Perpetual Ruminations

Surgery or Chiropractor?

A comment on one of my blog entries brought something to mind that I decided I wanted to write a bit about.

Back in the 90's I took a bad fall down some stairs and ended up in the hospital for a few weeks. I had injured my lower spine, had some paralysis in my legs, and uncontrollable muscle spams through my lower back. There was a couple f cracked vertebrae, a shattered tailbone, and two broken ribs, as well as some internal bruising of my kidneys.

Two weeks of treatment and I was able to leave the hospital in a half body brace and a wheelchair. After a month I started physical therapy and started getting some feeling and use of my legs, and after four months was able to walk with a cane. I saw a couple different surgeons and was faced with a big decision, do the surgery or not. I opted to not, to wait and try and overcome my injury.

After a year I was walking and able to work again, but would suffer bouts of muscle spasms, back pain, and loss of feeling in my one foot or the other, sometimes both. Again, I was told that surgery was the best choice, but I did not like the odds of ending up worse instead of better. I also didn't agree with what they all claimed was the problem. Why? Because the injury should have been consistent, it should have been affected by lifting and various activities, and it shouldn't just go away and return for no apparent reason. Yet, I was now working in a sawmill and doing pretty much everything I had done before. I would have my back problems, but there was nothing that seemed to trigger them, and none of the specialists could explain why.

The solution they wanted was to fuse three vertebrae in my lower back; that was the only thing that remained constant. After we moved here, things were going great, I hadn't had much for back problems for quite some time, and then it surfaced. I could barely walk, I was having severe back spasms, and I had lost feeling in my lower right leg. I had no choice but to see the doctor, again.

Being in a new healthcare system, I had my medical records forwarded to the clinic and went in, expecting to hear the same old routine. But, this Nurse-Practitioner questioned the records, asking the same questions I had been asking. She ordered x-rays and seen the sideways bend in my lower spine, but needed an MRI to show any soft-tissue damage. In order for my insurance to pay for this, however, they required me to go to physical therapy first.

Instead, my doctor wanted me to see the clinic chiropractor and work with her about the therapy. I set up an appointment and wasn't expecting much, but after the first hour session she was determined that the spine was in fact not the cause of the problem, my pelvis was. She showed me the x-ray images, measured the length of both legs, did a lot of poking and deep prodding, and confirmed that she did not think my spine was the problem, it was a result of my pelvis being tilted about an inch high on the left than on the right.

She put me on the table and worked her magic. Once the muscles were relaxed, she did an adjustment and there was a loud popping sound and instantly I had feeling back in my foot, the spasms stopped, and when I sat up, I was straight instead of bent. Of course, it went right back out by the following day, but I had appointments set for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the first two weeks.

I went one day before my pelvis tilted again, then two days, and eventually I was going once a week, once every two weeks, and then once a month and then once every two months. My pelvis had been tilted, as shown in the x-rays since the mid 90's and now, finally eighteen years later, someone discovered what was actually wrong and was trying to fix it. My back still gives me some problems, but nothing as severe as in the past, and I try and have it adjusted or checked to make sure it's in place every couple months.

I had never had much faith in chiropractors in the past. But now? Now I'm glad I had to go see this one. This woman fixed what I was told only surgery could help. Yes, surgery would help if all went well, but it would never be right, I would lose quite a bit of mobility, and there was always the chance that it could also be worse. Now I've learned that had I had the vertebrae fused and the pelvis slipped out, the lower back would not have been able to flex to accommodate, instead vertebrae higher up my back would have to bend instead, moving the problem up my spine, and possibly even causing more paralysis.