GS's Spine Primer

To what end this? Of what intent?

It is my hope that at the end of this primer, you will have "developed" a good feel for the do's and don'ts of spine maintenance.

True Stories:

ONE__Decades ago my Mother fell from a hourse and injured her tailbone. For over a decade she always carried a foam donut around to sit on. Driving in the car, at work, everywhere.

Over the decade several medical Doctors wanted to perform surgery to remove the tailbone. She also went to around 10 chiropractors during that time. They were able to relieve the other various pains, but were never able to correct the sitting problem.

Until....

A mortician at a late age sold his business and became a chiropractor. He failed his first Board but passed his second. He would later become a Leader in the chiropractor profession because of his great skills. My Mother went to him his first year practicing. Later on his major complaint about his profession would be the inability of a lot of colleagues to read xrays.

He x-rayed Mom, laughed, put a finger in a finger cot, stuck it up her butt......and popped the coccyx bone back in place. No need for the foam donut anymore.

TWO__As a kid, I had lower back pain in the hip area. As my Mother had faith in chiropractors I went to ours from time to time for it. It appeared to work sometimes but not always. I now realize the cause was most likely, for the most part, dehydration. The Doc always put me on the "roller" with heat to loosen by back up, prior to "cracking", as it's always like steel bands.

THREE__Mom didn't do regular exercise, she went to the chiropractor as needed. She used a stairstep at work to reach up and get the petri dishes. Why? Because it would throw her back out if she extended her arm above her head. Even though she did a lot of physical things it was not well rounded or enough to prevent spasm lock up.

FOUR__Several decades ago a girlfriend of mine started losing both, use and feeling in her left arm. She allowed it to continue for 6 months. Finally heeding my advice she went to my chiropractor. He found a misaligned vertebra was pinching a nerve going to the arm. It took a few months to fully recover from the nerve damage. He told her had she continued she would have lost total use of the arm.

FIVE__Years ago, a friend of mine at work, who use to take part in bicycle centuries with me, always criticized my going to a "Bone" Doctor. I go to work one morning and he's not there. A few minutes into the work day I get a call from him. What's your chiropractor's phone number he asks? What happened? He was about 45, a bachelor, had fixed himself a dinner and ate in front of the TV. Gets up, goes to the kitchen. As he's quite tall (played basketball in college) he bends over the sink and places his dishes in it. Finds that he can no longer straighten up. Has a horrendous night as he can't find a position without pain.

What happened? A couple of weeks earlier he had started weight training. Did that cause it? No. Years earlier he had been in a car accident. His back was still out of alignment years later. The weight training set it off.

SIX__It was my second week on the job. My truck gets rear ended. I'm knocked unconscious for a few seconds. I was already working 12 hour days. It had taken 6 months to get this job. I wasn't about to jeopardize it by taking off and getting my back "cracked". Besides I appeared ok and felt fine. 10 years later my mid back is popping as I'm trying to get to sleep, I can't find a non pain position for the pain in my neck.

I go to a chiropractor and get xrayed. Back is really out, bone spur in neck due to the whiplash I suffered 10 years back. Takes ~$1500 and 6 months of treatments to get back in shape. Zero problem with neck today. I expect the spur to disolve in time. (Spurs grow because of muscle tension caused by foreshortening due to out of place vertebra)

SEVEN__My car pool driver has unlimited use, for the rest of his life, of chiropractors, due to an auto accident. He has a muscular build but a strange sort of gut, not the spare tire look, but one that makes him look preggo. It pulls at his spine. Over 5 years I see his abuse of the chiropractor. Rather than lose weight, or limit heavy lifting due the severe injuries he sustained, he does the exact opposite, heavy lifting, lays 10,000 bricks around his house. The chiropractor costs him nothing, he abuses his body knowing he can be "fixed". I am to hear later on he had to have his spine fused due to the abuse.

EIGHT__I do several body programs and define an understanding about imprints or engrams. These are impressed memories upon muscle groupings during times of intense emotional distress. The first time I had Sacro-Cranial therapy over 90% of the "steel bands" in my back disappear and never return. I find the other 10% recur with different emotional triggers. They get eliminated over a two year period. It's not so much a body manipulation as word association with mind shrinking to eliminate the triggers. Weird. Weird. Weird. But it works!

NINE__I do a year of Dann Yoga, one of my classmates tells me her story. She's going to her chiropractor 2 to 3 times a week she's in so much pain. In a mere 6 months of Yoga, she doesn't need the chiropractor anymore. The first 3 months were hell however. At the cost of several thousand dollars she had "healing sessions" with the Master. It became obvious she had gone though a servere detox during that time. No doubt brought on by the Master's manipulations. Not a bad thing, just a different way of doing it. (And expensive) But I got other people who told me the same thing. No more (rather severe) back problems of any sort after a few months of Yoga.

So, putting it all together.

Key Points:

Learn the difference between imprints and being "out of alignment". They need different bodyworks.

Rremember that imprints will crop up at emotional settings and cause being "out", but can be permanently eliminated if diligent.

After any sort of slip, fall, or accident, go to a chiropractor.

You might want to go twice a year no matter what.

Keep the weight off.

If you don't exercise (Yoga type) on a regular basis, you may need to go see a chiropractor to compensate.

Think twice about over compensating for lack of exercise by using a chiropractor.

Do not start weight training late in life unless you've been doing regular Yoga and have seen a chiropractor before you start.

If you're in your fifties and above and have never been to a chiropractor, you have my condolences.

I'm not trying to be funny, just realistic, the probability of spurs is great.

You can also suffer a heart attack if your body has adjusted to compensate for a heart condition.

Bottom Line. Get your spine aligned early. Or the price you pay shall be high indeed.

A last word. If you have something the medical profession can't address. Bowed legs, shoulder problems, spurs, scoliosis.

Do yourself a favor, take 3 shots at Quantum Touch and 3 shots at any Qi or energy body works.

Wait at least a week after treatment as it sometimes takes that long for the full effect to be realized.

If the first practiciner helps in no way, find a different one. Different practiciners can have different, lets call it "facets" of healing.

They will all help in some way, or outright cure you. But you may need a specific "facet", one in three increases your odds for total success.


Your Humble Servant,

Gracefully Savage