Stab...

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." ~ Thomas Edison

So I'm working out at the gym the other day and doing some trap work.  At some point I felt a little tweak.  Or at least I thought I did, it was pretty subtle.  Hence, I kept doing what I was doing.  Big. Mistake.

Fast forward a couple of days later...I managed to ignore the ever creeping tightness and pain in my neck so I could enjoy, in my opinion, the best day of the year - Halloween.  I had a costume contest to attend, not to mention a wee four year old friend who was counting on her "Auntie" to escort her trick or treating.  But now I could ignore it any longer.

Last night I didnt' sleep a wink.  Every time I moved I had a shooting pain hit me.  By the time my alarm went off I knew I likely couldn't go into work.  Then I tried to get out of bed.  It was confirmed, I wasn't going in to work.  My upper body moved as one - I couldn't look left, or down.  I had troubles lifting my left arm too.  Hmmm.   This could be interesting.  The worst was when my love gave me a hug before he left for work and I just about passed out from the pain that shot through my neck.  Okay then...calling in to work and seeing if I could find a acupuncturist nearby because mine was on his day off. Not only that, I knew I wouldn't be able to drive anywhere so it had to be a place I could walk to.  

There was one place I used as a back up when my acupuncturist, Ryan, was unavailable.  I had been there a couple of times and commented once to Ryan that they were a bit more 'to the point' than 'Western' acupuncturists.  I say this with a smile of course.  Ryan laughed and said that yes, Western practitioners were usually a bit more 'tender' when it came to their patients then their Eastern counterparts.   Because I knew this I knew what to expect...

So I walked in, explained the situation and had a seat.  I expected she would be sticking needles into the region there was pain.  It would appear I have yet to learn that with acupuncture it's not always so straightforward.  She lifted my left paint leg and pressed on a spot that had me jump.  'Does that hurt?'  Uh, yeah.  STAB! In went the needle.  Ow.  Now not to scare anyone away from acupuncture - I am a firm believer in it - but sometimes they hit a spot that is REALLY hitting the spot.  This was one of those times.

So that was it...she put a needle in my leg for a pain in my neck.  Then she asked me to point out where the pain was, so I did.  I soon learned this tiny woman had a pair of the strongest hands in the world.  Like vise clamping hands.  After squeezing the heck out of me she asked me turn look up, down, side to side.  This was rather difficult to do, but I must admit, I had more movement than before.  Okay, this was a good sign.

She then told me to keep looking up down left right.  And she left the room.  Alrighty then... I focussed on my breathe while doing what she said.  Up...down...left...right...  My mind started to wander.  I started to sing the first few lines of 'Baby got back'.  Breathing in, breathing out...  Okay this was getting boring.  I looked at the time. Holy hannah I had been doing this for 25 minutes.  Please no more...  Finally she came back.  Only a little more and you can massage your neck.  Nooooo.

Thankfully it was only a few more minutes of this.  I had realized why she asked me if I had eaten...all this up down and side to side would give anyone motion sickness!!  Next up, sitting with suction cups on the sore areas.

The end result, I had some more movement and was no longer walking with my had tilted at an unnatural angle.   (This I only noticed when I looked in the mirror - hmm, that doesn't look quite right...) Funny how we naturally make little adjustments to protect ourselves.

I still hurt, but it's not as bad as it was.  We will see what the night brings.  Hopefully I can get a good nights sleep and not kink it in some way.

I often wonder why I get these kinks and nigglies when I exercise and look after myself.  I think it's just a natural part of aging, or so I am told.  Then I wonder what it would be like if I didn't exercise and take care of myself.  Yikes!  No thank you.  

Be grateful for all that your body gives you...even the nigglies.

Peace out my lovelies.