your
choice.


What makes me suspicious of chiropractors are the claims that it can cure
just about everything. You're depressed? It's because your spine is out
of alignment! Got cancer? It's because of your spine! That kind of crap.
I also remember reading the results of a study saying that chiropractors
weren't any more effective than massage therapists. I've been to a massage
therapist before, and while it is relaxing, if I have a real injury in my
neck I don't think rubbing and squeezing it would be a good idea.


Recently, within the past couple of years, Reader's Digest did a
national test here in Australia, sending *patients* with the same
symptoms to several dozen chiropractors, country-wide. Only a half dozen
or so made the same diagnosis and even they did not all recommend the
same treatment. The same thing was done by a current affair/news program
with similar results. They also interviewed a range of people with
damage attributed to chiropractors or to failing to obtain timely
medical assistance because they were relying on the chiropractor.

How could you take the *profession* seriously?

Regarding the neck pain however, if it recurs, it will need to be looked
at by medical professionals. A number of illnesses and diseases have
sudden onset, acute neck pain as a symptom. Lyme disease for one. Have
you been bitten by a tick in the past year or two?

Regards

David

Nah. But as I said before, I've been in a car wreck, I've been hit in the
head a couple of times with basketballs, and I don't know if I mentioned
this but my computer chair isn't super-comfy (it's supposed to be a dining
room chair) and I don't have the best pillows or mattress either. So,
there are tons of things that could be contributing to the neck pain. I do
get swollen glands there when I'm sick too, which do hurt, and even though
I don't feel sick now I was definitely exposed to something at DragonCon
because most everyone I worked with got a cold. So, maybe I have a mild
infection and this is the only, or the first, symptom. Oh, there's also
the TMJ, which is stress related, and the jaw muscles and tension in the
jaw could definitely affect the neck, right?. That's actually my first
guess as to why I have this recurring neck pain.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

It was probably the car wreck that ruined your neck. Neck and back injuries
never heal right, and the doctors are ineffective.

In article ,
"Cubit" wrote:

It was probably the car wreck that ruined your neck. Neck and back injuries
never heal right, and the doctors are ineffective.



It could be. I remember it felt mildly sore for a few days after the wreck
and then felt fine. This recurring pain didn't show up until almost a year
afterwards, I think. Yeah, because I remember it started during a
particular play in college, when I was a stage manager and I had to sit in
this really awkward stool/desk thingy backstage, and I got sciatic pain and
neck pain. So maybe my neck was already injured and the desk situation
made it flare up? Anyway, whatever. It just sucks and one day I'll have a
job with health insurance or I'll marry a rich guy and see if I can get it
fixed. In the meantime, I'll do what I can about the TMJ, get a better
desk chair, and some better pillows, continue to work out and start doing
yoga again, and start meditating. Maybe one or some of those things will
help. Even if I can't afford to do what's _best_ for it, whatever that is,
at least I can do _something_.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

In article ,
"Cubit" wrote:

It was probably the car wreck that ruined your neck. Neck and back injuries
never heal right, and the doctors are ineffective.



It could be. I remember it felt mildly sore for a few days after the wreck
and then felt fine. This recurring pain didn't show up until almost a year
afterwards, I think. Yeah, because I remember it started during a
particular play in college, when I was a stage manager and I had to sit in
this really awkward stool/desk thingy backstage, and I got sciatic pain and
neck pain. So maybe my neck was already injured and the desk situation
made it flare up? Anyway, whatever. It just sucks and one day I'll have a
job with health insurance or I'll marry a rich guy and see if I can get it
fixed. In the meantime, I'll do what I can about the TMJ, get a better
desk chair, and some better pillows, continue to work out and start doing
yoga again, and start meditating. Maybe one or some of those things will
help. Even if I can't afford to do what's _best_ for it, whatever that is,
at least I can do _something_.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

George Parton wrote:
Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds
me of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve
your discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is
your choice.


I'm not too surprised, but I agree, Luna needs to hear both sides.

I too have a recurring neck problem as well as a lower back problem.
I've been to more medical and chiropractic professionals than I can
count. Here's the rundown.

