Next round of before and after photos – My crooked neck

Last year I participated in a before and after photo challenge and lost more than 20 pounds. This year I have another before and after photo challenge to attack. I have been having some mild pains in my neck and my range of motion is getting limited. I can’t tilt my head sideways (like holding a phone to your ear). Everything back there is really tense. So I decided to suck it up and go see a chiropractor last week. Check out these xrays! On the left is a normal healthy neck. That is the after photo I am aiming for. Notice how vertebrae are lined up to form a nice curved C-shaped platform for the head, similar to how you would bend your wrist back to support bowling ball that rests on your hand.

xray001  xray002

On the right hand side is my neck. Notice how if you traced the vertebrae on the left side you would end up with a squiggly line instead of a ‘C’. Not only is it straight (which I guess is a pretty typical problem) but it is actually starting to curve forward. I am no kind of expert but that doesn’t seem good. She said it looks like I have been in a car accident. Check out the view from the front:

xray003

First of all it is S-shaped. At the very top around my jaw line it veers off to the left (to the right in the pic). My head tilts to the right (left in the pic) to compensate. So my head sits on it like a crooked lamp shade. When the chiropractor cracked my neck it sounded like a firing squad. Startled the crap out of me. She said it felt like it’s been a long time since that stuff moved the way it is supposed to. I am really hoping these appointments help with stuff. At least maybe they can get my head screwed on straight. 🙂

1 Comment »

  1. al Said,

    November 4, 2013 @ 11:42 pm

    I have a similar problem, same sort of stuff with my neck. My neck doesn’t have as bad as a curve from the side, but more crooked from the front. Did you ever get it fixed? How is it now?

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