I love getting my neck adjusted. :) It’s my favorite part actually. I have hereditary “something I don’t remember the name of”, that makes my neck straight and the vertebrae compressed. My daughter had her neck already straight and becoming compressed at her first visit at age 6. That’s when we decided everyone needed to be going. :)

I am trying to avoid the pain with the arthritis in my back like my dad has had all his life, so I do some back strengthening exercises before I go and it really seems to help everything to move.

You should have your husband give you a massage before you go. Or take a nice hot shower or bath or lay on a heating pad before you go.

Don’t you just love those nasty cracking sounds when they do your neck? lol It feels so much better afterwards though! At least in that area it does for me. I get CRANKY when my neck it out of wack.

Katie have you had the activater on your neck done? I was wanting to try that method on my neck only.

As for the muscle pain it tends to always be there no matter if I go 3 times a week or not because of the major sacral turning back they have to do. I have been to a lot of chiros since my teen years and no matter the method or chiro it is still sore when they have to completely turn that sacral area. Not a big deal…. just feels like I exercised too much and I apply moist heat. Within a day or two I’m back to myself except straighter. ;-) I’m not sure if it makes any difference that it’s not a genetic scoliosis but rather caused by an ice skating accident. Basically they keep trying to make the best out of a life long injury not just something like bad posture or carrying a baby on a hip type of thing. It’s a huge adjustment as in even the layman’s human eye can see that I don’t stick out on the left side after I walk out of the office. My injury is quite complicated with other things included such as a close herniation in my L4-5 disk which feels like sand paper in your spine. You can’t move things around in me w/out some discomfort! My current chiro says he has truck drivers that are easier to adjust than I who hardly weighs anything at all. When I was only 90 lbs he couldn’t get my bones to cooperate any more than my childhood chiros. It’s like that EVERY where I go for chiro treatments. We found the magic trick though…. if I get a light massage from my Christian massage therapist first and then go immediately for my adjustments then they can move the sacral area much more easily and I walk out with much less discomfort! The only problem is that I cannot afford to do both. :-(

Heidi, Cost is different for everyone and varies greatly across the country. Some insurance plans cover chiropractic care.

Flyin, Yes, you usually can hear it when your neck is adjusted being that it is so close to your ears and all. I’m not sure what you mean when you say “Put her body on it”. Did she by chance have her other hand under your back? If that is the case it is quite possible she was adjusting you from the front because you are pregnant and it might be uncomfortable for you to lay on your belly. With regard to your ear I am not sure what you were expecting. My chiro has done this thing where he pulls down on the ear lobe and it does clear the ear kinda like when you clear them after an altitude change. If your ear is still plugged you probably should have told her that and let her try again or do something else. Most chiros will take x-rays on your first visit. We have found that if the chiro knows we have been seeing a chiro for ages then they don’t always feel x-rays are necessary.

I realized you asked Katie, but I thought I would chime in on taking babies as well. From the time you are born, you can have your spine out of alignment. Many children with chronic ear infections actually just need their spine aligned. Having your spine in proper alignment is crucial to all body functions. My daughter had terrible breathing problems and asthma. Seeing a chiropractor completely cured her of all of that within 8 adjustments. She has never had an asthma attack in 2 years. In fact, she has hardly had nary a sniffle while we were seeing the chiro. If your vertebrae are not aligned, it puts pressure on your nerves and in turn that slows down the communication between your nerves and the rest of your organs. Adjustments ease that pressure and allow your body to function at it proper peak and heal itself. I’m sure Katie can give a wealth of more information here, but that is why we love chiropractic care.

PS. Forgot to say I really liked how you shared the different methods. Very helpful info! Also, in regards to hurting… the actual manipulations never have hurt me. I always feel good when it’s done. HOWEVER, I have huge adjustments due to the scoliosis so I do get muscle damage that takes a couple of days to heal. Nothing different than say after shoveling heavy snow. ;-)

How does the cost compare to allopathic visits?