Which do I want to do today?

[Rajah]

My back/neck's bugging me today. I must have slept wrong or something last night because I have a crick in my neck that is really bothering me today. Not an "owowowow" type, but an "okay, this is annoying" type. I'm debating what to do about it.

1) I can go by the chiropractor and see if an adjustment will fix it. Half the time it does, half the time it doesn't. Sometimes, I come away more tense and with a headache I didn't have going in, half the time I come away feeling so relaxed I can barely move. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes I'm better off not going at all. Frequently, after an adjustment, I will stiffen up. But, if I do go, chances are I will *not* feel like doing any kind of exercise or anything tonight. But, there's a decent chance he could get rid of that crick. But, I'd have to leave at 5 to make it before he closes, which means claiming an hour and a half of sick time. I'm already about twice as high on sick time as I like being, am in the top 2 of the department for the amount of sick time I take, and this semester will be taking more because working up extra time for school *and* extra time for required doctor's appointments just doesn't happen in the same week. I *could* make up the hour and a half tomorrow and Friday, but I don't want to have to. Another pro to this is after the appointment, I could run a couple of errands like checking out half price books for a yoga book or DVD. If I felt like it.

2) I could go by the yoga class tonight. Tonight's session is the more rigorous session, and last time I was so relaxed I could hardly move and I felt great, and it definitely worked out any kinks I had at the time. Pros are I could get my exercise in for the day, have a decent chance of working out that kink on my own, and most likely won't end up with a headache. Cons are I'd still have to leave at 5 so I could go home and get my workout outfit (why I didn't bring it with me today, I don't know... I need to just *keep* one in the car like my mat is) and make it to class on time. But I wouldn't be able to count it as sick time. So I'd *have* to make up the hour and a half. And I wouldn't be capable of doing anything else afterwards besides go home, crash, and stare dumbly at the TV for most of the night. LOL! Worse is it would require getting out in the heat quite a bit then working myself into a really tired state, which could be bad. :/

3) I could just stay until I get off, then run my errands (including going by half price books and bed bath and beyond. Then when I get home, just do the workout that goes with the DVD I bought. But, I don't know if that's as full of a workout as the class would be -- probably not, but it might be. I dunno. Pros are I get my hours in. Cons are I'm less likely to work out that kink and may have to hope it goes away during the night like they sometimes do.

4) I could just go home when I get off, crash for a while, and hope a nap takes care of it, then do my yoga/tai-chi combo later tonight. Right now, I'm about to fall asleep typing, but I frequently will wake up again by going home time.

Any input?

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by Rajah
1) I can go by the chiropractor and see if an adjustment will fix it.

My $0.02, I'd do anything BUT this. Our friend just had a stroke and has a dissecting vertebral artery from chiropractor adjustments. He's the father of 2 young kids and now is on massive anticoagulants to prevent further injury.

I'd take 600 mg of Motrin and do some stretching, IMHO.

YMMV.

 

[Rajah]

I ended up doing a mix of 3 and 4. By the time 5 came around, I'd done enough stretching in my chair and even spent a couple of minutes lying on the floor of my cube (after my cubemate left for the day of course) and it loosened it up enough to not be so much of a distraction.

As for the chiropractor, I've been going for years and other than occasionally getting a headache because of tense muscles or a crick, I've not had a problem and it's been a lifesaver sometimes. There are horror stories with some people and chiropractic care, but I've heard of just as many horror stories of people going to the regular doctor and being misdiagnosed, in surgery and something goes wrong, at the dentist... so on and so forth.