The Common Pitfall of Chiropractic Patients - Don't Get Overconfident Says My Chiropractor!

I've been going to a chiropractor now for about 7 weeks and I must say that I feel great! My back is doing well, I'm working out, and I'm able to do things painlessly that once caused a lot of problems. I've been jogging, lifting weights, circuit training, etc. with no major problems. I'm blown away with the results of going to the chiropractor. So at my last visit to Dr. Pagano, I asked "Why do you think I'm doing so well so quickly?? My back feels incredible and I'm only 6 to 7 weeks in!" Dr. Pagano looked at me and said, "You are definitely doing well, but chances are that you'll do something careless as you test your back..." This comment stems from a lot of experience. So I asked him to explain.

Basically, as people start to feel better, they test the limits of their back, neck, or whatever problem they were once facing. Think about it, I'm doing it now. I've been increasing my running over the past few weeks along with weight training, I'm picking up my daughter more, carrying more weight, shoveling snow, etc. I wake up and feel great, but very easily I could wake up and not feel so great... Dr. Pagano knows that I'll do something in the future that doesn't agree with my back, so I shouldn't get overconfident. Good advice and I'll take it!

So for now, things are going extremely well. I'm going for a chiropractic adjustment every other week and will hopefully push that to once a month. That is, until I do something stupid!! :-)

The Patient

Jogging and Back Pain - The Saga Continues...

My last post about lower back pain and jogging explained how I tested the waters with running and came out feeling great! So, I pushed it and ran 3.1 miles to see how my back would respond. I feel good, but I must admit that my back is a little sore. Nothing even remotely close to the back pain I felt in early December, but it's letting me know that it's not 100% yet.

I'm actually ok with that... It would have blown me away if I felt no pain at all. I've been stretching today and it feels good. My bet is that by tomorrow the second day soreness will be gone and I'll feel fine. That said, I'm not going to jog for a few days.

I was tempted to visit Dr. Pagano, my chiropractor in Pennington, for an adjustment, but I'm sticking to my schedule, which is every other week.

Until then, I'll keep chugging along.

The Patient

1.1 Miles Through Princeton. Chiropractors Are Definitely Underrated!

In my last post about my back pain and running, I explained that my chiropractor cleared me to start jogging again so I wanted to quickly follow up with the results. I tested the waters by running 1.1 miles through Princeton yesterday (about 1/3 of what I usually run). Jogging typically doesn't hurt while I'm actually running, but it's the next day that's a killer. I've been going to my chiropractor for about 5-6 weeks now and this is the first time I tried running since I threw out my back (badly in early December).

The Results:
I feel fantastic this morning! There are no after effects from my jog (none at all actually). I felt great during the run, after the run, and this morning when I woke up. Typically, I go to get up and my back lets me know it didn't appreciate the run from the day before... Not today. I'm going to keep increasing the distance over the next 2 weeks and monitor how my back responds. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the results.

Stay tuned...

Run Forrest Run!... But Did Forrest Have to Run Through Princeton New Jersey With a Bad Back??

Today I received some exciting news from my chiropractor... I can I can start running again! My back has progressed so well that I can test the waters with jogging again. I'm going to start with just a mile or so to see how my back holds up. If all goes well, I can probably start including running in my workouts. Not to beat a dead horse here... but I could barely get out of bed 5-6 weeks ago. I really threw my back out, which had been happening for the past 4+ years!

So hold on to your hat! I'm throwing my running sneakers on and going for a jog...

--If you are in Princeton, NJ and see a jogger laying in the middle of the road holding his back, please help him. ;-)