Patient of the Month July 2010 - Dustin Ross

When I started going to see Dr. Z, I had been dealing with back and neck pain for a while.  I had a lower back injury I received 13 years ago during a high school wrestling match, and chronic neck pain that I had developed over that past several years.  I went to physical therapy in high school for my lower back injury, and that helped for a while, but over the years my lower back still bothered me.  It didn’t prevent me from doing any of my hobbies, but it did limit me at times due to nagging pains.

Almost 5 years ago now I got hired with PPL Electric Utilities as a trainee for the Line Department.  As a trainee I spent a lot of time on the ground looking up watching guys work.  And over the years as I progressed with my training program and started to get up in the air and do the work, I started to do more repetitive motions.  Over time my neck pain developed into more of an issue.  After a couple years, my neck pain combined with my lower back pain was sometimes enough to put me out of commission at the end of the day.  By the end of a week, I was sore and stiff and was looking forward to just relaxing over the weekend to recover.  I started finding it hard to get up in the morning because I was stiff and sore, and this was hard for me because I was always up and out of bed when the alarm went off.

My back and neck pains stated to limit me with my hobbies too.   I loved to go four wheeling and camping.  It was getting harder to ride my ATV for long period of time because of the pain, and camping was just more work then pleasure sometimes till I was done setting up camp.  I love to work out, but over the past several years as I started a family and started a career, finding time to go work out was hard, and now that my back and neck pain had been getting worse, I just had no drive to go to the gym.  I am also a volunteer fire fighter, and I love putting in time to help my community; but with my progressing back and neck pain, it was harder to drive myself to go to trainings and the extra effort being a fire fighter takes.

I never really thought trying Chiropractic until Dr. Z. came to PPL to speak to our department about it.  I had always heard horror stories from acquaintances about their experiences with Chiropractic, and because of that didn’t really give it a thought.  After hearing Dr. Z talk to us, and after he explained everything he does, I thought maybe it was time to try something new, and was I ever right.  After my first visit with Dr. Z, I felt like I had already made the right decision.  He told me we were going to get some x-rays and have a consultation, and after we did that he would come up with a plan to help me.

After a few visits with Dr. Z, I started to notice a difference.  After a few months I felt like a new man.  My back and neck pain doesn’t bother me or limit me anymore.  I am able to enjoy my hobbies again, and go to work without worrying about feeling completely wore out at the end of the week.  I can enjoy weekends again for what they were meant for, fun and family.  I started going to the gym again, and Dr. Z. even gave me some stretches I can do at the gym to help to continue to care for my back and spine.

If you are thinking twice about chiropractic like I did, just give it a try.  The only thing you will be missing is the pain you have now.  Thanks Dr. Z, Josh, and Ashley.