Thanks to Drs. Trauben and Borenstein at King Street, I have a new lease on life.
I’m now 68 years old. I’ve had a history of lower back pain going back to late 1975. I would be “out of commission” for a few days to weeks with lots of pain from a supposed “slipped disc” and then suddenly be fine – until the next occurrence, which would be a couple months or a year away.
In the fall of 1995, my lower back problems became severe. I was in constant pain and could not stand up straight, walk for any distance, or ride in a car for more than a few minutes. The orthopedic doctor I consulted had me on anti-inflammatory medication, Indomethacin, and told me to do the standard back exercises daily. He held hope that spinal surgery would be a last resort. But because of the pain, I couldn’t do the exercises and the medication was ineffective. I continued to tough it out as best as I could.
I considered seeing a chiropractor. Many work associates and neighbors were doing so and claiming good results. However, my wife urged me to see a neurologist who had supposedly helped a friend with her back problem. The neurologist changed my medication from Indomethacin to Naproxen and recommended physical therapy. Neither of these was effective in alleviating the lower back pain. Also at this time, I experienced some episodes of vertigo. ie. debilitating dizziness and nausea. The neurologist had me take several exams (brain MRI, electromyography, etc.) to determine the cause. The end result was that the cause was not determined and my back was still a problem!
I came to King Street Chiropractic Wellness Center on the recommendation of a neighbor who was undergoing treatment. Dr. Trauben took xrays and recommended treatment for spine and neck. He said my problem had been developing for years while I was an office worker sitting in a poor chair with my head tilted forward toward a computer terminal.
With a few months of treatment, the intense lower back pain significantly decreased, there were no further incidents of vertigo, and my posture was improved. However, I still felt “fragile” in the lower back and wasn’t sure I would ever recover fully with zero pain.
So remember – and this is important – to have faith that you will recover! You may feel some pain, as I did, during the initial intensive treatment. But if you follow the doctor’s recommendations and keep up with your appointments/exercise/traction, you’ll find yourself gradually getting back to full function with no pain.
I want to thank Drs. Trauben and Borenstein for encouraging me to keep with the program and keep up the faith! This was certainly an infinite better direction to have taken than undergoing surgery with a questionable outcome.