Dr. McGraw

For the past few weeks, I have been visiting Dr. Eric McGraw at Active Care Chiropractic for treatment on my right shoulder and left knee. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I can't sit still and that these joints have been giving me issues for years. With that being said, it is also fairly easy to surmise that going to the doctor is a big deal for me because I know he's going to tell me that I'm not allowed to do what I love - most recently, running, boot camp, and playing volleyball. I was a bio major - I know that my body needs time to heal. But dammit I just don't like sitting still! I should have just gotten him to work on one area at a time so that way I could still run while he's working on my shoulder, or still swim and do arm work while he's working on my knee. Did I do that? No, of course not. Why? Because I was captivated by his beauty. (OK, not really... but maybe just a smidge.)

I visit Dr. McSteamy, er, I mean, McGraw 2-3 times per week, depending on how badly he hurts me at the previous appointment. He practices what is called active release therapy, which is really just him massaging the muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding my problem areas in an effort to break up and disperse scar tissue. Apparently, because I've been such an avid athlete for 20 years, I have large amounts of scar tissue that is "not normal" for people my age. Go figure.

Needless to say, I hurt after visiting this man. It takes every ounce of energy I have just to make it home (which is only 4 miles away) and snag the ice pack from the jam packed freezer. (I have this handy dandy ice pack thing by Cryo-Max that fits into a little sleeve and affixes to itself with velcro. It's the best invention! That way I don't have to worry about cold condensation hitting my skin, thereby causing the ice pack to slip off of my body. The photo below is similar to what I have now. Mine is just two of the squares, although I wouldn't mind having the one below. Anyways, you get the point.)

I'll ice my shoulder for 20 minutes while I catch up on emails, then switch the pack to my knee for 20 minutes with my leg propped up, and then switch back to my shoulder for 20 minutes. As you can probably tell from this dialog, my shoulder hurts more than my knee. I like to compare that pain to childbirth, but I've never experienced childbirth so that's probably not a good example... let's just say that I'd almost rather have monthly cramps than have this shoulder pain for the rest of my life. (This therapy is an attempt to "heal" my shoulder so I do not have to have surgery any time soon. Fingers crossed that it works!)

Aside from having to shell out 50$ every time I go to see Dr. McGraw, I will say one fabulous thing about vising him: he really keeps me motivated to shave my legs.