2 Months Later...My Back is Still in Good Shape

OK, so I haven't written a post in a while...almost 2 months to be exact. Why, you ask? I haven't had any trouble with my back at all since Dr. Pagano fixed it in late May. This is truly amazing, given I'm golfing more this year and I have two young children that I pick up all the time. With all of that, I still feel great.

I will be going to Pagano Chiropractic either this week or next week for more of a maintenance check than anything else. I don't want to go too long without having an adjustment. If all goes well, I may actually keep the one visit every other month routine. It seems to be working fine for me.

More to come after next week's adjustment.

The Patient

Knowing Your Limitations Keeps the Chiropractor Away

Dr. Pagano fixed my back again...after the soccer episode I explain in a previous post. After that happened, I started to understand that knowing your limitations is critical, especially as you get older. I'm almost 35 so I can't move at the pace I used to. That's unfortunate, since I'm a highly competitive person, both professionally and personally. So, I've decided to list some things you can do to stay within your safe boundaries while performing physical activities.

Think Before You Act

Simply put, before you do something really physical, stop and ask yourself what the impact could be. Practical example: I was cutting some of the trees in my backyard recently and needed to jump to grab a branch. Before I jumped (which would have probably hurt my back), I thought about it for a second. Then I went and grabbed a ladder instead. In the old days, I would have just jumped!

Don't Overdo It

If you are going to run, don't run 10 miles, run 3 or 4. If you want to play golf, don't hit 36 holes, hit 18. If you want to play company softball, play once per week and not double headers after work. I think you get the point.

Take Care of Your Back

Visit your chiropractor on a regular basis, which is determined by you and your chiropractor. Now that my back is feeling better, I only go in once per 3 or 4 weeks versus a few times per week. Also, take hot baths, stretch, and be wary of things that can throw your back out. For me, it's alignment (whether that's running, sleeping, sitting, etc.)

Don't Be Baited Into Doing Something Stupid

When you get together with old friends or coworkers, don't be baited into doing stupid things. For example, don't bowl for 3 hours at a company event if it will kill your back! Don't golf 2 days in a row if an old friend is in town, and don't think that you are younger than you really are and go out all night only to find out the next morning that you did something stupid and threw out your back! ;-)

I hope these tips help you out...I'm learning as I'm going. I think the world of my chiropractor, but I'd rather not see him very often! :-)

The Patient

Steps I Take to Minimize Recurring Lower Back Pain

OK, so I threw my back out a month ago, and as you read in my last post, my back has bounced back very quickly. I feel great overall and I am even running again. I went for a 3 mile run yesterday through Pennington. When I woke up this morning, I did feel some pain again... nothing crazy, but my back was reminding me that it wasn't too long ago that I threw it out. So what is causing that slight, but annoying pain?

The Weight of 2 Quarters:
When I first visited Dr. Pagano at Pagano Chiropractic Center, he placed two quarters on my hand, which I could barely feel. He said that even the light weight of 2 quarters would cause the pain I was feeling (which was pretty bad at the time...) When your back goes out of alignment, nerves that are trying to fit into an already small space, might have pressure on them from the misalignment. That pressure, even if it's only the weight of 2 quarters, is enough to cause some serious discomfort. That's what I am feeling now...

Now that I've been going for chiropractic adjustments for the last 5 months and educating myself on what is going on with my back, I've come up with some things to do when I feel the first hint of pain in my sacrum (lower back):

1. Stop major exercise like running, lifting weights, etc. I might still walk and do some light weights, but I'm now wise enough to know when my back is telling me something...like STOP WHATEVER YOU DID TO MAKE IT ANGRY!

2. Watch how I lift things... even small and light items. As Dr. Pagano told me, when you are about to lift something significant, you stabilize yourself, which cuts down on injury. However, when you go to lift something light or small, you don't prepare yourself. This is when you can do some damage... So, I watch my alignment when picking things up (and I definitely try and use my legs as much as possible.)

