Suffering in silence and how I took control of my health
“my neck, my back” yeah, all of that!
You thought I was going to sing the lyrics to Khia’s famous “my neck, my back” song, didn’t you? Beeeee honeeeest! But nope! This is literally regarding my neck, my back, and the pain that I silently endured for 4 years before finally deciding to take a more natural approach to dealing with my health issues.
4 years ago, I started waking up with my fingers tingling and hurting almost every night after I would fall into a deep sleep. When I went to the doctor about the issue, he checked my neck out and we realized I had a knot on the right side of my lower neck. He prescribed some muscle relaxers for muscle spasms, as he predicted that I must have jerked my neck hard at some point. He also referred me to a neurologist. I set up an appointment for a few weeks later with the neurologist. I remember going to the appointment and paying the $50.00 copayment required by my insurance company just to be told “that happens to me also, just don’t sleep on your arms. You probably have a pinched nerve”. Well, as I‘m sure you can imagine that was the worst fifty dollars that I have ever spent, and so I just continued to endure the pain for years.
In 2019 I decided to invest in myself and took a 6–8 week course on healthy eating, meditating and how we are able to self heal. I realized then that western medicine is intended to just “treat the pain” and not cure it, hence my doctor giving me muscle relaxers which just helped me live with the pain. I hated those pills and stopped taking them after about a month. All they did was make me drowsy for days, even when I cut the pill into thirds to take a smaller dose. This is really when I started on my journey of researching and looking into more natural remedies and approaches to my health issues.
Fast forward to 2020, the pain started to become almost unbearable. It was at the point that I would be at work and my bra strap on my right shoulder would hurt just resting on it. I had to take my arm out of the bra on that side almost daily and especially if I was wearing a sports bra. I was asking my boyfriend to rub my neck and shoulders 2–3 times a week because of the pain. I tried meditating, stretching, massages, any and everything I thought would work. While all of that helped to give me some momentary relief, nothing was long lasting.
I finally started to look into acupuncturist and made an appointment, but I chickened out and called a week later to cancel because I was so nervous. If were being honest, I didn’t grow up around family or friends that spoke about acupuncture, going to chiropractors, or any natural remedies for that matter. So this was all really foreign to me. So, I continued dealing with the pain until this year. I started to do research on chiropractors in my area. On January 19th I had my first appointment with the chiropractor and let me tell you, I left on day one feeling 50% better, almost immediately (be sure to use the ice pack, there will be light aches after). The doctor used a tool that allowed her to see where the inflammation was in my back and neck. She did a series of test using just her hands to establish where the pain was. She talked to me the whole time, making sure I was comfortable, and after telling me to breath in through my nose and out through my mouth she proceeded to crack my neck and upper back. It was a painless experience (I still can’t believe I was so scared!) When I went back a week later, I was able to turn my neck all the way to the right (something I couldn’t do before), I was able to wear my bras like a normal person again and didn’t have to pull my right arm out of the bra strap. I felt so much better and even to this day the nights of waking up with my fingers tingling or feeling like pins and needles are very limited, which means I am also sleeping better.
When I recently spoke to my therapist about my pain, my journey towards seeing the chiropractor and how I was feeling so much better, she stated that she even was seeing a shift in my mood. She explained to me how even though I suffered quietly for years, being in pain or uncomfortable like that daily actually affects your mood also, especially when your sleep is being disturbed. And this is so true, my mood is definitely better these days plus I’m able to focus on other things that I enjoy because I’m not constantly uncomfortable or thinking of all the possible illnesses, or diseases that I may have (don’t try to self diagnose, you will think you have every kind of autoimmune disease or illness)
I am continuing my treatments and going to the chiropractor every 2–3 weeks still. I am feeling better daily, more energy, more focused, and a better attitude. And the best part is, its covered by my insurance and I just pay a $25.00 copay when I go to my appointments. If you are in daily or chronic pain, research all of your options. Of course go to your doctor and follow their advice. But you also always have options, natural options like herbs, acupuncture, chiropractor, healing foods, meditation etc. All are equally important for your mind and body. If you are in the Richmond VA area and want the info for my chiropractor feel free to reach out. She is amazing plus sharing is caring! And since I’m checking these goals off, next up will definitely be acupuncture! Stay tuned if you want to know how it goes and my thoughts after trying it.
