Re: head pain.. (short novel for reply)

[Guest guest]

A good physical therapist is worlds better than any chiropractor. I saw several chiropractors, and they didn't do half of what my physical therapist I see now does for me. (if you live in the NE USA, I can refer you to mine, she is WONDERFUL)

In the meantime, varying the height of your monitor may help. One day, set it directly on your desk, so you have to look slightly down to see the screen, the next day, put it up on a few thick books, so you have to look slightly up to see the screen. Be real aware of how you hold your upper back, shoulders, and neck, keeping them in good alignment. Most people tend to jut their head out to the front too much. Tuck you chin down just a little from your normal position and then just try to center your head over your neck, like balancing a ball on your closed fist, you need to be DIRECTLY under it to properly balance it. Your head on your neck is much like a ball on your closed fist, if you keep your head too far in front of your neck/body, the muscles in the back of your neck have to keep constant tension to hold it up. Bring your mouse closer to you, so you don't have to reach for it. Ideally, your upper arms should be laying down vertically, and relaxed to your side, NOT at an angle out in front of you. Your lower arm should make a perfect 90 degree angle and your hand should easily rest naturally on your mouse. A trackball mouse is better, because you can roll it with just your fingers, so you can keep your entire arm relaxed, and use ONLY your finger muscles. Your keyboard tray should be level or slightly above your belly button, and you should use a wrist roll to rest your arms on when you type (again, keeping your upper arms relaxed, which keeps your shoulders relaxed, which keeps your neck relaxed, which should help with your neck/head pain). Be really aware of what you are doing with your FACE muscles. Are you clinching your jaw? Chewing? Grinding your teeth? Is your tongue relaxed, or are you pressing it into the back of your teeth or the roof of your mouth? A good trick to try if you find yourself grinding your teeth, or clinching your jaw (a common thing that most people do when their head or neck hurts) is to put the tip of your tongue between your front teeth, and hold it there for a couple of minutes, that way you will become aware of when you are clinching your jaw muscles. What about your cheek muscles? Can you relax those more? Smile, then release, repeat til you get that nice and loose. Are you squinting? Raise your eyebrows, now release them, does that feel more relaxed?

Most head and upper neck pain is associated with either tension in the face or tension in the shoulders, both usually related to posture and bad habits. The area you describe your pain to be is the uppermost vertebrae that connects to your skull, C1. It's bigger (wider) than the rest, and it tends to get misaligned, and then LOCKED into bad alignment, or worse yet, fused into place. It's likely that your nerve may be getting pinched due to bad alignment of the C1 and C2.

http://www.backpain-guide.com/Chapter_Fig_folders/Ch05_Anatomy_Folder/Ch5_Images/05-3_C1_and_C2.jpg

(see in the above image how it has wider bony structures that stick out to either side?)

http://www.doereport.com/imagesenlarged/5103W.jpg

(this one shows how the C2 vertebrae connects into the C1, and how it attaches to your skull, and the difference in shape)

http://www.skullsunlimited.com/graphics/human-skull-fused%20atlas-C2-lg.jpg

(here's worst case scenario, this poor guys C1 fused to his skull. He probably had severe headaches before dying.)

You'll need to have someone put you face up on their table, and stretch your neck out by making long slow massage strokes, reaching under your shoulders and stretching your upper back and shoulders all the way up your neck, until your head rolls easily in their hands and you are totally relaxed into their hands, then, you will need to flip over and put your face in the face hole of the table, and have them relax your upper back and shoulder muscles (with massage), and possibly align your upper back vertebrae (this is done by being at the head of the table, and pressing down sharply and quickly along each vertebrae with a down and back towards your pubic bone motion), then flip you back over onto your back, and from above, they will have to wedge their fingers onto the little ridge that is accessible on it from the front (it's just behind the base of your ear, down and in slightly from the lump that is the base of your skull that you can feel easily on your own) and push DOWN, like pressing you into the table. The pressing into that spot usually hurts, as it's not one that usually gets pushed on. My Physical Therapist usually bounces on this a little, so it's not a steady pressing down, but a firm jiggle. This is the motion that usually loosens that so it can be manipulated. They should also massage your face and jaw muscles at the same time, since it's all interconnected. I doubt your find an chiropractor that is hands on enough to give you the type of body work you need. They tend to just throw you on the table, go snap, crack, pop, and your done, in 15 minutes or less. To get any results, you'll need at least an hour long session, with lots of massage aspects, not just chiropractic work.

