Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with spine

Sudden intense back/rib cage pain?

Taft — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:13:15 -0800

Medical question: I'm a 17 year old male and last night my rib cage and upper back began to hurt like never before. I thought a night of sleep of help, but it hasn't. Should I be worried? By 'hurt' I mean my movement is extremely constricted. turning my body to the left or right causes intense pain in my back, bending down or up causes the same pain in my chest and back. I have never had pains like this before and they started almost abruptly last night.

Should I see a doctor? Is this normal at all?

Also, I was dancing at a party last night, if that helps. Thank you, DoctorFilter.

Something more descriptive than "Oww."

citywolf — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:04:44 -0800

How can I improve my description of my back pain to best inform my doctor? Sometimes, when I stretch a certain way, a particular part of my back hurts somethin' awful. YANMD; I plan to ask about this at my next physical.

What I am looking for is: Given that I can't always replicate this on command (why would I want to?), what questions can I ask myself that will help me inform my doctor and thereby help him narrow down the list of possible causes (and thereby hopefully reduce the number of expensive tests necessary to diagnose me)? Is there a lexicon for back pain?

Which neurosurgeon do we choose?

clarkstonian — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:18:14 -0800

We've gotten the second opinion - it disagrees radically from the first. What on earth do we do now? In the ongoing quest to heal our daughter's back, insurance would not cover our first neurosurgeon (Fred). We got the name of a second neurosurgeon (Ethel). Ethel is an excellent doctor by all accounts - but...she won't see us. It took her four weeks to look at the films. She spoke with my daughter on the phone for 15 minutes. She disagrees 100% with Fred, who advocates spinal fusion now with enough time to heal so she can go back to school next semester.

Ethel says, wait another year, and then, if you haven't healed, we'll do surgery. Ethel says she has reasons for believing this - something she promised to show us on the scans. She said to call her office for an appointment. When we called for an appointment, the office refused to schedule one. Ethel's a busy woman. She doesn't have time to see an 18-yr old with a broken back. Four times, now, the office has said they would call us back - four times they have not. I know we're driving them crazy - but we think their behavior borders on unethical.

Spinal surgery is difficult. This one will be extremely difficult. It would be nice to think that in a year, our daughter will have healed. Meanwhile, though, she is at risk that any bump or blow will dislodge her spine and leave her paralyzed or worse. She cannot go anywhere or do anything. She has no life.

She will not see Ethel until October. Insurance has now said (after wasting another month) that she can go back to Fred and have the surgery.

Meanwhile, she has had no doctor's care whatsoever, with a broken spine, in 5 weeks. None. Ethel prescribed a back brace, but gave her no instructions on how or when to wear it - until my husband called - annoying the hell out of Ethel and her office. My daughter has already not worn any brace or support for over a month.

Ethel is supposed to be fabulous and communicative. Fred, who is also an excellent neurosurgeon is always available by phone. Has staff who will answer all of our questions. Fred's office asked us, did Ethel really look at the scans? All of the scans? We don't know, because Ethel won't talk to us.

By all accounts, Ethel is one of the best surgeons out there, which is why we have put up with this crap this long.

If it were just a pissing contest (which it clearly is) between two surgeons, I wouldn't care, but our daughter's life and health depends on this. What do we do? I know, get a third opinion - but we've already been told that they're all just guessing based on past experience. No one knows what the right answer is. So what do we do?

Sleep positions or other ways to help a bad back during the night?

bross12 — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:20:33 -0800

For the past few months, I've been experiencing a lot of back pain during sleep and when I wake up. I've tried many solutions - sleeping on top of a bunch of blankets (to make my firm mattress softer), sleeping with a pillow between my legs (helps a little but not much, it seems), putting a towel under my hips, sleeping on my back, sleeping on my stomach, sleeping on my side. In a nutshell, I'm losing it and really could use some help. Anyone with a super-sensitive back who has found a comfortable way to sleep??? I have scoliosis, so that's one thing to keep in mind. Also, if one of the strategies I mentioned above worked for you, pleae don't hesitate to mention it - maybe you tried it in a different way than I did! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

How would you prepare for a lumbar spinal fusion, given physical limitations and extreme emotional distress?

