Monday, July 30, 2007

Maybe some good news?

So today I went to a chiropractor. And it was just a "let's see what's going on with your body and tell you how we think we can help it" all for free sort of appointment. I also actually took my middle dd to see if they could help any ...

As for me ...
Well, I'm crossing my fingers that they can help. She is going to try to do something with the muscles in my jaw to help with the TMJ (which will hopefully help with the pain, the headaches and some of the sleep issues). They are also going to work on my back (I slipped a disc about 6 years ago and have had issues with it ever since).
The bad news is - she is thinking I might have some issues with my discs (as in they are degenerating too quickly for my age) OR she is concerned that there might be some arthritis going on with my back - and quite possibly my jaw.
Right now, I am slated to go in 3 times a week for a month. She said at that point, we'll know if what she is doing is helping or not. And if it's helping, that's good!
She has also ordered x-rays of my back and an MRI of my jaw. She wants to really get a good look at those joints (and it's actually nice because the oral surgeon also suggested an MRI of my jaw so I can get copies sent out to them!)
Anyway, my grandpa had awful arthritis. And had lots of joints replaced. And I'm really kind of scared they are going to find out I have it too.
Hopefully, it's just some muscle issues or whatever that can be solved with some good treatments and then I can have a while of pain-free living (because once the symptoms are under control she told me I would stop going to see her and not have to return unless/until symptoms came back.
I will say I was encouraged to hear her say that after a month or two, I shouldn't have to return because a)it wouldn't help anyway or b) the symptoms should be under control enough that I don't need to see them anymore! Frankly, I'm not in a mood to have to see the chiropractor every single week for the next 5 years or something like that!

As far as my dd -
Great news. She tested her muscle strength and although she said her muscles were slightly floppy, they were completely in the range of normal! YEAH! This is the first exam she has gotten and not been flagged for low muscle tone. She even said her arms and legs were extremely strong for her age, and the slight weakness is in the trunk area. One thing I can mark off my list of concerns for Little Miss M!
Also, they will do some adjustments on her to help with her chronic constipation issues. I have heard from one (and only one) person recently that chiropractic care helped her with these issues and thought, what is the harm in trying it out? Again, M is slated to go in 3 times a week for 4 weeks (so basically we are booking all our appointments together). She told me too, that within that month there will be a huge difference or not, and either way, none to minimal care should be needed after that first month. I would love if we could get M off the daily laxative. Or even if we could just start to lower her dose. Because I hate having to give her a daily medicine and I am worried about her becoming too dependent upon it every day.

Anyway, I will be seeing a lot of this doctor over the next 4 weeks! And I will be relying on a lot of people to help watch the other two children while M and I get some adjustments.

I am praying that this will help the both of us. And that the problems are really just simple and quick to fix!

1 comment:

Kim said...

Hey B,
I didn't know you suffered from TMJ. I also had problems and here is what helped, and amazingly so. I wask always tired and waking up with headaches and talked to my dentist. They made a special "bite guard", I will have to check the name of it. It goes just on the two top front teeth and keeps you from clenching and grinding. It made all the difference in the world. And, now that I mention it, I am guessing I might need to wear it again.

Anyway, it was great, non-invasive and didn't involve anything painful. (I am chicken about the dentist!)

So, that might be something that would help you as well.
Blessings, Kim