QuestionI'm 32 years old, I smoke about 1/2 a pack a day, and to be honest, I'm a big mess at the moment. I am apparently suffering from a pair of misaligned vertebrae, thoracic. T4 and T5 I believe, a slight posterior protrusion of both.
It began about 2 years ago, but the symptoms had me confused, and I sort of ignored the problem. I was having pains in my temples. It started on the left side and sometimes would be on the right side. They would only last a few seconds, and would only occur once every few days. Then the frequency increased, which prompted me to see a doctor. He ascribed it to muscle spasms, probably from staring at a computer screen most of the day.
Anyway, about 6 months ago I began having pains in my chest. And since I smoke I figured the pain was from that. It was a slightly sharp pain, like the pain in my temples, and would mainly be to the left of my sternum, but would occasionally migrate to the left side of my chest. Cutting back on smoking did nothing to curb the discomfort. They would only last a few seconds, not very intense but very frequent. However, one instance was painful enough to get my undivided attention and made me take a trip to the hospital.
An EKG showed no signs of heart problems, and the doctor diagnosed me with costochondritis. I guess that's the catch-all term for chest pain they don't know the cause of.
Not soon after, I was at home after being laid off from work, and during a spell of chest pain, I tried stretching the pain out, and my back popped. I then put 2 and 2 together and scheduled an appointment with a local chiropractor.
He never took an X-ray, but by running his fingers down my spine he could tell there were two thoracic vertabrae out of alignment. I can't remember exactly which ones he said they were to be honest. I ended up seeing him 5 times, once a week for 5 weeks, until my health benefits ran out. Despite his efforts, I continued to have discomfort. It seemed lessened, but still there nonetheless.
At the moment, I have to settle for "self-adjustments." I'm unemployed and uninsured, and with my back the way it is I'm not going to be able to do any sort of manual labor, which is pretty much all I'm qualified to do. The more I move around, the more my vertebrae pop out.
I should also mention that the pain in my head still occurs, but arching my neck back till it pops right above the trouble area stops it.
So, after that long-winded description, do you have any advice for my situation? It's been nearly a month since I last visited the chiropractor and I seem to be getting worse daily. Any and all streches I do only provide a few minutes of relief. I would really like to see a specialist, but COBRA insurance is way more than I can afford and I know there aren't many health insurance companies that will cover chiropractic care.
Also, would the constant self-adjusting going to do any damage?
Thank you for your time.
Answer
Hanna Somatic Educatio
Hi, Owen,
Self-adjusting won't do any damage and you've made some good observations about the relation between your various pains and spinal alignment.
The thing is, it isn't about the two vertebrae that you've identified, but about the forces that pull those vertebrae out of alignment. Generally, it's reflexive muscular contractions along the spine, which can be trained to a healthier pattern of movement.
I can point you to two resources for free self-help, understanding that they are simplified versions of somatic exercises found in recorded programs.
http://www.somatics.com/back_pain.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0OzG49MsQE
The one titled, Locating the Center of Breathing, may also help due to the relation of ribs to upper back.
The pain in the temples typically comes from contracted neck muscles.
Full self-help programs exist at
http://www.somatics.com/page7.htm
Practitioner list:
http://www.hannasomatics.com/practitioners
regard,
Lawrence Gold
