I know this is a blog about health, so I thought I should come clean. I, Felicia, am a crack addict. I must get my “crack on” at least once a week or else I’m no good to the world.

The crack I’m talking about is my chiropractic adjustment. There’s nothing like the sound of a good crack, the release of muscle tension and the ability to touch my toes again. Sometimes it’s all about touching my toes and other times its about being able to look at objects placed to the right of my shoulder and other times I get my crack on because it’s the right thing to do for my body. Chiropractic visits are like brushing my teeth. I’m not too pleasant to be around if I don’t do both of those things regularly.

The Crack Controversy

People who are either new to the idea of chiropractology (there’s really no such word as chiropractology, but it sounds nice) or folks who are cynical say things like, “They (the chiropractors) are just after your money. They keep making you come back even when you’re feeling better.” Or, “Don’t go to a chiropractor, you’ll be going forever and never get better.” Or, better yet, “I can do it myself. Watch…” followed by the person turning their head from side to side in such a way to invoke the sound of popping Jiffy Pop popcorn (for the young folks, that’s how we made popcorn before the microwave).

Here’s My Chiropractic Story (and Theory)

After the birth of my second child, I experienced tingling and numbness down my right leg. My hip felt like it wanted to live three states away from the rest of my body. My hubby (wise man that he is), recommended that I see a chiropractor instead of going to the family physician.

From past experience, I found the family physician (who we affectionately call Dr. Prescription) would listen to my ailments with his prescription pad in hand. He would dutifully nod his head, hand me a few prescriptions and send me on my merry way. The prescriptions, muscle relaxants and pain relievers, were great if I wanted relaxed muscles and masked pain, but what I really wanted was to get rid of the source of the pain.

It’s kind of like having old broccoli in the trash and forgetting to take the trash out during a heat wave. I could spray all types of sweet-smelling aerosols to mask the smell, but nothing will get rid of the stench until someone takes the trash out.

Finding the Source of the Problem

My chiropractor not only found the source of my problems, but my problems didn’t happen overnight. Many years of living has its way of moving bones around in such a fashion to accommodate the lifestyle of the day. If the lifestyle is pregnancy, the spine adjusts itself to accommodate it. When the lifestyle changes from pregnancy to carrying the bundle of joy on one hip while cooking meals and doing household chores, the spine, hips, shoulders all adjust to accommodate walking around with a bundle of joy on the hip.

Once a mom always a mom, after placing the baby on the ground to walk, mom has to carry a duffel bag (which doubles as a pocketbook) on the preferred shoulder. Usually, the duffle bag is thrown on the shoulder of the same side that used to carry the child on the hip while cooking and doing household chores, further forcing the hip, back and shoulder to accommodate the current lifestyle. See a pattern?

Life Before and After Children

There were similar patterns before having children (you remember those dreaded school backpacks) and even more spine altering patterns after having children. When you walk your dog on a leash, which arm does he pull most? Do you switch up or is Fido always on your right?

Pop a Pill and Call Me in the Morning

This type of wear and tear on the skeletal structure isn’t going to be resolved by a couple of pills. Pills can hide the pain, but it won’t get to the source of the problem. That’s why I became a crack addict. Initially, I had to take a large dose of my chiropractic crack in an attempt to undo the poor skeletal alignment that resulted from years of living. One adjustment a week wasn’t enough to fix years of abuse.

After getting back on track, the number of weekly visits diminished. Now, I go once a week and I look forward to getting my crack on. I think of my adjustments as part of my maintenance routine. It fits right in there with brushing my teeth, drinking water, getting exercise, eating dark chocolate and getting my crack on.

There are more benefits to getting properly adjusted, but I’ll save that for another post.