The Lingering Pain in My Back…
I found out nearly ten years ago that I have a couple of herniated discs in my lower back. When I was first diagnosed I was dealing with grueling spasms and pain that made me pretty much worthless to do anything.
I decided not to get the suggested back surgery. I heard horror stories of back surgeries gone wrong and I was worried that something worse would come of it. Instead I picked up a consistent yoga practice that helped with my back pain (and really changed my life). I went years without “throwing my back out”, which was a relief.
Yet the pain lingered.
Lately this pain has climbed its way up my spine to my neck and shoulder areas. Unable to soften the screams from my body, I scheduled an overdue massage last weekend. This helped a lot.
The massage therapist suggested that I get a chiropractic adjustment. She said that when your bones are out of place that they can push on your muscles and cause pain. If I don’t correct the structural issues in place, then I will continue to have the same issues.
I hadn’t had a chiropractic adjustment in over a decade. But since the pain has become hard to ignore, I took her advice and made an appointment 🙂
I realized as I filled out the patient health history forms that I’ve just sort of learned to live with the pain.It’s always there. Sometimes worse then others.
Chiropractic Care, Endometriosis & Fertility
As I chatted with the chiropractor about my history and listened to him talk about the role of chiropractic in healing, I had an A-HA moment. Why had I never paid attention to the role of my back issues and endometriosis pain?
He reminded me that the nerves in your lower back feed into your reproductive organs. They also affect your large intestines, appendix and bladder.
Chiropractic care helps restore normal peristaltic motion, which is the muscular functioning controlled by your autonomous nervous system.
For those of us with endometriosis, peristaltic motion can become blocked, sending uterine tissue to the abdominal cavity as well as to the uterus.
Chiropractic can also help bring your pelvis back to proper alignment. In correction of structural issues in the pelvic region, he said that many women he treated were able to get pregnant.
Pelvic Misalignment, Endometriosis & Pain
I’ve felt like my body is a bit off-kilter for awhile now, as if my right side is longer then the other. Come to find out that I was right.
The chiropractor told me that my right leg sits about a third of an inch longer then the other! This, he said, has to do with my pelvis being out of alignment.
This got me to thinking…. the location of endo pain for me has consistently been on my right side. And my pelvis is tipped to the right. Connection? Seems so.
After a few pops and cracks up my back and a nice “Vampire Diaries like” crack of my neck, I left his office a bit bewildered. I’d spent years dealing with the pain in my lower back, now gravitating up my spine. By not addressing this was I just adding fuel to the fire?
In the days to follow, I’ve been pretty sore. He definitely woke something up in there. I’m hoping it’s worth it 🙂
On the Positive Side?
Seems that a lot of ladies with endometriosis have had positive experiences with chiropractic care, even if only for a short time.
I certainly have hopes that both of these cases will be true for me too 🙂
What about you…. have you tried chiropractic care? What was your experience like?
I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below….
I’ve been undergoing chiropractic care for nearly five years now. In that time, I discovered I had fibroids and uterine polyps (those have been removed as of two weeks ago). I do not know how long I’ve had these but that they only “flared up” in the last year or so. Part of me wants to quit chiropractics since discovering these uterine issues and part of me still wants to continue. Could it have been worse had I not gone? I don’t know. I know you have to be careful of chiropractors. The first one I saw swore there was no home care I needed to do. I just went in and got a snap crackle pop here and there and was on my way. The one I’m seeing now actually has me do certain exercises at home and follow a healthful diet too, among other things. I guess it’s all part of the journey in finding what works for us and what doesn’t. Good luck to you!
I agree that you have to be careful with chiropractors. I’ve had my fair share of not so great ones. I wonder too if those not so great adjustments knocked things out of whack a long time ago. Sounds like you found a good one. Hope it works out for you 🙂
This is really very interesting. I am just starting to look for a good chiropractor to help me. I have seen an osteopath who told me I had functional scoliosis i.e. not born with it. My right leg was longer than the left. (snap!) She kneaded me back into shape and ‘cracked’ various parts of my body. ALL my pain has been and continues to be on my right side. I feel I need regular sessions to squash me back into shape!
