Chiropractic Care

When I was 9, I started gymnastics. I took in Ardmore, OK at Kippers Gymnastics. Way back in the day, our gym was in the store room of the TG&Y. That was a long time ago. Anyways, my coach, Hope Ritter, noticed that my spine was a little crooked, nothing much, but suggested to my mom I get it checked out. So, my mom, two sisters, grandpa and I went to the OKC Children's Hospital for x-rays. The doctor told my mom that I had scoliosis, but the curve was so slight, that it would never amount to anything. I continued with gymnastics and thought nothing of it.

My sophomore year of high school, I started having horrible lower back and hip pain. I went to our pediatrician, who said it was just muscle pain. She gave me pain pills and sent me on my way.

When my mom's job changed, so did our insurance. I started going to Kaiser, again having horrible back and hip pain. Again, it was muscle pain. When Sean and I lived in New Orleans, I would swear to you that it felt at times my leg was going to pop out of my hip socket. My then doctor said that was impossible, and had me do blood work to test for arthritis. Of course, it came back negative. So, he suggested I was just weak in my hips and sent me to physical therapy. It only made things worse.

After Owen was born, the pain was horribly unbearable. I would have pain shooting from my lower back all the way down to the back of me knee. Nothing would help it. Not Tylenol. Not ice packs. Not a hot bath. It hurt to lay down, it hurt to sit, to walk...nothing relieved the pain.

On a whim, Sean suggested I try a chiropractor. Since Kaiser told me to carry Owen on the other hip and wanted to give me Vicodin (which you can't take anyways if you're breastfeeding!), I thought, why not. It can't be any worse than what I'm going through now!

My first appointment was on a Friday morning with Dr. Heidi Olson, here in Concord, CA. The office was so incredibly friendly that I thought I must be in the wrong place. The medical assistant spent more time getting my health history than Kaiser had spent with me in 10 years. Dr. Olson wanted to do a set of x-rays, and I was to come back the following Monday.

Monday arrived and Sean and I went to the appointment, while my mom watched Owen. Turns out, I have 2 fused vertebrae in my neck and my scoliosis was so bad that the middle of my spine didn't even touch the "midline" of the x-ray. My hips were 10mm off in height, so that's why all the pain in my hips. I was told that I basically had the skeletal system of an 80 year old woman. I had a lot of degenerated discs, a lot of exposed nerves and a lot of bone-on-bone, which would cause anyone pain. First off, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. And secondly, FINALLY an answer to my pain. In all my years with Kaiser, no one had taken x-rays to see what the real problem was. They just assumed it was in my head, or muscular pain, not actually bones touching bones.

So, I've been going for a little over 2 months now, 3 times a week for adjustments. I can honestly tell you that I haven't felt this great in such a long time. I was casually mentioning to Dr. Olson that I had a lot of trouble getting pregnant. We had to use 2 fertility drugs in order to conceive Owen. I HATED using the drugs, but my want for a child was so strong and I felt I had no other option. Dr. Olson said it didn't surprise her that I had trouble conceiving. There is a definite "curve" in my spine, and where it is and where the nerves are that are being compressed are the nerves that control the female reproductive organs. Aha! It was all beginning to make sense.

In my journey, I hope to be curve free and get rid of the "sagging" shoulders look. My neck sticks out way too far, and it's all because of the curvature of my spine. So, it's not that I have bad posture or I'm too lazy to pull my shoulders back. At this point, I literally can't. But, I'm seeing improvement and I'm so hopeful for my future!

If anyone in the Northern California area needs a good chiropractor, contact me and I will give you Dr. Olson's information. She has become such a positive influence in my life!