Happy Anniversary to Seaside Chiropractic — and ME!
Saturday, March 7th — This past week (March 5th, to be precise) was the first anniversary of my first adjustment at Seaside Chiropractic. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you may recall that on March 5th, 2008, I decided to “give it a year” and see what Dr. David Klein could do for my “antique frame,” as my mother used to say. Here’s a point-by-point comparison of where I was then and where I am now, in terms of my pain, flexibility, and general range of motion.
BEFORE:
* My spine was misaligned in many places, and the hips were slightly twisted.
* The right foot was like a piece of deadwood at the end of the leg – swollen, grayish, and immovable, with no feeling in the toes or sole. The left foot had no sensation in the sole but was less impaired. Pain level in the right foot was usually a 5.
* Pain and numbness in both hands, caused by carpal tunnel syndrome and due to many months of using a walker and then a cane, used to wake me up almost every night in tears.
* The left shoulder was “frozen”. I could lift the arm no farther than parallel to the ground. The right shoulder was slightly more mobile, but more painful. Daily pain level on the left was 5, and on the right was 6, sometimes 7.
* Daily overall pain level averaged out at 5 to 6. I took between 6 and 10 Vicodin in each 24-hour period.
NOW:
* My spine is – to quote David Klein – “shockingly normal”. The hips are straight and even. For a couple of months, after the hips were straightened out, the left leg was an inch shorter than the right. However, they’ve been equalized again. My gait still leaves something to be desired, but I’m working on it. I do use the cane outside the house (so I didn’t achieve my resolution to be caneless by the end of 2008) — but more and more I tend to forget it and leave it in other rooms when I’m at home.
* The right foot is almost normally flexible. I can move the toes, and sensation has returned to the sole. The left foot is normal. Pain level in both feet is 1 to 2.
* I have had no pain or numbness in my hands for several months.
* The left shoulder now is flexible enough that I can raise my arm at a 45° angle. I can also touch the top of my head and reach behind my neck, and it’s still improving. The right shoulder is also now flexible enough to accomplish both those things. I can reach about 70° from the ground. It, too, is still improving. First thing in the morning, the shoulders still rate a 5; but after I’ve been up for an hour they are down to a 2 for the rest of the day. I am now just fine with 2 Vicodin, one in the morning and one at night.
Personally, I think those are amazing improvements! I am more than satisfied with the progress I am making. I’ve signed on for another year, happily. I will continue three times a week till three consecutive re-exams show no further improvement, or until 90% of the expected possible improvement has occurred; then I’ll switch to once-a-week maintenance adjustment. I think that’s not in the very near future, however.
I hope to keep on keepin’ on with Dr. Klein FOREVER, if I get the chance. Or at least till my now-71-year-old body feels as flexible and youthful as my mind does… we’ll see when that will be. I have perfect confidence that it will happen.
Thank you so much, David, and all the rest of the Seaside Chiropractic staff, for everything you’ve done for me, and for the joy you’ve added to my life.
Thanks for reading — Betsy
1 comment
Betsy,
It gives me so much happiness that you are doing better. May each year become better and better, and may you continue to get younger and younger!
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