3. Hot Baths - When I start to feel a hint of pain, I start taking hot baths each night. This loosens up my back muscles and really seems to help. Heck, it's also really relaxing!

4. Go for chiropractic adjustments - When there's a sign that my back is angry, I go to Dr. Pagano and get an adjustment. There's obviously something off...and getting everything aligned is a no-brainer. If my schedule allows me to do so, I try and get in there asap.

5. Keep a log of what I did to throw out my back. I try and jot down all of the activities I performed the day before I feel my back start to hurt, which typically lets me know which one activity in particular pissed my back off! Then, I can always reference the list to remind me what I shouldn't do...I know it sounds weird, but when you are as competitive as me, you tend to do things that normal people wouldn't try!! And especially now that I'm getting older... Ouch.

I hope this list helps you when your back starts sending signals that it's out of alignment or just angry at what you did! If there is anything you do to help your back pain, please comment on this post...I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Patient

4 Chiropractic Adjustments, 2 Weeks of Healing, and My Lower Back is Almost Ready to Go!

As I wrote about two weeks ago, I threw my back out again... This was mostly due to stupidly trying to kick a soccer ball as far as I could! Yes, I did something stupid like my chiropractor told me I would eventually do. :-) When I went back to Dr. Pagano after throwing my back out, he explained that my back should heal relatively quickly since I had been doing so well up to that point. Once again, he was right...

I've had four chiropractic adjustments since then and my back has been steadily improving over a two week period. Now I can cut down my chiropractic frequency to once per week and then hopefully get back to once per month. On that note, this time I will make sure to keep it once per month! I definitely pushed it last time and I paid the price!

Golf Season is Approaching
It's supposed to warm up again this week and I plan to start swinging my clubs (with Dr. Pagano's approval of course). If all goes well, I can probably head to the range to hit a bucket of balls. Golf season is right around the corner... and I've got a new Ping G5 Driver in my bag! Can you say "Boom".

The Patient

Throwing My Back Out Again - My Chiropractor Said I Would Do Something Stupid!

So most of you reading this post know that I've come a long way since I started going to Dr. Pagano, my chiropractor in Pennington, right? I've made great strides, my back has felt unbelievably well, and I've started exercising like I did in the past, including jogging. About a month ago, I was explaining to Dr. Pagano that I was really excited about where my back was, since the past 5 years of back pain have been troublesome... He quickly said, although you are doing really well, you will probably do something really stupid and throw out your back again! (of course this was said in a light-hearted way, but I could tell that he had seen this before...)

So here we are a month later and I had to rush to Dr. Pagano this week. Why, you ask? Well, I did something really stupid and threw out my back again! He was right after all... I was playing soccer with my daughter in the backyard and she thought it was really cool when I kicked the ball as far as I could (all the way across our lawn). So, I kept doing it, trying to kick it further and further... Not a good idea. I didn't feel any pain while kicking the ball, but I had a feeling it wasn't going to help my back. After about 9 or 10 heavy duty kicks, we went inside. It was the next morning that I felt a slight pull. Read on.

Traditionally, the bottom left side of my back was the problem. This time, I felt a nagging pain in the bottom right side. Nothing horrible, but my back was letting me know that it was a little angry. The pain was there the entire day. The next day, the pain was still there, but I decided to work out in the afternoon. I didn't jog, but I was using the treadmill as part of my circuit training. It was about 25 minutes in that I felt my entire lower back pull. It reminded me of when I first pulled my back 5 years ago. I stopped immediately, but knew I was in for a rough next week (or longer).

So I visited Dr. Pagano the next day and he aptly said, "I told you so!" (of course this was jokingly said again...) He performed a chiropractic adjustment and my back cracked like I never heard it crack before. He barely had to put any pressure and my lower back was popping and cracking like there was no tomorrow. Anyway, I am now stepping up my visits to him at least for the next few weeks. He believes that since my back has reacted so well over the past few months, that this back pull shouldn't last very long. I'm hoping to feel much better within the next 2 weeks. Let's hope that's the case...

