No pain in four sessions

This is about a personal experience. For years, I’ve nursed some discomfort on the left side of my lower back. Pain would come and go at a tolerable level. I figured it had to do with poor posture, probably due to long hours of sitting in front of a laptop or an inappropriate sleeping position or excessive stress from playing decades of squash. Whatever the reason, I coped with the discomfort and never consulted a doctor about it.

Then came the blow that nearly broke the camel’s back, so to speak. A friend suggested jumping on a trampoline to speed up a conditioning regimen. I’d been inactive for almost a year because of issues with my wrist and heel so I was eager to get back to action. I bought a tramp with a handlebar from Decathlon and took it home a few weeks ago. After about 10 minutes on the tramp, I had severe back pain. What I felt before was nothing compared to this new pain level. I couldn’t get up from bed or enter or alight from a car without a struggle. I couldn’t even walk straight. Apparently, I aggravated a spine misalignment.

Because I knew this was a muscle problem, I thought of consulting chiropractor Dr. Anton Cancio, a nephew whom I had written about in 2009 shortly after he relocated from San Francisco to establish his practice here. Dr. Cancio studied at Ateneo until Grade 4 then his family moved to the US. He earned a bachelor of science degree at Virginia Tech in 1999 and attended the Palmer College of Chiropractic West in California where he was a cum laude graduate and finished with a doctorate in 2002. Dr. Cancio became a certified chiropractic sports physician and after seven years of practice in San Francisco, decided to return to his roots. When he was 12, Dr. Cancio was treated by a chiropractor for pelvic imbalance and it opened his eyes to the wonders of the science.

I knew I would be in good hands. Dr. Cancio has been treating athletes and people of all ages at his Greenhills clinic for over 15 years, gaining a reputation as a healer with the touch to deal with problems like golf and tennis elbow, rotator cuff tendonitis, postural correction, wellness care prevention of chronic pain syndromes and early spinal degeneration, arthritis and stiffness, scoliosis, slipped disc, carpal tunnel syndrome, muscle pain, headache, neck pain and spine injuries. His treatment avoids invasive surgery. Pro athletes like Nonito Donaire, Jr. have been treated by Dr. Cancio.

With throbbing pain in my lower back, I visited Dr. Cancio’s clinic and he prescribed six to eight sessions of therapy capped by cracking of joints to address spinal misalignment. His clinic is well-equipped and impressive with seven therapy rooms and a staff of 14. I went through electrotherapy, radio frequency therapy, myotherapy and laser therapy (for my heel) and after about 15 minutes of each, Dr. Cancio cracked me in five different points. After only four sessions, the discomfort that I lived with for years is totally gone.

In the Philippines, chiropractors are certified by the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care, an agency attached to the Department of Health, through the National Certification Committee for Chiropractic. As of December 2020, there were 72 certified chiropractors in the country. Note that there is no institute or academy teaching chiropractic education here so the certified practitioners are all foreign-schooled. Beware of those who claim to be chiropractors but aren’t certified because they can do harm without meaning to. The agency has no police powers to go after uncertified so-called chiropractors so it’s essential to check on credentials before seeking treatment. For those interested, Dr. Cancio’s clinic is on Missouri corner Connecticut, Greenhills, at +639175807530.