Do Chiropractors Make House Calls?

After yesterday's child-carrying-fiasco, my back isn't protesting it's abuse too badly. I know better than to carry both girls at once, but still I continue to do it, throwing caution to the wind. Sometimes I come away with a mild ache; then other sometimes I feel like a nerve has been severed. Russian Roulette of the spinal variety.

What I should do is go to see my chiropractor. Well, that and go see Carol for some spine-strengthening Pilates exercises. I am doing neither. Since I know you're terribly curious as to why I don't make a chiropractic appointment, (or since I have a captive audience, cackle-cackle) allow me to explain.

Keep in mind that a) I am somewhat neurotic, and b) You are probably completely sane, so you can't judge me.

I saw a chiropractor for almost the entire time I was pregnant with Lauren. I was convinced that my tight and cranky muscles had held Mia in the breech position that necessitated a C-Section, and I hoped to avoid that with Lauren. Plus, if you've ever been pregnant, you may know that on occasion? It hurts. It's uncomfortable carrying a front-end-wide-load, and your back (legs, torso, hormones, skin, etc, etc, ad infinitum..) take a beating.

My body was so knotty, tight, and unrelaxed, that I had weekly adjustments (almost free thanks to insurance, whew). If I missed and appointment, I could feel the tension taking over again, and at the next appointment, we'd have to work extra hard to release it. My chiropractor was amazing, and I was virtually pain free for the second half of the pregnancy. And, miracle of miracles, I delivered naturally -a crazy dream of mine.

So, having had such a great relationship with my chiropractor for several months, I expected to continue our appointments, therefore rendering me nimble and loosey-goosey so I didn't need to take drastic measures if/when I had something that needed serious attention. Preventative maintenance, y'know?

But...I haven't gone back. Ok, I went twice before Lauren was 2 months old - other than that I've flown the chiropractic coop.

In the beginning, I was so sore from childbirth that I couldn't imagine lying prone on a table for an adjustment. And I hadn't yet figured out how to take two children with me to a quiet waiting room without causing a scene. I was nursing the baby around the clock, Mia was testing her new limits in older-sisterhood, and confidence was not my friend. So I put it off until I could get some sort of order (control) back in our lives.

Then, when order was finally restored, I couldn't find the time to go to an appointment. If Lauren was awake, she'd need to be nursing or practicing eating, and Mia needed lunch and naptime that was sometimes the exact opposite of Lauren's timing. I would get so entrenched in the order of our days, that I couldn't figure out how to break it.

Now, there's plenty of options throughout the day to go see the chiropractor, but after almost a year with no attention to my spine, I'm not going for a different reason.

It's just...well...I'm a little...

Scared.

With a big pregnant woman, I'm sure there's some level of care taken that isn't observed with a normal adult. I imagine the chiropractor is gentler, and I know there are things that simply can't be done with a pregnant patient. So I'm scared that it'll hurt. The full force of my doctor's chiropractic joint-cracking skillz will be employed.

I see the irony of undergoing natural childbirth, and then being frightened of the pain involved in a chiropractic adjustment. See above statement (a) about neurosis.

Also...yes, there's more. Stop rolling your eyes!

Also, I'm scared that the staff will think badly of me for skipping out on their office's care for the past year, after having been such a regular. I can't possibly explain all my reasons without sounding just this side of crazy.

As evidenced by the entire content of this disturbing monologue.

So, I don't go to the chiropractor. Unless she'll make a house call. Then I'm more than willing to submit myself to pain, embarrassment, and other benefits of chiropractic care.