I felt fine, or so I thought. I could not walk straight. My back felt like an old, heavy door with squeaky, rusty hinges. It refused to move, worse, it got stuck. My son, who was in the bathroom, also heard the noise. He poked his head out of the bathroom door and asked, "Are you all right? What was that noise?" Not wanting to alarm them both, I answered, "It’s nothing. I think it was my back, but I’m not sure. I’ll be careful."
Walking with guarded steps to the car, the first pain hit me. I could not lower my body to sit. My son had to help me slide into the car by absolutely keeping my torso immobile. The same, cautious movement had to be done to get me out of the car. As the day progressed, I felt a hot, throbbing sensation on my lower back. By midday, my back was swollen.
Luckily, it was our last day at the theme resort and we were leaving the following day. My son decided to get me to a chiropractor as soon as the plane landed in the airport. What makes chiropractic treatment unique is that chiropractors do not prescribe medicine and never use surgery to alleviate inflammation and pain.
One close look and the chiropractor knew what happened. Nevertheless, he asked me a series of questions and had an x-ray taken of my back. After a few minutes, he explained, "You hurt your lower back, specifically on the fifth lumbar region. I will give you a hot compress and apply ultrasound and you will feel immediate relief."
He made me stretch out on a couch, face down. A heat pack was applied and after a few minutes, he placed another pack that had electric terminals sending out electric current to my back. I was being "cooked." It felt more like super-charged needles massaging my spine. When the timer went off, the muscle spasm eased up.
How could I have hurt my back again? Fortunately, my new chiropractor, Dr. Robert Knapp, knew what he was doing. First, he assured me that I was far from becoming an invalid. (The sharp pain, however, made me feel like one.) Second, there was something he can do to remove the pain and lastly, he could get me back to my normal routine.
He proposed intensive therapy every day for the next seven days. He also cautioned me to keep my feet off the ground. "Go flat on your back," he said. "And no domestic chores." I looked up and he repeated the instruction. "Absolutely no house work, not even to push the button of the washing machine to start a load," he added.
My doctor’s advice was to loaf around and be idle, but the mother in me (cum housekeeper cum cook cum handyman) was protesting. What about the monsters in the wash? Surely, that didn’t demand much effort. The pain, however, was ripping me to shreds. I decided not to cheat on my therapy and darn the laundry.
The treatment consisted of a variety of techniques including spinal adjustment that reduced the pain and facilitated healing. This was done on a couch where the legs can be lowered and manipulated on all angles with gentle pushes and stretches.
After five days, I felt great. Dr. Knapp, however, was cautious. He believed that we needed to complete the rest of the therapy (heat pack, ultrasound, electric impulses, and traction/back manipulation).
That night, while lying in bed, I began to sneeze once, twice, thrice, and finally let out one big, giant sneeze that woke up everyone in the house. Where did that come from? I thought nothing of it. I turned to one side of the bed and snap, I heard a sound followed by a surge of pain that made me scream in torment. The pain was back. It was as if I had not done any therapy at all. Worse, I was afraid to move so I stiffened that part of my back where the pain was most excruciating.
At the first stream of the morning light, I struggled to get up. I managed to change and call a cab to take me back to Dr. Knapp.
When he saw my condition, he said, "You suffered a setback." I was back to square one. Excessive sneezing influenced pain coming from the spine. Again, hot compress and ultrasound therapy provided instant relief. Dr. Knapp warned me not to apply any kind of strain on my back. I replied, "I can assure you, Dr. Knapp, that’s the last thing I want on me."
I hailed a cab to take me back home. When the cab reached the last corner to make a U-turn, the front tires hit a big stone which made the cab jerk. Snap. It was my back again, on the left side, this time. It sent a new, packed and aggressive run of agonizing pain. I lashed out in frustration. I reached for my cell phone and dialed Dr. Knapp’s clinic, "You won’t believe this, Dr. Knapp, but I think I hurt my back again. This time, the pain is on the left side. What am I going to do?" Dr. Knapp spoke in a clear and calm voice. He said, "All right. Go home and apply heat pack alternating with a cold pack on your back, 15 minutes per pack and do this for about six hours ending with the heat pack."
I was getting scared. "Doctor, can’t I go back to your clinic so you can ‘crack’ me out of this?" Dr. Knapp replied, "Your back is still sore from the therapy you just had. We can’t do that today. I suggest the alternate hot and cold packs for now and come back tomorrow."
The following morning, the hot and cold pack treatment did wonders and my back wasn’t too sore anymore. Dr. Knapp continued with the rest of the therapy. Luckily, the sessions were completed just before everybody broke up for the Thanksgiving weekend. I was luckier still for my back cooperated with no more annoying drama.
Having completed the additional sessions, Dr. Knapp was only too happy to put me on the plane, confident that I would make the long-haul journey back to Manila in one (unbroken) piece. He gave me a series of exercises to strengthen my back together with my x-ray plates so that my local chiropractor could continue the treatment, if necessary. He also advised me to stretch and walk inside the aircraft to relieve the pressure off my back caused by being seated in one position for a long period of time. His parting words were, "Give yourself three months for your back to heal and you can return to your regular gym and workout sessions."
My son, not wanting to take any chances, got me a back brace to wear during the flight (although Dr. Knapp preferred that I move my back as normally as possible) and a heat pack that I could easily warm up in the microwave.
The flight was long. When I caught the sight of fish nets spread like spider webs in the sea, I knew we were back in Philippine waters and home at last. After a few months, I was back to my normal routine, including weights and exercise.
I already hurt my back before and the scar tissues that formed may have been aggravated by some careless movements. Dr. Knapp’s timely treatment saved the rest of our vacation and enabled me to gather more info on back ailments.
In the meantime, I’ve stopped using the expression, "Give me a break" for obvious reasons.