I speak from personal experience, BTW. I fell from a tree as a kid, and have an old compression fracture in my lumbar spine, and have chronic alignment issues all the way up to C1 because of my accident and my posture (which is not normal, due to the fracture). I used to get really severe headaches (other than migraines, just bad tension/alignment headaches), and I go to Physical Therapy weekly, and it helps quite a lot. The key is getting a GOOD Physical Therapist. Many (especially those in HMO plans) tend to put hot packs (Or TENS units) on you and ignore you for half the session. It took me quite some time to find my current Therapist, who works on me (hands on) the entire hour I am there.

OK, now, anyone interested in my theory on ADD in children? (since I have such a nice captive audience now)

Jennhttp://ucat.us

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[Guest guest]

I'm starting to think both chiropractors and physical therapists are important. I'm only now learning that there is more to chiropractics than spinal/neck alignments, which I am not supposed to have due to a congenital brain deformation. I've been looking into getting a chiropractor for the last few months, but as with all my doctors, I'm wary of, and don't want to waist my time going to, " quacks. " If anyone has any advice as to what to look for in a good chiropractor, I'm all ears.

TraceyOn 2/4/06, Jenn <seething@...> wrote:

A good physical therapist is worlds better than any chiropractor. I saw several chiropractors, and they didn't do half of what my physical therapist I see now does for me. (if you live in the NE USA, I can refer you to mine, she is WONDERFUL)-- Niinimoshenh Piskur " Resentment is like taking a poison and hoping the other guy dies. " - Saint

[Guest guest]

Tracey,

A good sign that it's not a good Chiropractor/Physical Therapist/Doctor is if when you call to make a treatment appointment, they offer you a 3:00, 3:15, or a 3:30 appointment, or ANYTHING in increments under an hour. There is no way they can take the time to really help you if your appointment is only 15 to 30 minutes long. So if they say "We have the 1:00 slot and the 1:30 slot open, which would you prefer?" you should say, "I prefer the entire HOUR I need to be helped in a relaxed manner." and find a different practitioner that gives hour long appointments (or at least 45 minutes).

Oh and I'd like to kindly disagree with the person who said that Physical Therapists are part of the "establishment". My physical therapist does belly dancing, and uses alternative health for herself (acupuncture), takes classes on Chinese medicine and commonly is trying new massage balms that she made herself with natural ingredients, does Chi Kung meditation, and never prescribes drugs or gimmicky treatments just for the sake of money. She also doesn't overcharge, and takes whatever I can afford, and has even skipped payments on weeks when I have been really broke. I have no healthcare coverage at all, but I am sure she accepts Medicare payments as sole payments for the elderly that qualify for Medicare (she accepts the state VHAP coverage [what you'd call Medicaid in other states], which I've heard is hard to deal with and pays out low). I find her standard $50 an hour price very reasonable, even though I usually only pay $40 a visit, due to my low paying job.

Perhaps we both have drawn conclusions from our limited personal experiences within those two categories, me with bad Chiropractors, and you with bad Physical Therapists, but I feel we should both agree that it is unfair to classify the entire field for the mistakes of the few we have seen personally. I am sure there are good Chiropractors out there, that care, and do make the time needed for helpful appointments. My experience is limited to a few that did not take such time, so that is what brought me to my biased opinion on the field. My mistake, and I admit it.

Jennhttp://ucat.us

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