I suffered from pain on the left side of my neck, head, and shoulder for well over a year. In that…read moretime, I felt as though I had a constant headache, and turning my head to the left had become a slow and excruciating ordeal; it was easier to turn my whole body. I purchased virtually every pillow on the market, applied every ointment known to man, tried hot packs, tried cold packs, and gratefully accepted countless massages from a loving and kindly wife. Nothing helped for more than a few hours.
Finally, a physician and dear friend, having personally suffered the same symptoms, recognized my condition. He sympathized with me, and then he referred me to Doctor Stephen Wells at Mountaineer Chiropractic. He held up six fingers. "That's how many visits it took," he testified, "and I feel back to normal."
As well as being a soft tissue injury specialist, Dr. Wells is a very pleasant and personal individual. He alternated sessions between Active Release Techniques, manually relaxing, holding, extending, and releasing soft tissue to reduce muscle tension, and the Graston Technique, using stainless steel instruments to treat soft tissue inflammation. Both techniques are non-invasive. In addition, he gave me helpful exercises to do at home which involved a flat wall and a lacrosse ball. After three or four sessions, I could feel results. My range of motion improved, and my headache dissipated.
At some point in my treatment, twisting while lifting a heavy object set me back, so it took ten or eleven sessions before I could achieve Dr. Wells' "see when needed" status. It has now been five months and, with an occasional touchup with the wall and lacrosse ball, I remain pain free, thanks to the expertise of Dr. Wells.
Daniel J. Killinger
