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The lights are low.  Soft music is playing.  I am lying face up on the table.  This could be a scene at the spa, as relaxation slows and soothes the mind.  It’s that time before the masseuse comes in.  I might be undressed but under the covers, waiting to smell the warm massage oils and feel the strong hands caressing my neck and shoulders, my head feeling weightless, my neck being cradled and moved gently from side to side.

In reality, I am fully dressed and lying on the table in the chiropractor’s office.  There are no warm covers and my head is in a traction device.  “Your head weighs nine to 12 pounds,” explains the chiropractor.  “We’ll actually be pulling up with about eight pounds.”

It’s like the episode of the television program “24” when the girl from CTU is held in a device and tortured.  “Tell us what we want to know, say the government agents.”  They slap her face.  She refuses to talk.  They get tougher.  The traction device is tightened.  She grimaces in pain.

I can imagine the face slapping.  “Relax.  Chill out.  Calm down.”  This is another in a long string of tortuous attempts to relax my neck.  “No, please don’t hurt me,” I would ask.  Now my headache is getting worse. ..throbbing.

The neurologist suggested the chiropractor.  That was after the dentist made a bite plate for me to wear, the optometrist shined bright lights into my eye and the psychiatrist wrote a prescription for pain medication.  “This pain is real and it’s going to be tough to get rid of,” he said.  “I suggest seeing a neurologist.” 

Maybe it is a design flaw.  That bulbous head rests on a column of discs that can degenerate with age, get knocked out off axis from whiplash and cause a host of problems from arm pain to debilitating migraines.  Some say it is because man was never meant to walk on only two legs instead of on all four. 

No wonder it takes so many medical professionals to diagnose and treat the source of pain.  It is so intense that many folks avoid bright lights, repetitive sounds, perfumes and other chemical odors.  Many experience nausea and modify their diet. 

“Jessica,” I told my hairstylist, “I can’t lean back in the basin for you to wash my hair.”  Could I be the only client who bends over frontwards to have her hair washed?  The dental hygienist sees me coming into the office for a cleaning.  She blows out the candles so I am not bothered by the scent.  She knows not to douse herself with perfume the day I am scheduled to come in. 

There are medications to prevent or manage migraines and block the nerve pain.  It takes a village to tame the beast and even a non-believer like me is willing to try something new.  And that is how my journey finds me at the chiropractor.   Anything to stop the pain!

The chiropractor returns and removes the traction device.  “We’re moving you into another room.  You’ll feel some pulsing from the electrical surges.”  More torture.  They’re electrocuting me.  Ten minutes go by.  The pulses are getting stronger, faster.  The television remote control doesn’t work.  I can’t even watch the morning stock report to take my mind off of this.

“No, I won’t relax no matter how much you torture me.” I am putting up a brave front to the government agents.  CTU would be proud of my fortitude.  I pay the bill and walk out of the office.  Outside the sun is shining.  No government agents are in sight.  I take my migraine medication out of my purse and place the tablet on my tongue.  Slowly I get in my car and drive home.

Two days later there is silence where there once was pain.  Fewer irritants disturb me and I have less of an edge.  I am standing up straighter just like my mom told me I should. 

Relief has come at last. 

My next visit to the chiropractor is next week, even though the final episode of “24” has aired and the program is over.

Susanne Katz is the author of “A Woman’s Guide to Managing a Mid-Life Divorce,” the host of the radio program, “What Women Want” and a columnist for Atlanta Jewish News.  She is also a regular ShareWIK.com contributor.

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