Sunday, December 31, 2006

So Mr. Chiropractor, What's Wrong With My Back?

On my first visit with Dr. Pagano, who is my chiropractor based in Pennington, we covered a lot of ground. First, Dr. Pagano reviewed my x-rays with me, which were taken off site, but that's another story. He had a 3-d model of the spine and explained where my pain was coming from. It made a lot of sense... Then he answered my questions and began to explain how we were going to try and correct the issue. My sacrum was essentially out of whack! It actually looked tilted in the x-ray by about 5-7%. For those of you who don't know much about sacrums, it should be perfectly straight. I saw the tilt and wondered how much of a tilt would cause pain. So I asked. That's when Dr. Pagano placed two quarters on my arm and asked if I could feel the weight. I basically couldn't, but he said the pressure from the quarters alone would cause a decent amount of pain. Go ahead an try this at home and you'll see how little pressure is needed to cause back pain!

Then I had my first adjustment and I couldn't believe how my back was popping and cracking! After about 10 minutes of work, he asked me to get up. Keep in mind, I could barely get up out of a chair the day before. As I got up, I had almost no pain...my back felt loose...and I was amazed. He explained that my muscles needed to be retrained and that I would still feel pain as my back slightly shifts out of alignment (like it was in prior to my adjustment). The goal is to keep aligning and adjusting my back with the hope that my muscles begin to keep my spine and sacrum in alignment.

I left Dr. Pagano's office with almost no pain. I got home and was able to pick up my daughter as she ran down the hall to see me. This was truly amazing, given how bad my back hurt leading up to my visit. My back wasn't healed, but I felt as if I was on the right path, especially with a chiropractor as good as Vito Pagano!

More to come...

The Patient

Friday, December 29, 2006

Enough is Enough...Find Me a Pennington Chiropractor

It's 6AM on a Monday morning. I've got a lot to do today...a lunch with a business associate, three projects that I'm leading for my company, and my daughter's almost three (so for the parents out there reading my post, you know how tiring that can be!)

I go to get up from bed and the pain I feel is extraordinary. Yes, this is a nagging back issue that I've had for years, but today is different...it's more acute, more extreme, and the pain is so bad, I feel it might actually impact my life. I'm a little nervous.

I push myself and get out of bed, walking like an old man towards the kitchen. It will get better, right? The pain will subside... I think. It doesn't...not yet anyway. I eat breakfast. My back is still killing me. I check email. My back gets worse. OK, I've had enough!

TODAY IS THE DAY I CHOOSE NOT TO BE IN PAIN ANYMORE!! I turn to my wife and say, "Remember when you told me to go to a chiropractor? Well, get the phone numbers out! I've had enough pain."

Five years ago, I pulled my back while working in my yard. I had no kids at the time, I worked out 4-5 times per week, and I was in great shape. I thought the back pain would go away over time, but it kept coming back. Typically, once per month I would feel some type of back pull (sometimes bad, sometimes mild), but it always reminded me that it was there...

So I called my primary care physician and asked for a referral. The call came a few hours later and with no hesitation, the nurse told me, "Dr. Vito Pagano, a Pennington Chiropractor who is so good at what he does, some of us even go to him! You will be in good hands." OK, Dr. Pagano, I'm going to give you a shot to fix my ailing back! After looking through the listings of Hopewell Chiropractors, Pennington Chiropractors and Princeton Chiropractors, I'm glad my doctor could offer some guidance.

So my story begins...

The Patient