clarkstonian — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:19:49 -0800

The spine isn't healing, in spite of doing everything exactly as the doctor said. Surgery is in the offing, but maybe not for another month or so. Given that we have this time to kill, how do we - and how does our daughter - prepare for the surgery to make it and life afterwards go better? Our daughter's spine was crushed 3 months ago. She was given conservative treatment, 3 months in a hard shell with a leg extension. We thought she was healing. She wasn't. Now, she's looking at spinal fusion surgery. Due to the ever-present, ever impossible intrusions of the insurance industry, she can't be treated by her neurosurgeon. We have to find a different one. We might have done that, but he's a busy man and won't just take a patient under another doctor's care, so we have to get in line. He won't even look at her records or do an initial consult for at least 3 weeks. No clue when the surgery would be.

She's not very mobile, as part of her spine is in many pieces. She's in a lot of pain when she stands or walks. Given that she hasn't done much moving in 3 months, her body is fairly weak, although she was in excellent health before the injury.

Is there anything she can do to prepare for the surgery during the wait time, given that she can't do much (no bending, no lifting, no pushing, no pulling, etc., etc.) that will help the surgery and recovery go better? Can anyone tell me specifically what it feels like to have the rod there (this is the lumbar spine), anything you'd have done differently, anything anyone else could have done to help you that you might not have asked for at the time - either during spinal surgery or a time of immobility?

She's a college student. Thanks to the help of her university, she was able to finish up her freshman year, but she clearly won't be going back to school this semester. Any ideas when she will be able to go, live on her own, carry books and groceries and resume her life, if all goes well (given that none of it has gone well so far), and considering that she won't just be recovering from the surgery, but from 4 months of enforced immobility?

I know you're not a surgeon or her surgeon. Just looking for any advice to make a horrible situation a little easier.

Is sleeping on the floor medically approved?

KMH — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:16:45 -0800

Hard medical evidence about sleeping on a hard, flat surface? There's a good discussion of the anecdotal pros and cons of sleeping on the floor already, but I'd like to know if anyone can point me to something more scholarly / Government health department guidelines or anything vaguely authoritative?

"My back! My neck! By back AND my neck!"

scaryblackdeath — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:26:51 -0800

I've had sharp, upper back pain for about a week. I just woke up one morning and there it was. Do I need a chiropractor, massage, doctor or should I just man up? I'm 34. I don't exercise nearly enough. Conversely, I have a fairly light build & I'm not hefting around any sort of gut at all. Admittedly, my posture usually isn't great -- though when I sit/stand up straight, it reduces the pain noticeably.

The pain is right along my spine, and it's affecting my range of movement. It doesn't feel like a muscular thing at all. On the first night of it, I laid down on the floor for my gf to try to pop my back, but she didn't get very far with it.

Range of motion is not so good. Moving my head very far left/right or up/down results in pain that I can slowly turn through.

I had all last week off (spring break; I'm a substitute teacher), but today it's been worse & I'm really getting concerned. Naturally, I don't have any sort of insurance for this. I've never had a problem like this before, so I'm a little lost as to where to start with it.

A quick cruise of Web MD makes me think this may be a herniated disc that will eventually go away, but... insight and advice, o great collective?

Why does my spine hurt when I'm hungover?

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:56:20 -0800

My spine hurts when I'm hungover. ....ok, that sounds weird. But that's what it is. Lately (within the past year or so) I've noticed that whenever I have a hangover, there is a point along my spine (and it's always more or less the same point) that's really tender to the touch, like I slammed into something and it's bruised. This only ever happens when I'm hungover and is always gone in a day or two. It doesn't affect how I move or anything- it's just very tender to the touch. Does that happen to any of you guys? And what on earth could cause that?

I know you're not my doctor, and I did ask my doctor and he said "that's bizarre, but I wouldn't worry about it." I'm not really worried but I am curious as hell.

Alternatives to chiropractry.

robotot — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:59:50 -0800

What alternatives are there to chiropractic manipulation? (Yes: I know, you are not a medical professional!) My wife recently went to a chiropractor for a sore back (muscular - we're keeping a heat pack on it and it should be fine in a day or two). He also took an xray and showed her where her spine deviates from a healthy spine. Now he wants her to come back twice a week for manipulations, otherwise it WILL get worse. What alternatives are there to spinal manipulation?

