Chiropractors are Essential to Health

Though my experience was nowhere near as bad as some people’s, the first six weeks of the coronavirus situation were pretty rough on my nerves.

It started with a birthday-related visit Mar. 21 from two grandsons. Two days later, one got so sick at work his boss sent him home. Then he went to the emergency room.

Considering the tsunami of news coverage about the coronavirus then, we were amazed the hospital didn’t test him for it.

Although he got tested three days later, everything came back negative. Thankfully, his sickness turned out to be just a nasty bug.

Still, the uncertainty while we waited for the results proved a strain. My wife and I had to self-quarantine for two weeks and missed our customary visit to the chiropractor.

In the following weeks, I battled ongoing stress. With no conscious causes afoot, I chalked it up to pandemic-related anxiety.

After all, I had never seen anything like this in all my years on this earth.

Life-Changing Visit

Everything changed on Friday, May 1. That’s the day we visited our chiropractor for the first time in about a month.

When he asked how I was feeling, I told him, “Not too good. I’ve been feeling stressed out and tired a lot.”

As he performed his usual spinal adjustments, he noted the problem could be related to my adrenal glands and did some additional probing on my back.

Next, he said, “Your thyroid could also be a reason for your tiredness” and proceeded to do some adjustments around the back of my neck.

The day before this visit, an author whose book I had been editing for an updated edition asked if we could talk on Saturday at 10 a.m. Hawaii time. That meant 4 p.m. Eastern.

Since we had missed connections several times in previous weeks, I agreed to the timing.

However, I expected—judging by the way I had been feeling for six weeks—that by late Saturday afternoon I would be drained of energy.

Energized Again

Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I made that call and still felt vibrant when it ended an hour later.

Afterwards, I thought, “You mean all this time what I thought was stress was actually a physical imbalance?”

Whatever my chiropractor had done, it had worked! In fact, I felt 100 percent better than at any time since mid-March.

Not only did I schedule more frequent follow-up appointments, when I returned I told him, “Whatever you did last time, do it again.”

He did, and I felt even better.

The reason for mentioning this is, a few weeks before my life-changing adjustments, I saw the governor of another state commenting on how certain non-essential businesses were staying open there, “like chiropractors.”

“This governor has obviously never been to a chiropractor, or known someone who’s benefited from such services,” I thought.

Danger of Defining “Essential”

Not knowing much more about the context of his remark, I hesitate to name this governor who said that.

Still, his uninformed comment illustrates the danger of allowing government to get into the business of defining “essential” and “non-essential” businesses.

Not only does that result in questionable judgment calls, sometimes it gets downright comical. Soon after the hubbub started, a guy I know remarked, “Whoever dreamed the day would come when it be all right to go to the liquor store, but not to church?”

In the case of chiropractors, I’m delighted our state considered them essential and allowed them to remain open throughout the lockdown phase.

I can assure you, my chiropractor saved my sanity—and my health.