The Patient

Common Concerns About Going to a Chiropractor?

I started going to a chiropractor about 4 months ago and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Just read my blog posts to learn more about my story, but I feel as if I have a new back, based on my treatments by Dr. Pagano. That said, I put off going to a chiropractor for a long time (almost 5 years), due to some concerns I had about chiropractic treatments. I think many people have the same concerns so I have decided to list some of them below.

1. Does it really work?
Why go to a chiropractor when some people the treatments don't work, other swear by it, and there is generally a lot of controversy around the subject matter? Like many, I thought I could help my own cause. I stretched, worked out, stretched more, iced my back, used heat on my back, and probably did a dozen other things that had absolutely no effect. After a few weeks at the chiropractor, my back felt great. Go figure.

2. Will the treatments worsen my back condition?
Common misconception. You hear about the cracking and popping and start to feel concerned about what your chiropractor is actually doing. Are the treatments worsening my condition? No, on the contrary, the chiropractic adjustment can do wonders for your alignment... Believe me, I was all out of whack! I feel great now, experienced no pain from going to the chiropractor, and feel as if I should have made the leap a lot sooner!

3. Will I need to go for the rest of my life?
No, not if you have the right chiropractor! For example, Dr. Pagano in Pennington New Jersey, explained that I should go to him more in the beginning and then start to space out my visits based on how my back feels. I am only going to him once per month now, when in the beginning I was going to him a few times per week. If I keep improving, then I can probably space out my visits even more, maybe once every other month. If your chiropractor tries to lock you into 3 times per week for the foreseeable future, then walk out the door.

If you are thinking about going to a chiropractor and have similar concerns, do yourself a favor and stop thinking so much! Make an appointment with a recommended chiropractor and see if it makes sense for you. If you want to live in pain the rest of your life, then keep going over your concerns time and time again. If you want to help yourself and relieve your pain, try it out.

The Patient

The Sacrum - The Source of My Back Problem

I know that I was in the dark for a number of years with regard to the source of my back pain. It wasn't until my chiropractor reviewed my x-rays with me, that I actually saw the source of my back pain, the sacrum. The sacral spine (to be specific) is a triangular shaped bone that is located below the lumbar region of your back. I have included a photo below:




I injured my back when I was doing some landscaping work on my new house about 5 years ago. I felt something pull in the lower left-hand side of my back while digging. The pain wasn't immediate...but I knew something was wrong. It didn't take long for the pain to hit me, just a few hours. And, boy did it hit me! I could barely walk it hurt so bad. After speaking with a lot of people that also have back pain, I have found that many of them also have problems with their lower back, and their sacrum to be specific.

The pain can be easily located (you can point directly to where the pain originates). For me, this is about 2 inches left of the base of my spine. Then there is a shooting pain down my left leg (commonly referred to as sciatica). The sciatica actually hurts more than the origin of the pain!

I tried everything to alleviate the pain, including stretching, icing the area, back exercises, etc. with the hope that my back would heal. 4.5 years later I finally understood that without professional help, it wouldn't heal. That's when I visited my chiropractor for the first time, Dr. Pagano in Pennington New Jersey. I have now been going to Dr. Pagano for 2 full months and I'm amazed at the results so far. My adjustments have really helped my back pain subside and I can do things now that I just couldn't do for the past 4.5 years. Needless to say, I'm extremely happy with my treatment.

So, if you are experiencing pain in your lower back, originating a few inches out from your spine, and you are experiencing sciatica (or pain shooting down your leg), then it very well could be your sacrum that's the issue. It was for me. Don't waste time trying to figure it out on your own...go to an experienced chiropractor and start treatments as soon as possible. Definitely look for a chiropractor that fits your needs, and make sure they come recommended.

Good luck and knock out your back pain!

The Patient