Up until the lockdown kicked in I was seeing a chiropractor once a month for regular ‘maintenance’. Probably didn’t need to as I stretch daily for 45 minutes-ish. Since not being able to go I’m the same as usual really. There’s certainly no discernible difference with my lower back.
I started to go to my chiro after I zoomed out a switch 180 a good few years back but rode it out somehow even though I should have just taken the slam. Result was two squished discs and me in a perma-Mr Burns posture. I was in a ton of pain and crooked as fuck. Looking in the mirror was scary- puffed out stomach and a kinked to hell lopsided spine. I tried icing, resting, salt baths, painkillers, smoking weed like a chimney all to no avail.
After two weeks of not being able to stand up straight or get out of the house I went to the GP. Ended up on Valium and codeine. Got some uninterrupted sleep for the first time since the injury. No difference to the problem though, just strung out on pills feeling like shit and stopping those made me feel even worse. He had me referred to the NHS back pain clinic where I was told there was no point in me being there as I would just get better as there was nothing seriously wrong. 
I was probably imagining that I couldn’t walk properly and looked like an extra from Freaks.
One morning, head in hands and almost in tears,I resigned myself to the fact that I’d probably never skate again. My wife found me distraught and said I should see a chiropractor, as she likes a bit of alternative therapy. My normal reaction would have been one of, ‘yeah right let’s burn some sage and go see the Ju-Ju man’, but desperate times and all that.
She made me an appointment, She folded me into the car and off we went. I walked into that office bent double and super skeptical. An hour later, after an examination, some x rays and some ‘magical back cracking’. I walked out with noticeably less pain and standing relatively straight. More importantly I felt like the situation was no longer hopeless. They asked what my goal was and I said number one priority was getting back to skating ASAP. They made me bring in some skate vids to look at so they had some idea of what I was up to. They devised an exercise/stretching regime for me to follow and a program of treatment. Ok, I had to agree to come back every two days for a week, then every three days for a further week. Cost was something like £400 for a fortnight. After that period I was walking and sleeping normally and the posture was fixed. Then I had to visit every couple of weeks for the next six weeks. I then
opted for the monthly maintenance after the initial program was finished, for piece of mind more than anything. If I’m honest with myself the maintenance is more than likely a bit of hokum, but the placebo effect was good enough and at £35 a month was worth it.
After two months of the first visit I was back skating again. 8-10 trick flat ground lines for 3-4 hours almost non stop with no pain. I was a total convert and recommended, at the time, chiropractic care to anyone would give me half a chance. I was so enthusiastic about it just because I had been given a second chance. The hope I felt walking out of the chiropractor office was a stark contrast to the feeling of doom I had after my GP visit
The x-rays showed that I had two pinched discs and, (this is where I became even more dubious as it really did remind me of dianetics e-meter nonsense. Where’s the science? 
),they did a muscle density test that showed which muscles were in spasm the most, and produced a muscle map on many pretty colours for me to look at.
Treatment consisted of the usual back cracking business and by putting me on a bed that was akin to a giant black and decker workmate and dropping various shelves in order to realign my pelvis. They also used a ‘magic biro’, clicking the unexplained gubbins on various parts of my back. It all seems mental now but I can’t deny that it worked for me and got me skating again, gave me hope and made me happy, so it still seems worthwhile.
The x—rays also turned up an old fractured vertebra from years ago which was an added bonus and explained a load of back issues I’d had years previously.
