I know that a lot of people have it much worse than I do, but my basis of comparison is my health and my life. It's been about 2 1/2 months since I ruptured a disc in my neck. PT accomplished nothing beyond the relief of time spent in neck traction. Massage and chiropractic didn't do any good. The docs are having me wait until the 3 month point cuz they say that the majority, or about 90% of whatever natural healing will occur in that time frame. I live on drugs, and the pain still rules my life. I get very little work done (and I'm a desk jockey), very little fishing, very little chores around the house, etc. If my condition doesn't significantly improve in 3 weeks, the docs recommend surgery. I'd do almost anything for relief, but surgery has its downsides.

I was in California last week and talking with a fellow agency guy there. He had back trouble 3 years ago, and tried PT, Chiropractor, massage, acupuncture, and finally found a spinal specialist outside his health plan. It cost him, but he found relief within weeks, and was healthy in a few months without having surgery.

I'm wondering if anyone here knows of any spinal specialists that work similar miracles. Yeah, I know it really isn't miraculous, but an effective non-surgical treatment would be a real plus. Does anyone know about anything like this in the south sound region?

Sincerely,

Salmo g.