I don't altogether trust chiropractors, and am not convinced that two (expensive) sessions a week are going to help "fix" my wife's spine.

I'm thinking yoga, pilates, dance classes etc, and a generally healthy lifestyle, and just being more aware of one's posture can help fix it.
Please give me your thoughts, ideas, criticisms.

Make It Stop

netbros — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:12:20 -0800

What can physicians do to "fix" a pinched nerve? The orthopedist thinks my shoulder and scapula pain and arm numbness may be caused by a pinched nerve in my neck, so I had a c-spine MRI this morning. Provided those reading the MRI do, in fact, detect a pinched nerve, what next? How can they make all the ouch go away?

Neck / spine cooler?

querty — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:22:25 -0800

Saw this upcoming new product on TV late at night one time . . . . . . I think it was on one of those half-hour geek product shows. It was being marketed as a lightweight electric neck cooler thing that wraps around your neck. It looked something like this, but thinner and has a long bottom part that touches and cools your spine; so it looked more like a 'T' shape with the top part of the 'T' wrapping halfway around your neck.

I think the product has an actual name, does anybody know what it's called? If so and if it's available, where would one get a hold of this? And does it actually work?

How do I choose a scoliosis specialist?

desjardins — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:24:21 -0800

How do I go about choosing an orthopedist to monitor my adult scoliosis? Any personal recommendations in the Chicago area? I was born with severe scoliosis and am now 33. I haven't had an orthopedist since I was a child and he's since retired. I haven't been good about seeking regular medical care either since I take fairly good care of myself (don't smoke, eat right) and don't have any chronic conditions. Well, yesterday I went to the ER with severe neck pain and X-rays showed I have a degenerative condition in my cervical vertebrae. (Although the Dr. thought my pain was muscular; this was just an aside.) The ER doctor told me to make an appointment with an orthopedist but only gave me a general reference, not to one who specializes in scoliosis. I did some research online and came up with a list of specialists in Chicago. How the heck do I whittle this down? I live WAYYY out in the 'burbs, so none of them are near me.

Experience with a Spinal Cord Stimulator?

cerebus19 — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:21:44 -0800

Anyone with experience with a Spinal Cord Stimulator? After a lumbar laminectomy last September, as I detailed in an AskMe comment here, and due to subsequent chronic pain have just started a trial of a spinal cord stimulator. I'm finding it very hard to get used to both the feeling of the stimulation (though it's better than pain) and the idea of having an electronic device implanted in my body.

Does anyone in AskMeLand have experience with this, and if so, could you tell me if it worked for you, and whether you thought it was worth going through to get rid of your pain? If not, were you able to find something else that worked (and if so, obviously, what was it)?

What materials should I use for labelling the spines of my books?

Flunkie — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:27:32 -0800

What materials should I use for labelling the spines of my books? A while back, I took the plunge into a big project that I've wanted to do for a long time: organizing my books. My plan went like this:

First, separate books by their physical height, into four groups: (1) Bigger than will fit (standing) on any of my shelves; (2) Smaller than that, but bigger than will fit on any but my largest shelves; (3) "Normal"; (4) Mass market paperback and smaller. This allows for minimal wasted shelf space.

Second, within each of those four broad categories, look up the Library of Congress call number for each book, write it on a piece of masking tape, stick it on the spine, and store the books in that order.

If I couldn't find the LCCN for a particular book, I would classify it under the LOC system myself, to the degree that I was reasonably confident, additionally marking it so that I would know the number on the book's spine was not official.

This was a fairly tedious process, so I would only do a few books at a time, and it therefore took quite a while. But, in general, I am happy with the results, and want to keep my collection this way. I am quite willing to keep tagging my new books as I obtain them

Unfortunately, by the time I was finishing up, the labels on the first books that I dealt with were already fading, some of them to the point of illegibility.

So, I want to do this again. But I want to do it in a manner such that I'll never have to do it a third time.

I don't know whether the fading was due to the ink that I used, the tape, both individually, or both in combination.

So, what should I use?

