[ironviking]

Its been awhile but I'm back, been away for quite some time and part of that was due to a neck condition that I had for the past two months. I forgot the name but it is basically where your neck muscles spasm constantly and it is painful as hell unless you take about 5 shots of Southern Comfort and pass out, which is not good but it sure as hell beat the pain.

After seeing my doctor, who is a D.O., getting many chiropractic manipulations done and seeing a specialist who said surgery is probably the only way to correct the problem, I decided to seek out ART. I live in Colorado Springs so I practically live next door to a practitioner.

AFTER TWO SESSIONS I am FREE OF THE PAIN and I can go BACK TO WEIGHTLIFTING.

The sessions hurt like hell but after the first one I could move my neck again, it may not seem like much but when I couldnt look to either side of myself for two months I was ecstatic. Also I couldnt lift for over two months and when I say couldnt I mean physically unable to. I still have spasms every once in a while and I do therapy to help rid myself entirely of those but this is my first week back at the gym and it feels great, actually in a way it sucks because I look terrible and I'm kind of embarrassed to be seen. Thats ok though, I'm doing Yoga and Pilates as well just to try and get healthy again.

I have to say though ART is amazing, it costs me close to three hundred out of pocket but it was well worth it.
By the way, its nice to see every body still here.

[T-Bar]

Good deal man. What is ART?

[jminis]

Glad to hear your doing better, but I like to know also what is ART. Alternative Rehabilitation Therap?

[windwords7]

Great to hear! As you know I am a huge fan of ART.

[Jergo]

Yeah bro, glad to see that your back and doin well. I know how those damn soft-tissue injuries feel, really annoying. I have to get this damn knee taken care of before my insurance runs out the door on me.

Good luck on your training.

[msclbldrguy]

thats awesome news...i wish there were some art practitioners where i live....oh, well...

[quasar]

Wow, $300 seems expensive! I can get mine for about $40/session but maybe it's because they bill my insurance for some of it. Glad to hear you're doing better, thats the important thing. I agree though, I couldn't have anticipated the pain involved, but the range of motion change is pretty quick. Are you keeping ice on the area? I just bought a large polar pack that I wrap with a towel and now sleep with nightly. Maybe you'd feel better with something like that on your neck at night, I know it helps me sleep and wake up pain free.

[ironviking]

actually I was told to keep heat on it so I bought this thing from "Relax the Back" store, its called a bucky - heat it up in the microwave - feels pretty good, it loosens the muscles up well

[quasar]

The polar pack can be microwaved or frozen, but I think the cold would help relieve inflammation and pain as opposed to heat which would promote increased blood flow, but may also increase inflammation. I've read that you shouldn't ice an injury for more than 20min though, or you may get frostbite. The polar pack is a gel-based flexible bag that melts enough that keeping it on longer is not a problem as with real ice packs. My chiro gave me a handout about the importance of icing injuries and highly recommended it when experiencing pain from an adjustment or ART.