Pain Killers vs. Actually Addressing the Pain
A few days ago, My dog Hunny, a 6-year-old, 80lb, Golden Doodle, with the happiest little personality you've ever seen, became drastically sad, short of breath, increased blood pressure & muscle spasms on her left side. I was concerned and rushed her to the veterinary hospital.
After some tests, we discovered she had severely hurt her back, the doctor immediately prescribed pain-killers & muscle relaxers. I asked if it would be wise to take her to a chiropractor to get her back looked at, the Doctor laughed in my face making me feel foolish. She said, “No, I would not recommend that, just give her the pain pills.”
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I personally went though a server head & neck injury.
I remember how excited I was to receive “Nerve Block Injections” the summer of 2012. I was sitting in the waiting room with my parents wanting nothing but the pain to go away. My pain was so severe that Advil and other painkillers wouldn’t help. At this time, loud noises hurt my ears, bright lights hurt my eyes, my left side of my face felt numb, my neck hurt, and my shoulders hurt, I had uncomfortable tingling in my fingertips… I was led to believe the injections would take away my pain. After a month or so of horrible pain, I was ready to be pain free. I was so excited! I posted on Facebook how I was about to be healed!
I can still see myself sitting in the chair and hearing the doctor read off the possible side effects for my parents and I to sign off on.
“Commonly encountered side effects are increased pain from the injection (usually temporary), rarely inadvertent puncture of the “sack” containing spinal fluid which my cause headaches, infection, bleeding, nerve damage, weight gain, in rare cases death, or no actual relief from your pain.”
Something lit up inside of me, why did I have this pain? I was injured. I was playing a college sport and got hurt. There has to be something physically wrong with me. Does this make sense? Why would an invasive treatment help? I looked at my parents with tears in my eyes, and deciding not to take the injections walked out.
I went the next 3 years exploring different treatments, seeing Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, taking supplements, trying “Mud Packs” to regain healthy nerve flow, having frequent massages. I would drive two hours from Denison University to Ohio University every week, to twice a month just so I could feel some relief with Cranial Sacral and Osteopathic Manipulation Medicine. Some days I would think I was getting better, but the pain and numbness and tingling would become noticeable again. I did find that using Deep Blue from doTERRA helped my pain, but the underlying issue was still there. I felt it was hopeless; I began to realize this is just how my life was going to be.
In the summer of 2015, I was at a farmers market in Kalamazoo, MI. While there I ran into Dr. Ryan Malarney of West Michigan Chiropractic. We started talking about my pain, and he looked at me and immediately asked if I had had my neck looked at. No, I had a head injury, why would they look at my neck.
To make this long story short, that was the beginning of the end for my pain. After a year & a half of chiropractic treatment with Dr. Ryan and Upper Cervical Chiropractic Treatment from Dr. Jonathon Lazar of Lazar Spinal Care in Ann Arbor, MI, I Finally became pain free. Every now and then I have pain again, but I use natural ways to deal with it like stretching and Deep Blue from doTERRA Essential Oils or I call up Dr. Lazar and get in for a quick adjustment.
This journey has changed my perspective. It now causes me to look at other areas of my life like my acne. Do I take birth control pills & use harsh topical creams or do I study myself and learn that my what I eat and how I exercise affects my skin? Or if I’m stressed, unhappy, tired and sad, do I use a vice or do I confront how I feel and make a change in my lifestyle? It may not be as quick of a fix. Taking pain killers can mask the pain a lot faster, but the amount of self awareness, truth & determination I developed on my journey of actually addressing the pain, and the root of its cause, completely out weighs any pain I could ever feel.
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As I drove the 40 minutes home from the vet, praising the Lord that it was just her back and not her heart or something more serious, I got to thinking… It is her back… these painkillers are not going to help her. They might mask her pain but what if she just has a misalignment? What if I don’t get her misalignment addressed and later down the line she has even more pain and an even worse misalignment?
They next morning, I did research and found a veterinary chiropractor near by. He fit me in the schedule immediately, and after a good evaluation and 5 adjustments, Hunny was good as new and I had tears of joy in my eyes.
I will be taking her back tomorrow for a check up, but I no longer need to give her the painkillers or muscle relaxers because honestly, her pain has been cleared as her spine has been released of subluxations.
Praise the Lord. Thank you for these amazing Doctors of Chiropractic that study the body and truly help it return to its natural state of homeostasis and health. I am grateful I was determined to actually address the pain she was having, and I am grateful there was a doggy chiro in my area.
<3 Katherine
My dog Hunny, 6-year-old, 80lb, Golden Doodle,