UPDATED ARTICLE: Sweet "48!" Birthday Decisions...Be
Six months ago, I began to feel a tingling sensation that quickly turned into shooting pain down my right arm. As a personal trainer with more than ten years training experience, I naturally chose not to get professional help but rather go with the adage of "Trainer, Heal Thyself!"
Well: "Thyself" healed nothing and after three months of debilitating pain, sleepless nights and a waning personality, I tucked my fears of bone cracking away and succumbed to logic & reason to finally book an appointment with a recommended chiropractor.
They first did a physical examination (Up, down, left, right, etc. i.e. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, Ouch ...Ugh!) and then proceeded to take X-rays after predicting that the cause of my ailments were probably due to a cervical (neck) issue. I use the term "issue" quite loosely for my neck was curving in the wrong direction! (center X-ray) 129% away from what's considered a normal curvature (left X-ray). Vertebras C5 & C6 were attempting to fuse together, thus causing the pinched nerve that, by this stage of my denial, atrophied my right pec, lat, delt and tricep.
It was, quite frankly, the most terrifying news that I'd ever received in regards to my body.
All was not lost though. After three months of corrective treatments and a regiment of Traction and stretching exercises, my neck has begun to bow in the proper direction (right X-ray), now only 57.9% away from a normal curvature. C5 & C6 have a gap between them and the nerve damage has all but gone with only infrequent tingles. Muscular development has also awoken as I've begun to reengage the atrophied muscles.
What is it to undergo several months of pain, discomfort and due diligence to achieve a result that will effect the rest of one's life?
It is, quite simply ... "Worth It!"
For those that are struggling with injury or issue, may I highly recommend getting council from a professional. Leave your stubbornness at the door and press through the change. The original article of my decision to undergo this treatment follows...
July 27th, 2017
As I celebrate my 48th year, being born in the Year of the Sexual Position and the Year of the Cock, in the Chinese calendar, which my friends and associates will most certainly attest to, I have come upon a cross-roads of sorts. They say that aging is not for the meek. I can, most assuredly but begrudgingly, agree.
After experiencing a pinched nerve and being diagnosed with "Whoa, now that's a really f*%ked-up neck" syndrome (note the x-rays above; normal neck on left, Abby Normal or mine, on right) I had to make a decision that would impact the rest of my days. Either endure a 3-6 month regiment of intense corrective treatments, costing a few thousand dollars, or ... thick-headedly ignore the problem until it sends me to the preverbal junkyard.
I put it into an automotive analogy so my stubborn pee-brain could grasp the severity of the situation. I could either be a 1969 Alfa Romeo 1750gtv (my favorite classic car) or, as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers sang about, a Dodge Vegematic.
The GTV is technically outdated and finicky, needing plenty of attention and care but it's Bertone body-work is great to look at and it can still carve corners like a fillet knife. Anyone that's had a classic car knows of the heart-aches, head-aches and general frustration in owning one ... but they also know the passion, rewards and utter enjoyment of them.
As we age, we can either become a classic collectable or we can succumb to decay as a junkyard carcass that sits about for decades, not in use, let alone drivability, much like a Dodge Vegematic ... there in the parking lot 🎶, or we can heed the call of Up-Keep!
Yes, Up-keep! ... Whilst our bones creek, our muscles ache, our eyesight blurs, our libido wanes (do your dick and vag exercises!) and our memory retrieval slows to a glacial pace, we can toss our hands up in the air and recline into the Lazy-boy of abandonment or we can endure the struggle of recovery.
In this day and age of miracle pills, all that somehow inspire uncontrollable bowl movements and thoughts of suicide, one strives to remind oneself of the beauty and value of struggle and pain. My charge and wish to myself and to any of those experiencing this cross-road, on this, my 48th anniversary, is to carry on and upkeep. To endeavor past the pain of change and be steadfast through the recovery. I will probably not be the fastest, strongest, prettiest or smartest but I do hope to be a shit-ton-of-fun Alfa GTV for many years to come.
As for the Dodge Vegematic, whilst a great song ... it is not a lifestyle choice for an Alfa.
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