The Tangled Branch Discussion Forums

I recently visited a chiropractor for the first time.  Twisted my back and it's taking too long to put itself right.  I may revisit my first impressions later, about the  intimidating black and chrome massage bench, etc.  But there is one over-riding image which calls out to be recorded

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The Chiro Lady

After she'd finished I noticed her hands.
Small, but with definite knuckles,
dense muscle between them,
and leathery palms.

"You've got martial artist's hands."

"No-one's ever called them that before, 
but I used to be.  Quite good at it.
Now I'm a rock-climber."

"Ah...  I can picture that,
hand-jammed into a crack
or locked around a tiny spur."

So, as well as being a bit more flexible,
I've now got a new metaphor,
usefully filed in my writer's brain,
waiting for a suitable storyline.

Rock Climber's hands.

Gyppo
 

I had to laugh a little at this one Gyppo, as it put me in mind of a friend whose hands were so strong he referred to them as "Jed Clampits" a misspelling of the name of a character in a totally horrible sit-com called The Beverly Hillbillies. Beyond that, was the Chiropractor able to help? Another of your wonderful observations of one of your real-life characters.

It's certainly helped. I'm more upright than I was yesterday.  Before the treatment I looked as if I'd been kicked in on my right hand side.  My Grandaughter said I looked like a letter 'C'.  She offered to 'kick me in' from the other side to see if it would straighten me up.

The Chiro Lady warned me I might feel 'really bad' for a while after she'd done her various manipulations, and I was glad of the warning.

Stood outside the clinic half an hour later, waiting for a taxi, I felt as if I'd been kicked around by a dozen skinheads wearing 'steely doc boots'.  Back home I had a coffee and went to sleep for a couple of hours.  Felt sore but more flexible when I woke up.

Still not right, but she said it might take a few days for my body to realise it was okay to stand straight.

Not the 'Miracle Click' I felt years ago when a doctor almost threw me across the room as he snapped a dislocated arm back into place.  That was a truly sickening jolt, but the relief was almost instantaneous.

The Chiro Lady said they had to be a bit more careful with older bones, more of a case of gentle easing.

So far I'm quietly hopeful.

Gyppo

PS:  I remember The Beverly Hillbillies   One scene only has stuck in my mind.  Someone suggested they go out early on the golf course to 'shoot some Golf'.  They didn't see anything to shoot, but found a number of 'purty round eggs' which they took home.  Ma Clampett boiled them for hours, but even when they peeled them, with difficulty, they still 'tasted rubbery'.

 

Never been to one but some say some chiropractors are magicians at pain relief. Remember now we had a long-geared guy in the military nicknamed "Vice Grips" with incredible hand strength, could do one handed pull ups by clamping onto the bottom of the door frame overhead.