In addition to the permanency of legibility, I would also like the label to be something that, like masking tape, stays on well, but comes off easily and cleanly if you want it to, without damaging the book or leaving significant residue.

Finally, I've read some other AskMe posts about organizing bookshelves that showed up when I searched for this, and I'm already well aware that a lot of people think this is overkill and/or a waste of time. So if you were going to chime in with that, thanks, but not interested. I know exactly what I'm getting into.

Why do I have intense, momentary back pain when I sneeze?

high0nfire — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:48:55 -0800

Is intense back pain when I sneeze an indicator of a serious spinal problem? I'm 29, 100+lbs overweight, but have never had ANY kind of back problem/injury in my life. I've always been careful when doing any kind of heavy lifting and have never pinched a nerve or twisted my back when lifting or fell hard on my back, or anything. I've been sick twice this winter and I've been sneezing a lot this current illness. When I sneeze, I have this INTENSE back pain (middle and upper back) that spikes about one second after I sneeze which gradually dissipates after 5-10 seconds. After that I'm completely fine. It feels like a hundred needles jabbing into my back at once, mostly near the middle/upper spine , becoming less and less intense as it radiates out to the sides. Once again, I have no other back pain in my life apart from this. This sneeze pain has happened before in my life (I was a lot less overweight then, don't remember if I was sick or not at the time) but hasn't happened for a long time (maybe 10 years) until now. Also, I haven't gained a lot of weight recently, it's been more the result of a long-term neglect of proper diet/exercise.

I know that my belly makes my spine curve to compensate for the weight distribution, but I thought that was mostly the lower spine (which doesn't hurt at all when I sneeze). Something tells me losing weight/exercising would help (how many more reasons do i need before I get my sh*t together and keep a good diet/exercise regimen?). I could totally believe that when I sneeze, moving all my extra weight around is sending the energy right into my spine. Any constructive input/experiences/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Make my chair back four or five inches taller?

Clay201 — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:42:16 -0800

Is it possible to add an extension to a chair back to make it four or five inches taller? I have cervical dystonia, which means that a muscle or muscles in my neck contract continuously, pulling my head forward and to the right. I'm receiving medical treatment, but it'll probably be at least a few more months before we make a lot of progress on that front.

In the meantime, I've found a simple apparatus that helps quite a bit. It consists of an elastic headband connected to a nylon strap. The strap wraps around the back of my desk chair and the headband attaches to the strap. This rig holds my head up so that I don't have to, giving the muscles in the back of my neck some much needed rest. I've significantly reduced the frequency of my headaches.

The problem is that the chair in question isn't really tall enough. The seat back, at 28 inches, doesn't come all the way up to the top of my head. Consequently, the strap sits at about shoulder height and I have to slump down in my seat to use it. This is pretty rough on my lower back, an area where I've already had plenty of problems.

I need a seatback that's 32 to 34 inches in height. However, few office chairs can match this spec. I've found some with 30 or 31 inch backs, but they're obscenely expensive (300 to 1500 bucks.) The aforelinked web page does sell a sort of portable seat-back that straps to your chair, providing extra height. However, it's only about 30 inches tall. If all else fails, I'll try it and hope it does the job. But if it doesn't, I'm going to end up paying about forty bucks in shipping just to try it and then return it.

(Note: If you're googling up office chairs and checking the specs to see whether I'm high on crack, keep in mind that "back height," which we're discussing here, is different than "seat height" or "overall height." Sometimes, "back height" isn't listed and you have to subtract the seat height from the overall height to yield an approximation.)

I found an old wing-back living room chair that's tall enough but can't get it into my bedroom. And even if I could, I'm not sure about the feasibility of using something like that as a desk chair. I've googled for ergonomic chairs, wheelchair accessories, back support doodads, and everything else I thought might possibly help. A few items were interesting, but none took home the cupie doll.

However, I'm hoping there's another solution. I'm hoping I can make my own seat-back extension. It turns out the back on my current chair (a standard issue desk chair bought at Office Depot on sale for about 50 bucks) is made of a curved sheet of plywood with a little bit of cushioning and a fabric cover. Remember, the idea here is to add a net of about 4 or 5 inches in height. So suppose I got another piece of plywood about 18 inches long, positioned it about 13 inches below the top of the chair (allowing it to stick up about 5 inches), and then nailed it in place? I'd need to add some padding, of course, and it would look ugly as home made sin, but I think it would serve my purpose, provided it could take the strain I'd put on it.

