Back Cracker

I went to my first visit with the Chiropractor yesterday. It was kind of cool, actually. I met with Dr. Jeff Chamberlain in West Chester (www.chamberlainchiropractic.com) , and had a very thorough assessment (and coming from a Nurse Practitioner, this is a high compliment), as well as x-rays. I really hope that he is able to help me with my hip pain. He has to look over my films and get a plan together, and then I will go back on Monday to hear if he can help me, and how. So no snap-crackle-pop adjustments or anything yet...

But here are a few things I have learned about my spine already:

* Evidently, my neck vertebrae are "a mess" (his term, not mine).

* I weigh 9 pounds more on the right side of my body than the left (I literally had to stand on two scales at the same time, and they look at the difference-- one scale is usually enough to put me into a tailspin, so I was FREAKING OUT when I learned there would be two at once. Dr. Jeff kept telling me to concentrate on standing still, but since I was so freaked out, this was a little easier said than done).

* The weight of a dime on a nerve can decrease it's ability by 60% (little Trivial Pursuit tidbit for you).

* There may be a connection between fertility and chiropractic. I thought this was particularly interesting, on a personal and professional level. It makes sense to me , though. Since all the nerves in our bodies start in the spinal cord, if the spine is "out of whack" (another stellar medical term) and the nerves aren't able to function the way that they should, the organs they enervate may be affected. There was a study in which 15 women with histories of various infertility issues received chiropractic care, and 14 of them got pregnant. I don't know what real scientific proof this offers, but it does, at the very least, raise an interesting theory about a link between the two. And, at this point, we'll take all the help we can get!

I'll update on Monday and let you all know what the verdict is... I hope this helps! I haven't been able to start training yet, and I am getting anxious to GET GOING (ha)!

~Sara