I hurt my neck back in the mid-1990s (I know not how, but believe it was due to sitting badly in front of a computer for many hours over a long period of time). The pain was excruciating, and after 10 days of so of suffering, I decided to visit a chiropractor—something I'd never contemplated. Why?
Well, first, I was fearful of seeing an orthopedist because I knew that pain drugs (which I don't tolerate or like) and/or surgery might be the recommended course. A neighbor friend had recommended this chiropractor and I thought it might be a good first step. The friend had suffered from a bad back, and the chiropractor eventually sent him to an orthopedic surgeon for the necessary treatment. I thought this showed that he was responsible.
I made the appointment and the first thing the office did was perform X-rays. The chiropractor came in and showed me the films and did a thorough explanation of what had happened. I had an acute "sprain of the cervical spine." The vertebrae along my neck looked like a roller coaster, or S-curve. And I had let it get really bad. I said, "oh, you must get this a lot." Well, no, actually, he responded, it was fairly rare. He told me I was doing the absolute wrong thing by applying heat to relieve the pain: it was only making the swelling around the vertebrae worse. He put me on a regimen of ice (on for 20 minutes every hour for all waking hours) and a series of exercises. These were very hard to do as I couldn't move my head a quarter-inch without extreme pain, but he explained that non-movement was equally as bad for me, and that I must work through the pain to do the exercise regimen several times a day. He also gave me an orthopedic pillow on which to sleep at night. In addition, I saw him several times a week over a period of probably two months for whatever they call that kind of bone manipulation/massage, and some other treatments of which I was more skeptical. The massage was so utterly relieving and effective (but only for an hour or two each time) I thought I was going to have to leave my husband and marry this man, so that he could use his "magic fingers" all day long. It would be the only way I could function without pain.
Over the course of 6 weeks or so my neck was fully cured. In all, it was probably a lot like a course of very good physical therapy. My insurance covered it. I was happy I'd avoided more invasive medical procedures and that I was not treating the issue with drugs. I've had one or two relapses over the years, and at the first sign of the issue, I turn to the ice, exercises, and orthopedic pillows. This usually averts the full-blown condition in just a few days.
I was happy with this particular experience and would visit a well-qualified chiropractor again as a first-step in dealing with such a bone or muscle problem.
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