My Trip to Carter Physiotherapy: Part 2

If you haven't read about my first trip over to Carter Physiotherapy, you can check it out here.

My second visit started right where the first had left off, re-checking my hip alignment for progress. Thankfully, and due to the miraculous hands of Dr. Carter, I was able to do the at-home stretches to the point of alleviating my pain, and my alignment showed signs of improvement also! Score!

Though the appointment was initially scheduled in order to do a second treatment for my existing back pain, the visit's purpose changed dramatically when I revealed that I had woken up the day before with one of the worst cricks in my neck of all time. It was so bad, in fact, that 36 hours later, it was still going strong and keeping me almost entirely from turning my head to either side or looking up and down.

Dr. Carter checked it out, having me look in all four directions while manually feeling for the cause of the tension, and admitted that it was more than your run of the mill crick in the neck. A major reason likely had to do with the way I had fallen back to sleep around Ava in the middle of the previous night, so the pain I felt functioned more like that of an injury than your standard "I slept wrong" type of pain. Anyhow, once he was able to get a detailed explanation of where it hurt and what provoked it, he set to work on trying to alleviate the pain.

Now I'm sure this is starting to sound like a glorified massage. But let me tell you, it was much more than that. Sure, he did use some massage techniques in order to decrease the tension in my neck, but he was also constantly evaluating the effect he was having on the area by having me look to the sides and up and down to see exactly how much my range of motion was increasing, and studying the way in which his techniques were affecting what was going on with me intramuscularly. And, if we're being completely honest, it was more painful than your average massage!

What I can honestly say also, though, is that the pain was entirely worth it, and I felt relief almost immediately! Whereas I walked in grateful for my blind spot mirrors and with a very limited range of motion, I left being able to turn my head significantly farther in each direction, especially to each side. I was sent home with instructions to apply ice three times daily (with a barrier to prevent the ice from burning my skin), and to work on my posture in order to keep the muscles relaxed. And, much to my extreme relief, I felt significant improvement immediately that carried over to feeling completely healed within a few days!

Here is more on what Dr. Carter recommends for the all-too-common crick in the neck!