From an engineering/carpentry standpoint, is this just a ridiculous idea? If the plywood-n-nails approach wouldn't work, is there anything else that would? We're talking about adding four or five inches. It just seems to me that there ought to be a way to do this. (I have someone who can help me with the physical labor). Just keep in mind that this hypothetical extension is going to be supporting the weight of my head, so it would have to be sturdy.

All suggestions are welcome, but I ask that if you're going to post to say that I should just get the portable seat back mentioned above, just save your keystrokes. If the modification attempt falls through, that'll be my plan B.

Thanks for reading.

Hernia in C5-6

bernsno — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:58:14 -0800

My doc thinks I have a herniated disc at c5-6, and wants to operate does anyone have experience with this injury and if so, could you tell me a bit about it. I am 23 and sometime during the past 6-8 mo. I started having pain down the side of my right arm. In addition I have what feels like an awful knot behind my right shoulder blade and a general feeling of tightness or pulling down my right arm. For several months it has not gotten especially worse, though it has not improved in the slightest either. The pain has more recently spread down to my forearm and towards the end of last week (following several days of skiing) my thumb started going numb once in a while. So on Friday I went to see a spine specialist and he told me I essentially have a textbook herniated disc at c5-6 which is pinching the nerve and causing the symptoms described above. I am scheduled for an MRI tomorrow and plan on scheduling an appointment with another doctor for a second opinion, but I would like to know if anyone else has had this particular injury and what your experience has been. I have read that therapy and meds are an option, but that seems to be geared toward those (smart) people who take care of their injuries soon after they occur. Given that this herniation seems to have occurred quite a while ago, surgery is the option that my doctor recommended. I don't have a whole lot more info yet (whether they want to go in through the front or the back for example), but I would love to hear from some mefites as to how their experience went. Thanks, any advice is greatly appreciated. I live in Chicago and while I have a doctor I trust and a referral for a second doctor, if anyone is especially enthusiastic about their doc I'd love to hear it.

Does interferential electrotherapy work?

Smedleyman — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:40:50 -0800

What is, and how useful is, if at all, interferential electrotherapy? I got put through a wall a bit ago in a scrape and I’ve been having some back problems. So I’ve been seeing (grudgingly) a chiropractor. And to be honest, after seeing Jacobs Ladder, always been a bit curious.
The realignment and all that with the hands is fine. I usually treat myself and others (stretching, exercise) for sports type injuries in much the same way.
But they gave me this ‘interferential electrotherapy’ - stuck some sticky pads to my back and gave me these electrical impulses - apparently to ease pain and reduce spasms and swelling. Pain doesn’t bother me, so I wouldn’t take drugs for it anyway, but I know how drugs work.
This seemed a little too much like voodoo to me.
Anyone have any experiance with this treatment and chiropractors in general?

Writing front to back then back to front

dcbarker — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:45:20 -0800

Is there a term for writing only on the right-hand page of notebooks then flipping the notebook over and working from back cover to front cover? I *hate* writing on the left-hand page of notebook. Maybe I have an odd pen-grip but I find the middle of the notebook seems to get in the way as a write (especially with spiral-bound notebooks!).

So I write only on the right page and once I get to the end of the notebook I close it, flip it vertically and start writing from back-cover to front-cover, again only writing on the right hand page.

Is there a term for this? Is it a popular technique and does it have any historical significance or is it actually really uncommon.

What can I expect from facet joint injections?

Sheppagus — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:35:09 -0800

What can I expect from facet joint injections? My spouse is having facet joint injections later this week in an attempt to relieve a chronic pain condition. Most of what I have read about this procedure seems really terrifying, and my spouse is pretty freaked out about the procedure.

For those of you who are familiar with this, what can I expect? Will my spouse be able to function the next day? I'm going out of town the day after the procedure and I'm not sure if I should be worried about leaving Spouse alone.

