Today I saw a chiropractor for the first time. I was hesitant to go but my parents convinced me that he was good (they have been seeing the same chiropractor for a couple of weeks now).

I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome that affects my right neck and shoulder. Lately I have been in pain every day. Some days are worse than others – especially if I try to do “heavy” work. Sometimes even opening the passenger-side door of the car is painful.

The chiropractor was very nice. One of the first questions he asked me was “have you ever noticed that your right shoulder is an inch lower than my left shoulder?” (Leave it to a chiropractor to notice those sorts of things, right?) When I told him no and laughed, he had me look in a mirror and surprisingly he was right. I will need to check this out in pictures now to see if I notice it there too.

After a quick evaluation he told me the plan of treatment and away he went. During the “adjustment” part of the treatment he started by massaging my neck and shoulders and did a quick adjustment which didn’t feel so bad. Then he moved on to the rest of my body. I seriously thought he was going to pull or push me off the table and then when he cracked my neck I thought he had paralyzed me. The sound was horrible!

Overall, it was quite traumatizing but I survived and I actually have better range of motion in my neck. He assured me that he knew what he was doing and told me to come back two more times this week. He also told me that I should sleep well tonight. I sure hope so!