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Thoughts on lots of things, especially education, psychology, culture, religion, and personal growth.

Friday, September 6, 2013

The chiropractor-kinesiologist visit.

I just wanted to share...  I went to a chiropractor - kinesiologist here in town, who was recommended by a couple friends.  (Dr. Owens on Stanton St. I couldn't find a website for him, otherwise I'd link to it.) The trigger issue that prompted me to make the appointment was a really sore lower back that started last week, but I wanted to ask about my anemia and shakiness problems as well.  (No, that hasn't gone away yet. I just haven't posted much about it.)  I brought in the results of the three blood tests  I've had done since last May, showing my low ferritin and hemoglobin levels, that hardly budged, even though I took my iron faithfully and did everything I knew to do to get better.

The doctor was really friendly and approachable. I liked him from the start. He was a good listener and communicator. I described my host of symptoms and what I've been doing to get better, including my frustration with the mainstream doctor I've been seeing.  Then we started with the muscle testing.

That stuff is amazing--have you ever seen it done?  Dr. Owens started by having me hold out an arm and try to push up against his arm, so he could see how strong I was, baseline.  Then he touched, or asked me to touch, various points in my body while asking me to push my arm up again. Sometimes my arm would just collapse and lose its strength for no apparent reason.  When this happened, he would mutter incoherently to himself, and move to a different point.  He also tested the strength of my legs by having me lie on the table and push one leg outward against his hand, and then the other.  Then he discussed some of the results with me while straightening my back.  Pop, went my lower back. Much better. No more nerve-pinching pain.

"Oh my, you're going to be a project!" he laughed, comparing the lengths of my feet against each other.  His tone was lighthearted, but I wasn't sure if he was mostly serious about that.  "C3 is out of alignment. Let's fix that." C-C-C-C-Crack went my neck. Ahhhh!  Another look at my feet.  "Much better," he said.  "And look, your legs are stronger now," as I pushed my legs out again.

I did feel straighter and better, but something he did made me feel dizzy now, and the brain fog and shakiness I've had to fight against all summer started kicking in. When he asked me to stand up and tried continuing the conversation, I could only stare. I realized I had forgotten to tell him about this problem, as if all the other symptoms I've had weren't enough.  He could tell something was wrong, and got me a drink of water.

"Your fasting glycemic level was only 65," he said. I realized he must have a photographic memory; we hadn't discussed the glycemic levels earlier, and he no longer had the test results in front of him. "Do you get shaky often?"

"Yes, it's really annoying."

He wanted to do some more arm testing, but I was too weak.  So he called in one of the office assistants to the room, and they each put a hand on my shoulder, so we were forming a little circle. The lady held out her arm, and the doctor started pushing on it while touching various points in my body again.  I was mystified.

"You can test by proxy" the chiropractor said. "This is how we test babies."

Amazing. Seriously.

When he touched my forehead in two places above my eyebrows, the assistant's arm suddenly dropped.

"Those are the Associated Points," the doctor explained. "That's the absolute weakest point you have today.  It means this is an emotional problem."

From the explanation that followed, here is what I gathered: My body's immune system is worn out. Shot.  But all the organs and such are fine, so he thinks the body is ready to heal itself and capable of doing so. The problem is that there's an emotional blockage stopping the process. If I can clear the emotional blockage, the body itself will be fine. (Here's something I didn't tell the chiropractor-kinesiologist: the morning before the visit, while I was searching my email inbox for the blood work labs to print out, I accidentally ran across an old email from "Him," from about 15 months ago. He had told me I was a strong and powerful woman, and he enjoyed our time together. It was a short email, but it made me weep afresh. Emotional problem, indeed.) Dr. Owens said he can't work with emotions, but his wife is certified in a process called Neuro Emotional Technique, and I should make an appointment with her as soon as possible.

I felt like leaping and dancing.  It rang true, every word. It made so much sense, too, and everything clicked into place.  The psychic I called a few weeks ago (here's his website--I recommend!) told me almost exactly the same thing, but from a spiritual perspective instead of a physical perspective. (I didn't tell the chiropractor what the psychic had said, so this was really a great confirmation.)  My appointment with the NET specialist is this Monday, and I can't wait.

I did a little research about NET, nothing too extensive, but just an idea of what it's all about.  I like the premises it's built on, and how it takes several profound ideas from various disciplines and unites them into a single practice.  I'm really putting a lot of hope on this.  I talked with my mom about it, and she told me that a friend of hers was cured of terrible seasonal allergies via NET therapy, and another friend's terrible poison ivy rash disappeared overnight after one NET session!  Oh, I hope this is what will work for me!

See, I've been TRYING to work on my emotional healing for years, over a decade.  I've journaled, I've gone to counseling, I've been open about my feelings, I've found healthy ways to express them whenever possible.  I've used nutritional support, dream work, exercise, healthy self-talk, writing music, everything I can think of short of medications. (I don't feel right about going on antidepressants myself, though I know they do help many people.)  There has been some relief, some major psychological break-throughs, some real moments of profound growth through all these processes. And some great songs (in my opinion)! But this latest illness has really done a number on me.  This summer has been surreal. I don't know how I got through it.  My poor kids; I haven't been able to take them to the park very often, go on walks, and other fun things. Since the psychic recommended really focusing on self healing a few weeks ago, I've been trying to do that even more than normal.  I've been spending some time every day (well, most days), focusing inward, trying to face the dark places with loving calm. Trying to bring up any anger so I can forgive. And some good things have come out of all this (see this post, for example). But still, I feel like crap more often than not.

Apparently, according to the NET website, emotions can get stuck, for whatever reason, and the mind/body unit keeps producing the emotion-related neurotransmitters even when they are no longer appropriate or needed.  NET therapy supposedly involves deactivating the signals that tell the body to continue producing the emotions.  I'm probably butchering the explanation there, but that's how I understood it to work.

I'll let y'all know how it goes.  I'm so ready to feel alive again, to have energy for my kids, to be able to get through a day without needing to stay in bed for hours on end, to be able to think clearly, to feel ready for what comes next!

1 comment:

  1. You're incredibly lucky to have found an amazing chiropractor to work on you. Apart from being approachable, I really like the fact that he took his time to explain the whole process to you, especially if it's something you get to experience for the first time. It's professionals like Dr. Owens that can help people get over the skepticism about whether or not chiropractic care actually provides any benefits. John @ US Healthworks

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