I also have come across internet chatter that MTHFR and scoliosis could be related but I don’t know how. Also gluten intolerance. Early days in my research on this.
It stands to reason that if the pelvis is out of alignment then that must impact the internal organs in that very busy area. But which came first? Endo or misalignment?
I read on a UK discussion board of a woman who had excellent results after visiting a chiro for many months. It took quite a while for positive signs to show but she persevered. Although everyone is different so it might not work for everyone. Also, I feel the chiro has to be very skilled.
Another thing I intend to look into at some point is the Alexander Technique. It teaches us how to move, sit and stand more naturally. My nephew in his early 20s has had great results by adopting this technique for severe back pain.
I hope the chiro can help you with your pain. Good luck!
I’ve seen discussions about many ladies with endo having scoliosis. Would make sense that there could be a connection. I think often times with scoliosis the uterus is tipped, causing more havoc. I hadn’t heard about the connection with MTHFR. Very interesting! Will have to look more into that.
Hard to know which came first: endo or misalignment. Kind of like the chicken and the egg theory. I know that I started to have a lot more issues when I hurt my back. I fell really hard on my tailbone in crazy ocean waves. Think this is what caused my disc issues.
Another endo sister recommended finding a chiropractor versed in Webster chiropractic techniques to help with pelvic adjustment. Definitely want to find someone who helps rather than hinders healing 🙂
I have never been to a chiropractor, but just wanted to say that I have endometriosis, my uterus is tipped, my ovary is “glued” to my bowel via the endometrosis (surgery could not detach it), my peristaltic waves are all messed up and have been most of my life (I’ve had chronic constipation for most of my life, no matter what I do/try), and now I’ve been diagnosed with GERD/acid reflux up my esophagus into my mouth which I think is partially related to my constipation and poor peristalsis.
(So, basically every post I’ve come across so far on this blog tonight relates somehow to my health experiences!)
Something that has helped my GERD and MMC (migrating motor complex) – which I think relates to peristalsis and bowel rhythm – is not lying down to go to sleep until a full 3 hours after eating or drinking (at least, drinking anything but water), and trying to leave at least 12-14 hours between eating dinner and breakfast, giving my body plenty of time to do some MMC cycles (which happen every 90 minutes to 2 hours in healthy people, as long as no food, or food-type beverages like fruit juice/milk, or food-type supplements like herbs, are ingested).
This bumps up against one variation of IF – intermittent fasting, that of having a certain feeding window each day (hours that one does eat, and hours that one definitely doesn’t eat), which isn’t my intention at the moment, but I’m kind of inadvertently doing that, in order to help my MMC/digestion. And I’m finding out that this kind of “gentle” IF can have a lot of good health effects in other ways. Plus, I’ve lost a couple of pounds and a bit of my muffin-top while giving my MMC at least 12 hours of digestive “quiet” every night, but that hasn’t been my motivation for doing it.
Also, I’ve just tonight been learning about melatonin and endometriosis, and another thing (besides sleep, resetting the circadian clock, etc.) that melatonin is supposed to help with is stabilizing and strengthening the bowel rhythm.
My pelvis is not in ideal shape – my posture could be improved, and I should do more exercise, and probably professional massage would help me, and a naturopathic doctor (they aren’t licenced in my state, and there don’t seem to be any within 200 miles), and maybe a chiropractor…. Maybe I can check into that one day, though other health concerns (and expenditures) must come to the fore for me now. 🙂
Good tips T.T. – thank you! I agree that getting digestive rhythms in line (which fall closely in line with circadian rhythms) is helpful. I recently invested in a new mattress, which has done wonders for my sleep. Noticing a big difference from that 🙂