If anyone has had this done, I am really interested in your account of the procedure, the recover and if it was effective. My email is in my profile if you don't want to post icky medical details on the green.

What is the deal with French books? Have you seen these things?

emelenjr — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:16:50 -0800

Why are the spines of French paperback books upside down? You know what I mean. The text is printed in a different direction than it is on US paperbacks (and possibly paperbacks from other countries, as well, but I'm not sure of this.) Or is the U.S. the only one that prints the spine text with the top of the letters parallel to the front cover instead of the back cover? Does the French reversal have anything to do with why the table of contents in French paperbacks is in the back of the book?

This has always bugged me. When shelving my books, I either have to shelve the US ones upside down or the French ones, so the titles are all readable from the same direction.

Why would a doctor pick someone up by their head?

IndigoRain — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 12:46:07 -0800

This question about a bodybuilder beheading oneself reminded me of something I read in a Judy Blume book that I never understood. I believe the book was Deenie, and the girl has scoliosis and has to wear one of those back braces. During her visit to the doctor, he has her bend over, walk around, etc. Finally, he puts one hand on each side of her head and uses his hands to lift her up off the ground! Deenie says something like "ow" and the doctor's only reply is "sorry, but it's important." a. Isn't that REALLY dangerous and b. If that really is done/used to be done, WHY?

Does anyone have any experience with the Swopper chair?

zzztimbo — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:37:00 -0800

does anyone out there have any experience with the swopper chair? i often have lower back pain. i'm pretty sure it is because i sit in front of a computer all day. i've read some good things about the swopper chair (google it).

is it worth the $500-600 price tag?

My dog is suffering

SparkyPine — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 21:15:31 -0800

When is enough, enough regarding a 7 year old dog with deteriorating spinal pain? My dog is part lab and part beagle. The body of a beagle and the appetite of a lab. Has been obese as a result for most all of her 7 years of life. A week ago she started acting like she was in pain, walking gingerly and doing all the things dogs do when they hurt. Took her to the vet on Monday. The vet gave her a shot of pain killer and steroids and sent her home with Prednisone and Robaxin with a diagnosis of cervical slipped disk. Things did not get better the rest of the week. Finally, on Friday the vet took her in and placed her under general anesthesia to take xrays. The xrays revealed a reduction in the vertebral space between her last cervical spine and her first thoracic spine. Looked like there was some spinal bone contact but I could not see any bulging.

Ok, so she's hurting real bad, screaming occasionally, not eating, moving, the works. The vet says if things do not improve by early next week then "more aggressive" treatments will be necessary. They eluded to a spinal fusion ultimately. We added Tylenol with codeine today and it seems to help her not appear to suffer, less panting or screaming but she is definately snowed, not eating and not wanting to be messed with.

Spinal fusion sounds painful and not a long term solution since it has been speculated that her body is going to always be prone to spinal problems. The other problem is that this is turning out to be a financial gusher and, if a surgical procedure is not going to really help, cure, or prevent this from occuring, is it worth it? Is 7 yrs old considered "young" for this in your experience? Is euthenizing her a realistic option or am I jumping the gun? I would rather give her the chair rather than see her continue to suffer...or is surgery going to be worth my while?

:-(

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 19:12:02 -0800

My neck cracking habit is killing me. I crack my neck all the time. Some days it happens more than other days but I do it every single day at least 4 times.

On days where it's really bad I will crack my neck everytime I get a chance and my head neck and shoulders will feel sore all day long. Most of the time I use my hands to press my chin up to the side. Sometimes the tips of my fingers feel numb right after I crack it.

This is a disgusting, repulsive, terrible habit. I remember being totally grossed out by neck cracking before I started myself.

My mother who has the same unfortunate habit went to a chiropractor who told her that there were many cases of people who had quite literally *killed themselves* with overenthusiastic neck cracking. I have absolutely no doubt that if this is indeed possible it will happen to me if I do not stop soon.

I've tried before to stop. But then that tense/stiff feeling just builds up until I can't stand it until *snap crackle pop* ((bliss))

I want to be like how I was before I started this terrible habit when my neck just felt normal all the time. This is making me miserable. I can't afford to see a chiropractor on a regular basis.

Please, for the love of mankind, help me.