Went to the local chiropractor yesterday for a consultation before undergoing some therapy for a frozen shoulder and some preventative, manipulative maintenance on my recurrent back problem, which is caused by a displaced sacroiliac.
I have no idea what caused the sacroiliac to go out of kilter in the first place, but tend to attribute it to Wally Stobie pinning me and my two mates against a wall in the bar of the good ship MV Egori in a scrum during a session of bar rugby in my mid 20s. Wally (the 1st Mate) was - and probably still is - built like a brick shit-house and could form a scrum front row on his own, such was his prodigious strength. He ran our team's front row (in which I was hooker) into a bulkhead and just kept pushing, resulting in my back undergoing some stresses for which it was not designed. I felt no immediate ill effects, but from that year on I started with the back problems.
I have no idea what caused the sacroiliac to go out of kilter in the first place, but tend to attribute it to Wally Stobie pinning me and my two mates against a wall in the bar of the good ship MV Egori in a scrum during a session of bar rugby in my mid 20s. Wally (the 1st Mate) was - and probably still is - built like a brick shit-house and could form a scrum front row on his own, such was his prodigious strength. He ran our team's front row (in which I was hooker) into a bulkhead and just kept pushing, resulting in my back undergoing some stresses for which it was not designed. I felt no immediate ill effects, but from that year on I started with the back problems.
Anyway, I digress. The practise includes an aromatherapist, a therapy over which I have deep scepticism. I noticed an array of essential oils on display in the waiting room and took the trouble to read some of the uses on cards below the various bottles on display. Here is a sample:
- This essential oil is both a tonic and a sedative. Isn't that an oxymoron?
- Rub the oil into the affected area in a clockwise circular motion. Will the direction of motion make a blind bit of difference?
- Marjoram oil - for tension headaches - put some on a hot towel and place at the back of the neck. Surely the hot towel on its own will have infinitely more effect for a headache than something put on the skin, which is akin to putting a plaster on your forehead with an Asprin under it?
I also possess a healthy scepticism over some of the more esoteric claims of chiropractics, but tend to lump them into the same category as osteopaths when it comes to the manipulative side of the business - chiropractics tend to include a touch of metaphysics in their techniques. That said, previous visits to osteopaths and chiropractics have given me almost instantaneous relief (but no cure) for the back problem when it flares up.
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