Friday, October 12, 2012

Continued Chiropractic Treatment

After a couple of months of stopping my chiropractic treatments, I finally went back to getting adjusted. I stopped after my regular chiropractor left the place and I did not feel comfortable with the new chiropractor at Infinity Chiropractic. I still have a few sessions left there and I will probably convert it into massages or something.

So where did I go to get adjusted? Nowhere. I was waiting for my regular chiropractor to set up his own practice and he finally did. Then I was busy with stuff and it was about a month before I visited him at his new place ~ Concierge Chiropractic & Rehabilitation.

Dr Dylan Altfeld has been treating me since July 2009 and there is a rapport between us. I trust him to adjust my spine and this is crucial. You do want to feel comfortable with the person and know that your spine will be well taken care of. I am delighted for him that he has his own practice.

Because my body actually felt bad (it was achy from not being adjusted but the body forgot and sort of adapted to the bad shape so I was not in pain at all), we decided to go with once a week instead of my once every 3 weeks treatment. But after being adjusted...ahhhh...relief from the body....the body decided it wanted more adjustments :p I could feel the body protesting a few days after the treatment that it wanted more.

So I told Dylan that I want to do twice a week for a while until the body is back on track again. I only did twice a week for about 2 weeks when the body got better. So now I am trying out once a week treatment. Hopefully I will soon progress back to alternate week and to the once every 3 weeks again.

I do hope Dylan will stay in Singapore for a while since it will be a huge pain to look for a new chiropractor if he decides to move back to the States.

Through this experience of not being adjusted for a while and then being adjusted again, I could definitely feel the difference in my body. I still do not get much migraines/tension headaches which is a good thing. Massages are a thing to enjoy now.

Note:
I understand that those who are still with Infinity Chiropractic can actually transfer the remaining treatment sessions to Dylan's new practice. But do check with them on the procedures as I have not gone back after my consultation with Dr Alex, the new chiropractor over there. 



Chiropractic...love it or scoff it

Just another update on my chiropractic treatment. I have mentioned it can be a lifelong affair (if you want it to be) as it is so similar to doing to the dentist or gym. I started reading up on chiropractic treatment after my first encounter with it in 2007. I was aware of the risks involved (yes, you could be paralyzed if the chiropractor did not do a good job) but I wanted to give it a try since conventional methods did not work much.

I used to suffer from migraines and tension headaches frequently. When the attacks came, I just could not do much to alleviate the pain. Regular painkillers did not work for me, plus I am allergic to many other painkillers so my options were very limited. My doctor prescribed Naramig for my migraine. At $9+ per pill, it was a costly affair.

My shoulders, neck and upper back were also very achy and sore all the time. Regular massage (sometimes 3x a week) did not work either. I would feel good for the first few hours but the ache and pain would be back the next day. This is apparently a very common problem for office workers, those who are desk bound, due to staring at the computer screens for hours on end with no break.

So I was at a fair and met a chiropractor in Vancouver. I paid for the trial and went to his clinic to learn more about it. There was an X-ray machine and he took X-ray of my spine. After which he went through my X-ray and told me how my spine was faring. Seriously if you ever see your own X-ray and the shape it is in, you may be more receptive to chiropractic treatment.

Chiropractors believe the body has the ability to heal itself when everything is working properly. That includes a healthy spine where messages can be passed from the brain to various parts of the body sent via the spine. When the spine is compressed or out of shape, the messages may get lost or delayed, resulting in a less than healthy body. So the chiropractor tries to adjust the spine back to its original healthy position. This takes time and so one needs to persevere to see results. This is my crude interpretation of what chiropractic treatment can do :p

I believe it and I also do not want to keep popping pills which are chemical and only mask the problems. I only completed a couple of months of chiropractic treatment before I left Vancouver. It took me a while before I finally found a chiropractor in Singapore who is similar to the chiropractor I saw in Vancouver.

So I went back to regular adjustments. I started with 3x a week for 2-3 months before dropping to twice a week, and then once a week to alternate week and finally once every 3 weeks. My chiropractic journey in Singapore started in July 2009 and is still going on. I must state that for most of last year and this year, I was already on once every 3 weeks treatment and I thought that was pretty good for me.

Results: Drastically reduced migraines or tension headaches attacks. I think I only get it 1-3x a year and only when I am very tired or ill. I don't need massages anymore. If I go for massages, now I only go for swedish or relaxing style as I don't need the hard stuff to remove the knots on my shoulders and neck. 

Everything was fine until my chiropractor stopped practising at Chiropractic Infinity. So for about 2 months I was not adjusted and I could sooooo feel the difference. The body was uncomfortable for the first few days but after a week or so, it got used to the ache and pain so I did not feel so bad. That is really how the body cope with pain. Someone once told me when you feel pain, it means the body could not bear it anymore. The body can actually absorbs 90% of the pain.

There is a new chiropractor at Chiropractic Infinity ~ Dr Alex. I am not sure I would be comfortable letting him adjust me, so I arranged for a consultation. As the treatment of the spine is very important with serious repercussions, I want to be sure I would be ok with the person first.

I found out Dr Alex is originally from Greece and moved to the States when young and graduated from a chiropractic school in Chicago (not Palmer which is where both my chiropractors graduated from and Palmer was the guy who invented or originated with chiropractic treatment). Dr Alex examined me and was able to tell me which were the problem areas and advised me to add some exercises to strengthen my core besides chiropractic treatment. I found his style to be similar to an osteopath. Osteopathy is a cross between chiropractic and physiotherapy (again, my own meaning) and osteopath believes in strengthening the core and exercises to build the body.

In any case, I was not comfortable with Dr Alex to adjust me so I did not get any treatment from him.

Luckily my usual chiropractor (Dr Dylan Altfeld) has set up his own practice and so I am able to get adjusted again. Yay!

Wang Cafe @ Changi Airport Terminal 3




Sometimes the simple things in life are the best life has to offer. In pursuing endless wants, we may forget what is important to us.

So I was at the airport late at night, waiting for the arrival of a flight, when hunger pangs struck. Most restaurants had closed by then, not much choices after 10pm. Meandering the vastness of Terminal 3, I chanced upon Wang Cafe and Coffee Bean. I decided to go for traditional fare of coffee, soft boiled eggs and kaya butter toast.


Look at the eggy goodness. The eggs were nicely done, the yolks were not too soft or hard and actually maintained its shape when I tried to balance it on the tiny teaspoon. They just hit the spot with dashes of pepper and dribbles of dark soya sauce.

The kaya butter toast were decent. Crispy and warm with the right amount of kaya and thin slabs of cold butter.

The coffee was alright, not too sweet or thick. Just a simple snack food to keep my stomach from growling. It was a good thing I ate something as the flight was delayed and it was after 1am when the plane finally landed.