A medical professional can do several things for you. They will
probably start by taking numerous expensive tests, which might or might
not discover anything new, but they can rule out the more dangerous
possibilities. Then they will prescribe meds, either pain medication,
or muscle relaxers, which might or might not help you. They can also
send you to physical therapy which might or might not help you. Or they
will send you on to a specialist who might want to cut you open and do
something drastic. Also might or might not help you.

There are some chiropractors who are crooks. Most of them at least
believe strongly in what they do. And you're right that some of them
think that chiropractic will cure every ill in the universe. That is
probably false. One thing that chiropractic has been scientifically
shown to be effective for is lower back pain. That has been my own
experience. The chiropractor is almost always able to fix my lower
back, no matter how badly it's gone out. However *now* I only ever
allow chiropractors to work on me if they have been fully trained on the
activator http://www.activator.com (look for someone who is listed on
this site as "advanced proficiency" if you're at all interested) because
that's the only thing that a chiropractor has ever done on me that has
not *hurt* me further. I also would advise you to never ever ever let a
chiropractor do a "manual adjustment" of your neck (that's where they
jerk your head so that your whole neck cracks). That's how my neck was
ruined. It's a long story that I'm sure no one wants to know, but don't
do it.

If it were me (but I am not you and I am no doctor), I would take large
quantities of ibuprofen for a few days and see if I can come out of it.
Then I would get back to my exercising and get strong. The one
exercise which really seems to hold my neck pain away is what they call
the "lat pull-downs" at the gym where I got trained. When I am doing
that one regularly, my neck stays pretty stable and pain-free. If I
accidentally stop doing that one, after a few months I start having neck
episodes again until I remember the connection and get back to doing it.
That happened to me again this summer so now I'm back to exercising
and am feeling better.

Good luck. I hope you're feeling better soon. It's a drag to be in pain.

Rebecca

George Parton wrote:
Luna,
I am surprised at the bias in the responses to your post. It reminds
me of the reactions when low fat supporters happen to venture onto this NG.
A chiropractor can adjust your neck on the first visit to relieve
your discomfort and will likely ask you to return periodically. It is
your choice.


I'm not too surprised, but I agree, Luna needs to hear both sides.

I too have a recurring neck problem as well as a lower back problem.
I've been to more medical and chiropractic professionals than I can
count. Here's the rundown.

A medical professional can do several things for you. They will
probably start by taking numerous expensive tests, which might or might
not discover anything new, but they can rule out the more dangerous
possibilities. Then they will prescribe meds, either pain medication,
or muscle relaxers, which might or might not help you. They can also
send you to physical therapy which might or might not help you. Or they
will send you on to a specialist who might want to cut you open and do
something drastic. Also might or might not help you.

There are some chiropractors who are crooks. Most of them at least
believe strongly in what they do. And you're right that some of them
think that chiropractic will cure every ill in the universe. That is
probably false. One thing that chiropractic has been scientifically
shown to be effective for is lower back pain. That has been my own
experience. The chiropractor is almost always able to fix my lower
back, no matter how badly it's gone out. However *now* I only ever
allow chiropractors to work on me if they have been fully trained on the
activator http://www.activator.com (look for someone who is listed on
this site as "advanced proficiency" if you're at all interested) because
that's the only thing that a chiropractor has ever done on me that has
not *hurt* me further. I also would advise you to never ever ever let a
chiropractor do a "manual adjustment" of your neck (that's where they
jerk your head so that your whole neck cracks). That's how my neck was
ruined. It's a long story that I'm sure no one wants to know, but don't
do it.

If it were me (but I am not you and I am no doctor), I would take large
quantities of ibuprofen for a few days and see if I can come out of it.
Then I would get back to my exercising and get strong. The one
exercise which really seems to hold my neck pain away is what they call
the "lat pull-downs" at the gym where I got trained. When I am doing
that one regularly, my neck stays pretty stable and pain-free. If I
accidentally stop doing that one, after a few months I start having neck
episodes again until I remember the connection and get back to doing it.
That happened to me again this summer so now I'm back to exercising
and am feeling better.

Good luck. I hope you're feeling better soon. It's a drag to be in pain.

Rebecca