Back in my early career days, I woke up one morning with The Stiff Neck from Hell. I don't remember if it was from a sport activity, or from straining over a desktop computer too long, or for something completely unrelated. But I could not turn my neck at all: there was a wall of pain between forward, and a little bit not-forward.
So I went to the family doctor. It turns out he was also an osteopath. I didn't know what that was, but it sounded sciency, and therefore hopeful. He had me lie on my back on the exam table, held my head between his hands, and did what I now know as a "neck manipulation": twist and snap! Then he told me to go home and rest, maybe ice it and take some aspirin, and didn't suggest any follow-up. That's about all I remember of the appointment.
It helped, a little, that day. But the pain and stiffness was back with a vengeance by work tomorrow. One of my co-workers noticed (how could anyone not), and suggested I go to her doctor: a chiropractor. I didn't really know anything about this breed of doctor, but I needed a solution, and no more of this neck-snap stuff that my osteopath was doing! So I made an appointment, and went.
I waited in a tiny room, just big enough for an exam table, off a skinny hallway that apparently hosted several other identical rooms. The doctor had several certificates on the wall, one proclaiming he was also a sport's doctor for various local high school athletic teams. When he came in (in casual dress, no lab coat!) we made our introductions, and I described my problem. I mentioned the experience at the osteopath, and how shocked I was at what he had done to my neck. I felt some tension in the room after I made that comment, but wasn't sure why. He proceeded to examine me with something called Applied Kinesiology, where he was able to determine that my neck was 'out', and I was also a bit dehydrated. Then he had me lie on the table, and a short time later, SNAP.
I was a bit disappointed that the solution here always involved scary neck twisting, but I wasn't the doctor. And, it helped a little more! He told me to go home, drink a lot of water, ice the area, and come back in two days. I followed these instructions industriously, and arrived back on time. We did pretty much the same procedure, and he had me seeing him ongoing about twice a week, for about 5 minutes, and about $30 a pop. And, in a couple weeks, my neck was all better.
And so for several years, I was drawn more and more into the world of chiropractic. I learned many things from him, such as 1) When you have any pain at all, you should come in right away and not trust it will get better on its own, 2) Applied Kinesiology (look it up if you don't know) is amazing and can even diagnose what vitamin deficiencies you have, just by holding the bottle during muscle testing - and the chiropractor conveniently sells them all, 3) If you're really smart you come in regularly so you are proactive in fixing things that you don't even know are problems, and 4) There's not much a chiropractor can't fix!
To be honest, I saw early on that this applied kinesiology stuff was pretty much nonsense. But I rationalized its use that maybe it helped the doctor with his own intuitive diagnoses process, or perhaps helped assure the patient that the doctor was confident in his diagnosis and so the patient would follow his instructions, or even prompt the patient to respond in certain ways when the doctor was testing something that the patient knew was an issue but had not expressed it. In any case, I went along with it, and in the end, a pain I came in with would, eventually, be 'cured'.
Fast forward many years. I had become more aware of the claims of chiropractic quackery, and of the pseudoscience of applied kinesiology and all these vitamin deficiency claims. I had phased out my visits, and had not been back for many years. But then it happened. A couple weeks ago. The Return of The Stiff Neck from Hell.
My mind immediately went back to the chiropractor. Was my neck 'out' again? I saw myself as (at least a fledgling) skeptic, but should I return, tail between my more Skeptical Legs (which is a good name for a blog) to an alternative medicine practitioner to help me? This should have been an easy decision, but in the midst of this pain, and the possibility for a solution, it was harder than I thought it would be.
I decided, no. I now had the web (which did not exist during my first chiropractic encounter). I began doing many searches on neck issues and treatments. I settled on something pretty simple: icing, and ibuprofen, And, it slowly got better - in two weeks (just like with the chiropractor). I'm typing this today, at a point I can detect no pain at all.
Dropping a belief system, especially one that helps us deal with pain, can be difficult. It would be even harder if we don't find an alternative that works at least as well. I've also had neck issues in the past that can cause severe vertigo (and definitely connected with straining forward in front of a computer too long, which I now do my best to avoid with better posture, breaks, and exercise). The chiropractor actually was able to relieve this immediately (mostly) by pushing in the back of my throat. Very weird, but it was effective. I suspect it has something to do with a legitimate misalignment, or strained neck muscle pulling on something around my inner ear. I am a little anxious that if this happens again, it could be even harder for me to turn to the web, and not the woo, since this kind of vertigo is much more scary and debilitating than a stiff neck.
But at least for today, I think I've had a chiropractic cure. That is, a cure for a condition I didn't know I still had: a trust in chiropractic.