I am a 39 yo nurse/nurse practitioner who works at the bedside in acute care. I have hurt my back…read morein the past and thought my injuries were irreparable, and just a degenerative process that I needed to accept, considering my family history of back problems and the fact that I have had two neck surgeries several years ago (secondary to the intensity of my job requirements).
Fast forward 4 years: I was watering my front porch plants on a warm sunny day in November and wearing wet slippery shoes, fell backward on our front steps (Yay!) and because I am stubborn, I thought nothing of it. Several days later, I'm hurting and decided to go to an urgent care because they had X-ray imaging ability there and this wasn't severe enough for an ER visit. In the imaging, I appeared to have a subluxation that looked like it had been there for a while. The treatment?: a chiropractor could adjust that back into normalcy. At this point, I had never been to a chiropractor and didn't know how I felt about it based on some stereotypes such as "curing cancer," etc. but I decided to look up the ones closest to me and see what the reviews said. Then, I found Align Life and the wonderful reviews. I decided to give it a try and hope for the best.
During my first appointment, I met with Dr. Ray Nichols, who examined my spine and hips, and touched the tender, aggravating points on my spine, nailing exactly where my chronic areas and pain were. I was very impressed that he was able to identify this just with touch alone. Then, anterior and lateral X-rays were taken, and lo and behold, it was evident that I had MANY subluxations along my spine. (A "subluxation" is when a vertebrae is misaligned and can cause pinching of nerves, pain, stiffness, etc.)
My first official adjustment was unbelievable! I couldn't believe how QUICKLY it took from going from hurting and walking around stiff to BOOM......standing up and feeling like nothing was ever wrong with my back!!!! I seriously BOUNCED out of there in full stride with no pain. Unfortunately, I require repeated adjustments because my body has been doing this for so long. However, every visit thereafter has been restorative, and takes only a few minutes before I'm "back," no pun intended. My husband is always surprised by my posture and energy after each visit, as back issues can really zap a person's energy and mental state. After all, it is the structure we are built upon and when it's out of sync, we feel that way emotionally and physically. Honestly, I don't know why I just accepted this as "normal" for so long when I know this so well. I just didn't think anything could be done other than using a foam roller, my theracane, and my inversion table at home.
Dr. Ray Nichols is friendly, kind, easy on the eyes (this always helps, right?) and he has a wonderful playlist of music always running in the background. His energy is always positive and he has a wonderful talent. He is also very holistic and this is something I appreciate and mostly align with as well (eg: turmeric for pain and less of NSAID's as much as possible). I am more than thankful to have found him.
