Visit 1

I walked into the office. A very nice lady greeted me at the front desk, but otherwise, the office was dead quiet.  Is a doctor's office that is not busy a good sign? The office was simply decorated with a pot of water for green tea and a display of chiropractic pillows (maybe I need one of those). There was a picture of his family on the wall with a little background information. He has practiced there for 12 years.  That has to be a good thing. I sat in a chair complete with some sort of back support thing which I decided that I needed after I sat there a while.  The nice lady brought me some laminated brochures to read and set up a video to watch.  The video's basic purpose was to convince me that chiropractors were not quacks. They had plenty of edumacation and then a synopsis of what they treated and how much my chiropractor could help me.  I guess I can't blame him. These guys have had a bad go of it over the years. I wasn't convinced, but hey, he is my last resort.

The chiropractor came out to greet me and take me back to a room with x-ray equipment, table, computer, and general doctor type stuff.  He reviewed the brochures and I was even quizzed on them in a friendly way. Glad the nice lady tipped me off about the quiz.  I think  I got a few of the answers wrong but it was not my fault. He did not word the questions right. :-) This visit lasted about an hour. He took x-rays, ran some kind of handheld device up and down my spine which took temperature readings. He also had me bend different ways and then tell him what I thought my percentage of range of motion was, which he confirmed.  We looked at models of good spines and bad spines, calcium deposits, bone spurs, spacing between vertebrae. I will say he was extremely thorough. The room was well lit and he kept the door open during the whole thing. I think it was just me in the office so that was fine. The atmosphere was totally different than a doctor office visit. He actually asked my opinion, made sure I understood his role and what he was going to do and I felt like I was a part of the whole procedure. I still don't trust him, but we will shall see.

I also scheduled my massage, which I am leery of because I have never done well with massages. They hurt, to be honest. There is nothing pleasant about them for me.  But maybe it will loosen up my muscles.