In anticipation of my August trip to Lafayette, LA to visit the incomparable Dwight David - a fellow teacher who's retiring to his family's estate - I've been reading Mike Tidwell's Bayou Farewell. It's a repository of homespun wisdom and a snapshot of life "down de baya," but it also contains some eerily prescient passages on the Gulf Coast's vulnerability to hurricane damage. Published in 2003, you can almost see Katrina on the horizon.
Tidwell also took notice of the preponderance of billboards for chiropractors in southern Louisiana - doctors who specialize in treating the occupational aches and pains of the shrimp trawlers, crab fishermen, & oil workers who live and toil down there. The cajuns call them "crackabones."
Well, after following the orthopedist's instructions to a 't,' my own back trouble has plateaued at "tolerable, but subnormal." So I think it's time for a visit to the crackabones. Has anyone out there been? Any advice you can give?
And if de crackabones don't work, is de barbecue cure for moi.
5 comments:
I went to a crackabones once, after a week or two of not being able to lean my head back without breath-stealing pain. Turns out my spine was trying its hardest to become a corkscrew, or at least that's what the x-ray looked like. It took several visits to get any small bit of relief, and then I had to stop going because it was expensive and my parents' insurance didn't cover it.
I'm troubled by the performative aspect of chiropractic--the cracking sound and sensation is satisfying, but really, what is it doing except releasing gas bubbles between joints? Is it really jerking your spine into place? Put that alongside the fact that getting your spine realigned takes several weekly or twice-weekly visits before you can even get to the monthly maintenance therapy (which is usually what insurance covers), and my skepticism goes through the roof.
If you do go to a chiropractor, ask everyone you know for recommendations. There seems to be a great rift between quality chiropractors and strip-mall chiropractors.
I had more relief from heavy-duty massage, the kind that brings you to the threshold of your ability to breathe through pain, and makes your muscles feel bruised for two days after. But my back problems have nothing to do with bulging discs and everything to do with tight muscles pulling my spine out of alignment, so your mileage may vary.
Good food for thought. I actually am starting to suspect that the "bulging disc" diagnosis was wrong. My recent trouble began in January with a neck injury. About a month ago, I was leaning back in a chair and something in my neck popped. For about 3-4 days, I walked on a cloud, everything felt normal again. Then I went to sleep one night and the kink in my neck was back, consigning me to sciatica trouble once again. Who knows if the chiropractor can do anything about it, but I really do think something is just out of position.
Your mention of sciatica makes me think that your back pain has moved from your neck to your lower back? If so, try some gentle, but very regular (several times/day) stretching of your hamstrings. Sounds too simple to be true, but I suffered with lower back pain for years until learning of this simple therapy. It doesn't cost or hurt anything to give it a try...
I love going to my chiropractor. I, too, was a skeptic (the constant early visits, the need to realign periodically), but after 15 years of on again, off again, and back on again troubles, I'd hit my limit. If I had to redo it all, I would have certainly gone in my twenties, rather than in my 20-10s. It was a lot at first, but after getting everything back in order, I can do all sorts of things I hadn't been able to do comfortably. Like sit for more than an hour or two at a time. Or pick up my kiddos without worrying about my back.
My caveat: get good recommendations. The chiropractor I go to up here is the same one my doctor goes to, which only sold me on it more. You should be able to go to someone who can explain exactly what they are doing and why. And, the guy I go to also does muscular stuff that you might normally associate with physical therapy and not chiropractors. Not always a pleasant experience, but always worth it.
At this point, I only go every 2 months or so -- all that lifting of kids and playing with them gets me out of sorts, and I don't do the stretching of legs (hamstring) or abdomen muscle strengthening that I should.
Personally, I'm a skeptic. Then again, I've never had persistent back trouble, so I'm really the best person to give advice. But when has that ever stopped me before?
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