I am 35 years old. My chiro also asked about previous trauma. He said my neck looked like a 60 year old neck, and he felt the damage had been there for quite some time. The only thing I could think of, I had a head on collision with a big guy on the football field my senior year in high school that left me with a very bad stinger--the right side of my upper body was paralyzed for about 2 minutes. Our trainer told me to tough it out.
After that, I always had trouble with pulled muscles in my neck. About 7 years ago, I had a severe pinched nerve in my back for about 2 months--nothing would relieve it. I started to do shoulder shrugs and within days, the pain went away and so did the pulled muscles in my neck--for good!
I have always been a neck cracker since high school. I can crack my neck two ways. One is general cracking that relieves stiffness in my neck. The other is more of a manipulation--I've always described the second type as bone clicking on bone. I used to do the second type a lot when I was younger, but stopped because it caused a lot of pain--it was a bad habit. I try not to do the first type much, because my neck feels a lot better when I don't crack it regularly. But when it gets stiff, I can't resist cracking it to get some relief.
I'm not sure if it is significant or not, but I also have lower back problems. I attribute them to working at a Sam's Club in college where I did a lot of heavy lifting. But my family has a history of back issues. Here's the xray report on the lumbar:
Pelvis and sacrum rotational malpositions are seen. There is a tilt of the lumbar spine to the left. The contour is flat in the upper region. There are disc space changes and degenerative bone formation at L1 thru L4. There is subchondral sclerosis of the facet joints at L4/L5. There are oseophytes seen across the margin of the sacroiliac joint on the left. The remaining osseous structures, joint spacing and articluar relationships are maintained. There is no evidence of osseous or joint pathology.
I feel great except for my lower back and especially my neck. My neck has kept me from doing serious weightlifting over the past year, which has taken it's toll on me mentally and physically. I live in a rural area, so there are not a lot of doctor options. I do not want to have surgery. But regular doctor visits or rehab would be difficult for me right now--my job really prevents me from seeing anyone on a regular basis, except during the summer months. Thanks for all of the input so far.
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