Ever seen and heard a thousand year old man? Just look at me whenever I get out of a chair. I have had a fairly chronic pain in my lower back, in varying degrees, for the last couple of years at least. Usually it’s just stiffness but for several months last year I felt very creaky. Seeking help from any source, I found a friend who swore by chiropractors. He referred me to Dr Eric Legault, in Ste Anne de Bellevue near Montreal.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about chiropractors, from dangerous to miracle-worker. I’ll say that my experience has been good. I didn’t find a miracle worker but I did find good help. Here is my experience.

First Visit

The first visit was a consultation about my particular problem. He scared me a bit by showing me models of degenerated disks and explaining that my symptoms are consistent with that. I countered by saying that I had strained my back a couple of times in my life and that I thought it could be a bad posture that had stuck with me as I recovered from earlier injuries. Let’s go with that. Dr Legault agreed and said that we could look at an x-ray to be sure, but we didn’t have to do that for now unless the problem didn’t get better.

Dr. Legault also explained how chiropractic treatment works. Simply speaking it is cracking the back. These adjustments move the spine and tweak muscles into learning a different alignment. I liked the sound of that. Maybe my chronic bad posture could be unlearned.

At first the adjustments may hurt because they force muscles to take a new position, but after a couple of visits the muscles are supposed to adapt and maintain the new positions. Finally, movement in the spine helps heal any inflammation in connective tissue because the joints and ligaments are not fed directly by blood. Movement circulates nourishment and fluids.

Treatments

I lied face down in a kind of bed and the doctor did some probing. He poked around the back, especially down low where my problem was. He noticed that it was a little to one side and he also noticed that one leg was shorter than the other. Then the work started.

He applied some traction with his hands, basically pulling the legs and spine to open it up. He also massaged the back muscles right around the spine. The traction felt great. It was painful around my trouble spot while he was pulling but the relief was breathtaking as soon as he let go. This lasted maybe 5 or 10 minutes.

Then I turned on my side for the first adjustment. Chiropractors know how to align the body and apply force to isolate just one or two vertebrae. He started from the bottom, contorted me in a few positions and popped his way up my spine. The sensation ranged from very painful to hardly felt it. In all cases, it felt better after he did it. I was especially impressed by his ability to flex the inside of my hip. When that joint, which I didn’t even know existed, moved I felt freedom that I hadn’t felt for a long time.

He then moved to the neck, which he pulled, pushed and massaged for several minutes. Then he cracked it two ways. I was very surprised that my neck cracked so much, like a zipper. I thought my neck was quite relaxed and properly aligned, but after he adjusted it there was a lot more freedom.

That’s it! I asked for advice about how to continue to improve and he gave me some stretches, posture advice for sitting and sleeping, and advised a few more appointments since my old postural habits would certainly not be broken with only a single visit. I went two more times, and then didn’t go for a few months after that. My back became very bad in March and I visited him another 3 times within two weeks in early April, which returned me to as good health as I remember.

Dr Legault then impressed me by saying that he noticed my back was moving much more easily and he thought we could wait a month before the next visit. He wasn’t trying to milk me for money -- if he didn’t feel I needed it then he didn’t advise me to come!

A visit to Dr Legault lasts about half an hour and costs $40. I think it’s worth it to fix the back problem I had. I’ll bet that a lot of problems, including some headaches and, of course, backaches, could be helped by a few visits to the chiropractor. Dr. Legault will be quite candid about what he can do and whether he thinks he can help you. Three visits are not expensive compared to the relief and I would think that you could see results within that amount of time.

I definitely recommend Dr Legault in the Montreal West Island area, and chiropractic adjustment in general. You should expect to go for a few visits, and it might even feel worse after the first or second visit before it feels better.