More Aging Craziness | forever delaney

IT’S ALWAYS SOMETHING

I have finally started getting my hormones leveled off and am feeling like myself again and then the joints start acting crazy. I swear, if it’s not one thing, it’s something else!

I’ll only take one second to whine! When will everything just feel good again???

Okay, I’m done. But honestly, once I reached 50 years old, even though my brain thought I was still young, my body decided to keep reminding me that I am NOT.

So onto the exciting part of my day…I have had hip problems for awhile. My sciatic nerve would flare up and I would visit the chiropractor and then it would be fine for awhile, until the next time. This has gone on for years.

My Incredible Chiropractor:

I found a WONDERFUL chiropractor about 5 years ago and swore I would never switch. But when the new bridge was being put up and traffic to Indiana was rerouted in crazy ways, I decided I could find one just as good near my home so the next time my hip started hurting, I switched doctors.

BIG MISTAKE. I am begging you, if you find the perfect doctor for you, whether it’s a family doctor, a therapist or a chiropractor, don’t let anything stand in the way of you getting to your appointments.

For the past 1 1/2 years my hip has not only been hurting but it’s been clicking as I walk and I have had a limp. If I walk too fast or for over 10 minutes the pain gets so bad that I have to stop and pretty much hobble home.

A New Doctor:

So I found a doctor two blocks from my house. Perfect! Or so I thought. He might be good for a lot of people but he treated me for over 6 months and my pain got worse, not better. He never took Xrays. That was the first sign I should look elsewhere. And his adjustments were the same for me than for everyone else. He rushed me in, walked around the table to adjust my neck (which I wasn’t having issues with) and then he would very hurriedly try to pop my hips. Never, ever did I hear them pop. But he would clap his hands together, say “That was a great adjustment this week. I’ll see you again next week” and then he would take my money and on to the next person.

The pain and limping has become so bad that sometimes I can’t even walk through the grocery store without limping back out to the car afterwards. So I made the decision this week that I needed to get back to my original doctor and beg his forgiveness for leaving him.

Going Back For Forgiveness:

They welcomed me with open arms. And after explaining what I had been enduring, Dr. Rich said that he didn’t want to know the name of the other doctor but he just shook his head when I told him the procedures.

After having xrays taken, he informed me that I have degenerative arthritis in my hip. He told me it has nothing to do with me getting old, it has to do with damage that has been caused by me not having it treated when I was going through my pain.

He described it as an automobile that has a dent in it. If the dent gets fixed, the car is still good. If the dent is left untouched it will form rust over time and that rust will cause erosion. This is what has happened to my hip. By not having the proper treatment for the past 5 years, the hip joints have started deteriorating, which caused my left hip to collapse, which caused my right hip to raise up, which in turn caused the limping and the pain.

I started to cry. FINALLY, someone who knew what was happening to me and who can help me. The damage is done. That is a given. But he is going to position my hips back so that they are not out of line. And in doing this, it will release the pinching of the nerve that is causing so much pain.

What is really cool is that he listed the habits that I have that made it worse over the years.

How I Got To This Point:

Jogging every single day for years, on concrete
Not stretching after workouts
Sleeping on my side without placing a pillow between my legs
Crossing my legs all of the time, which twists that hip and pulls it out of alignment

I have had two adjustments this week. The first one was not great. He said my hips never budged. (Unlike the other doctor, who would have said… “Great adjustment today!”) Today he tried something different. He worked on my joints and muscles until he got it to move – finally.

I am sore but I am SO HAPPY!!! Thank you so much Clarksville Spine and Rehab! I promise I will never leave you again! And Dr. Rich, you are a miracle worker.

Moral of this story;

We are all aging. We are all losing our flexibility and our ability to work out in ways we could when we were younger. Even if you are in your twenties, you can’t move your body in ways you could in your teens. We need to accept this change and figure out how to stay healthy and move our bodies in ways that compliment our age. No more jogging on concrete for me! No more thinking that it’s okay to work out and not stretch. AND, if my pain persists, have it checked out before the damage is done!

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