Oh, funny rib bone.

Story of my life: For a few years now (how many exactly is not important) I have been experiencing near constant pain in my head, neck, shoulders, upper/lower back. I have been to all sorts of doctors, have tried a myriad of medications, and have been disappointed by them all. At the invitation of one of Michael's co-workers, a few nights ago Michael and I went to a dinner/presentation at the Golden Corral here in Alton for a chiropractor in the area---Dr. Speh (pronounced "spay," and a discussion of how disappointing that meal was could be another blog entirely). We listened to the presentation and decided to give the good doctor a try. He offered all those in attendance a consultation, a few x-rays, and another visit to discuss the x-rays and possible treatments, for free! I went on Wednesday of this week to get the consult and x-rays, and returned earlier today for the review.

I guess because I've been in pain for so long, I have just come to expect that my body is a little messed up. I mean there must be some physiological reason for why my body hurts the way it does. My lovely x-rays showed a few things, all of which could very nicely explain the pain. Here's the list:

1. My neck curves the wrong way, and the individual cervical vertebrae are twisted slightly to the right.
2. Looking at me from the front, my thoracic spine (neck to bottom of ribs) curves...sorta like scoliosis but not too severe. It should be straight.
3. I have an extended lumbar curve---as in, my lower back curves too far in the right direction.
4. I have a displaced rib between my shoulder blades (my personal favorite)
5. My lower back right around the sacrum and a few vertebrae up from there are tilted and curve. Again, from the front, they should be straight.

Basically, because my spine is twisted, and curved, and tilted it ways it should not be, I experience pain. Makes sense, no? Anyway, I'm actually quite amused by the whole thing and relieved that there is physical evidence suggesting that I should be in as much pain as I feel. It's nice. I'm thinking I should give this chiropractor a try and see where it goes. He says putting my rib back in place and fixing my lower back shouldn't be too difficult. What will take a bit of time and could be quite tricky is my neck.

My new mystery: How did all this happen? I asked how things like that can happen and Dr. Speh said it was typically caused by an accident (falling down the stairs, car-wreck, etc.) or repetitive motion over time can cause that kind of damage. I wonder.......