Normally when we do shows, I stand the entire time, as I am the main salesperson in our booth, and of course author of my horror movie trivia books which are on display. This means I am really the most informed about the items we sell and therefore the reason I am the main person. Usually our shows are one-weekend deals. If it is a three day show, we set up on Thursday or early Friday, and break things down, pack up, and go home on Sunday. They key is, no matter how much the weekend takes out of me, I usually then have at least Monday through Thursday for my body to recover if we have a show the following weekend, or longer if we don't have a show right away.
Let's backtrack a bit now. I am now 47 years old, and obviously not as young as I used to be. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with a pinched nerve in my upper spine region, essentially between my shoulder blades. This was after I overdid things while laying a concrete foundation for my wife's grandparents' new home. It was a family affair that day. The problem is, while everyone else was taking breaks, the job I was doing would have been harder for me to stop and someone else to take over. Therefore, I was the only one who went nonstop from start to finish. By the time we were done, my lower back was in major pain. As I walked back across our yard to our house it was a struggle. When I got to our back steps (4 steps high), I wound up having to crawl up them because my lower back just would not support me being upright anymore. Ever since that day I have experienced back pain, and of course the pinched nerve. The amount of pain varies greatly depending on what I am doing, and sometimes times even when I am not doing anything at all it just wants to be annoying.
Now back to the Christmas show. After 18 straight days of being on my feet at least five or six hours every night on a hard concrete floor, coupled with an hour drive each way to get to and from the show, my body essentially shut down. I was in pain from head to toe nonstop and to varying degrees. For the most part it was unbearable; at best I could shut out the pain and function at a low level. I've been trying to think of a way to explain it, and the best I can come up with is this: Picture your body as a connect-the-dots puzzle. Each dot is a joint in your body; ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and add in a quite a few dots to encompass your back. Now connect all those dots - the connections are made with shooting pains between each of the dots. From the moment I sat up in bed and put my feet on the floor to stand, the pain began shooting everywhere. Walking started as little baby steps. Often times the steps got larger, but while hunched over a bit and arms just dangling at my sides because swinging them like a normal person caused more pain.
I have never been big on going to the doctor. I essentially go only when I need refills on medicines they have me taking.That winds up being once or twice a year. Last year, however, I started going to a chiropractor. She was helping with a lot of the pain I was having from the pinched nerve and lower back pain. Around August of last year, I lost my medical insurance and stopped going to see her. Luckily I got new insurance at the start of this year. Because the pain was not going away after the Christmas show, we decided I should start going to the chiropractor again.
That was about eight weeks ago. I think I have had 10 appointments in those eight weeks. Getting adjusted was definitely helping, some. The problem was that after a few days -- sometimes less, sometimes more -- things reverted and the pain came back on varying levels.
She had also suggested in the past that I try something called Sta-Restored, a supplement that is supposed to support healthy joints. The main thing she mentioned in this supplement was the glucosamine or Gluca-gel, but there are many other good things in them. Once again, it is all natural, organic ingredients and better than anything you can buy off the shelf at your local Wal*Mart. This one I have to take three pills a day, so this bottle will last one month and costs about $35. That arrived in the mail one week ago today. (Last Friday)
This too is made of all natural ingredients. The company that makes it even grows everything that is in it. Another great thing about it is that it is fully tested and guaranteed to contain the levels of things it says it does. Since products like this do not need FDA approval, many products can -- and have been proven to -- have different levels of CBD and THC than they claim to have. These HempFX products contain 750mg of hemp phytocannabinoids; the minute amount of THC that is present in all of their CBD products WILL NOT show up on a drug test, which is important for many in the workplace.
I wasn't quite dancing like this, but couldn't resist using a gif from Encino Man when it came up in a search.
Oh, speaking of shimmering light, I forgot to mention the laser light treatments she has done on my hands three times now. It is an amazing little machine! For my hands it takes about 5 minutes. All she does is take this handheld machine that they paid $10,000 for and it shines two blinking strips of laser light onto my hands as she moves it around to cover all surface areas. It is a global treatment, meaning she is only applying it to my hands, but it encourages quicker healing of joints, nerves, and muscles, not only in my hands but all through out adjacent areas.
With that, during the first treatment the hand pain literally went away. It was THAT fast, no exaggeration. She did warn me to not be surprised if it didn't last. She was right; about 7 hours after the treatment, my hands had reverted. The next time, a week later, the treatment lasted longer, and the return of the pain was more gradual. The third time, it again extended for a longer time.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed (now that I can cross them again!) that this mix of supplements, CBD oil, and chiropractic care keeps things going in the right direction. I certainly feel better than I have in months. If you are in pain and have access to a chiropractor, I recommend you give it a try. If you happen to be in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, let me know and I will give you details on Dr. Sarah.
Below I am including more specific information on the three items described above.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional and do not suggest using any of these products before consulting your own doctor. Some of these products may include ingredients that could adversely effect other medications you may be taking. For example, one of the HempFX products not mentioned here contains St. John's Wort, which is known to interact with things like depression, anxiety, and heart medicines. Be smart; talk to your doctor before adding or removing any supplements or medications!
Images:
Mr. Meeseeks from Rick & Morty - It is a button we sell, forget the original source.
Castle of Muskogee - okcastle.com
Medication images property of designs for health and Youngevity
Encino Man gif from giphy.com