Lesson Re-Learned

Recently, I had an experience that re-taught me the importance of every aspect of chiropractic care. I had been through a spinal remodeling program much like the programs I offer my own patients, but no amount of remodeling can change uneven leg lengths.

I was prescribed a foot lift, an insert to wear in my shoe on a daily basis to even out my leg length inequity. I wore the lift religiously for a while, but about two years ago, I stopped. I felt perfectly fine and had no obvious symptoms without it. Now, I have been reminded that a lack of symptoms is not an effective way to judge what’s really going on inside the body, which is a lesson I try to teach all of my patients.

Over the past two years, my joints were deteriorating in the absence of the foot lift. On a recent weekend, I refereed three soccer games in one day, and at the end of the day, I felt sorer than usual. I assumed this was simply from a long day on my feet and did not make any connection to my leg length inequity. By the next morning, sciatica had appeared, but I ignored the pain and went to the gym as usual, thinking that I may have twisted something the day before. And by the time I was leaving the gym, the level of pain I was feeling made it difficult to even drive.

I began to believe I might have piriformis syndrome, which occurs when the sciatic nerve is compressed and causes pain, tingling, numbness, and spasms. Really, piriformis syndrome is a symptom, not a cause. I wanted to think it was piriformis syndrome because it would’ve been an easier problem to deal with than something more serious; all you have to do is break the muscle spasm to relieve pain. Even with all of my medical knowledge, I wanted an easy fix for my issues.

When I had been in pain for days, I realized that it was not piriformis syndrome but that I had actually herniated a disc. I began doing spinal decompression to repair the disc that had herniated and wearing my foot lift again to rebuild a strong foundation. Together, these treatments brought me back to my pain-free, healthy lifestyle.

I had felt so good for so long that I had convinced myself that I didn’t need my foot lift and that I was fine without it. This painful lesson reminded me that just because I wasn’t experiencing any symptoms at the time, I was not truly doing the best thing for my body by neglecting my prescribed foot lift. I hope my recent experience can serve as a real-life example for my patients as well!

"Working to restore God's perfect design in you!"