Thumbs of Doom

After 5 years of suffering with shoulder pain and dealing with numbness in the last two fingers of my left hand, I finally caved last week and went to visit a chiropractor for the first time. Ever. Now, something that needs to be known about Bethany: she doesn't go to the doctor for pain unless something is hanging. By a thread. And even then its questionable if she'll make the trip.

I figured that 5 years was long enough to have nearly constant aching, not to mention the numbness and tingling, so I cracked and picked up the phone. My dad has problem with his shoulders too, and his chiropractor was able to offer him some relief, so off I went.

I love the body charts that they have you fill out at doctors offices. You know, the drawings of the back and front of the body, with a legend consisting of different symbols that represent an assortment of aches and pains. One is supposed to draw on the body diagram to pinpoint the areas which are having issues with the appropriate symbol. I seriously considered circling the whole body and then putting a giant X through it. I mean, really? Someone like me who has abused their bodies for 13+ years dancing? I have had issues with just about every part of my body.

I decided that the X through the diagram would not be presenting the best attitude, so I focused on the areas that have been giving me the most trouble lately. This perpetuated some very interesting events. Such as my foot being manipulated and cracked back into place. Yes, I did say my foot. I've had problems with that sucker for the better part of 10 years, with issues ranging from nerve damage to bone spurs to tendinitis. Not to mention a pretty nice sprain 2 years back. It seems that there's been a bone out of place. Or at least it was. She took that puppy on and it had no chance. CRACK!!! It shockingly didn't hurt (I feel that for how loud it cracked, I should have been melting to the floor in tears).

The most fun part of the visit was the work on my shoulder. By fun, I mean that she may as well have released a cageful of scorpions into the office and then locked me in. (okay, it really wasn't that bad) I have learned the Dr. Rimby's thumbs are registered as illegal weapons in 15 states. I had them digging into my ulnar nerve for 10 minutes. That was 5 days ago. And it still feels bruised. Ouch.

So, today was my second visit back. I still have all sorts of soreness and tingling and numbness. She cracked my wrist today, which was freaky but nearly as much as my foot *shudder*. She found the world's most massive knot under my left shoulder, which would be attributing to some of the numbness and shoulder pain. She had mercy on me, just for today, and kept her thumbs mostly away from it. I have 2 more appointments scheduled in the next week and something tells me that the weapons will be coming out of the holsters then.

I'll be sure to say my prayers before I arrive.

(PS- if anyone is looking for a chiropractor, I highly recommend Dr. Rimby! While her thumbs are very scary, she's amazing!)