Chiro explanation

Saw the chiro tonight. Told him how ortho said he doesn't know the source of my pain and sent me on my way. Chiro responded, "but we do!!" He said the cause of my pain is muscular. My old right knee injury is making me pull my body in one direction. Muscles are compensating for that direction. During a fall, like the one I had on 12/24, the muscles tighten up and keep tightening even after the fall. Then one day that tightness traps a nerve, or pulls on the spine, or pulls on a joint, and that is what causes pain. What he is doing is releasing the muscle with all his pressing and pushing, and his adjustments are to push bones back where they should be. I asked how much longer the pain will last for...of course, he doesn't know.

We talked about me getting back to the gym. The answer is not yet, though I could do some very specific toning exercises on machines. I hate machines--I prefer classes. He discussed the pitfalls of classes. While the classes are good because they make you keep going and complete the entire workout, he thinks the classmates have a tendency to try to out do each other and wind up overexercising, which isn't realized til after class is over. He said what I need to do for now is walk. I said I walk approx 4 times a week for 45 min at a time. I think I walk more than that sometimes--such as when coworkers and I walk up to Nassau St at lunchtime, that's at least a 20 min roundtrip, depending on who I walk with. So I think I'm headed in the right direction.

Anyway, Len did this thing tonight with my lower left back, where he was pressing on a muscle in such a way that it hurt but also felt good. I see him again Fri. I see the acu on Wed.

I think I need to keep a journal of what I do everyday, what I ate, how much I walked, how much I slept, which stretches I did, what activity I did, etc and see if I can find a pattern as to why/when flare-ups occur. I don't really want to do it...I've been thinking all along that I should do that, and I think it's the only way to crack this puzzle. Now, from a scientific perspective, it would be interesting to go back and see the progression of my recovery path--like from those days I'd wake up every few hours and was in really bad pain. I can do that broadly with my blog (search my blog for "miserable"...) but I think I need the daily jot. I need a fun way to keep track of that info, and I can tell you, while an Excel spreadsheet with neat columns would be the best way to track it, it is not the way that motivates me. Wonder if there's some template online for keeping track of that stuff.

Back pain today: left side 2/3. Knee pain subsided again after yesterday's right knee flare-up.

I watched the finale of Expedition: Africa. Since it was a Mark Burnett produced show, I thought they might have some actor there in Ujiji, pretending to be Livingstone. They didn't. What they did have was a massive celebration, and talked about what they learned. One of the explorers said they felt empathy for Stanley and Livingstone, and that made me cry! I don't know what's wrong with me but I think I have learned to feel empathy for people in pain and with mobility issues. My issues are so small, my pain and problems could be so much worse. I feel that through this experience, I am somehow more human.

And with that, it's time to quite literally take out the trash!!