My Head Now Turns

A few times a year, the four of us gather around the kitchen table to celebrate our friendship, catch up on life, and share a lot of food and laughter. At one of these get togethers, we found ourselves trading stories and, admittedly, our doubts about Marshall Spinal Care.

Donna was the brave first volunteer of our group. She had struggled for years with a bad back and severe headaches that could stop her in her tracks. Before visiting Marshall Spinal Care, she had seen a chiropractor whose adjustments were painful and left her worse off. The way she describes that experience still makes us laugh.

After her first visit to Marshall Spinal Care, Donna came to my house bent over. I panicked. Then she laughed, stood up straight, and began describing what had happened, which only added fuel to our doubts. On her second visit, she jokingly checked to see if there was a clicker involved. No clicker. Lots of questions. She couldn’t quite wrap her head around how conversation and clicking could happen at the same time. We all had a good laugh.

Next up was Ed, our second skeptic. He had been dealing with back problems for years, and a misstep made things much worse. Chiropractic care hadn’t helped him either. After hearing Donna’s story, he decided to schedule a visit while he was in town. When he returned, he shared his experience, which later became part of what we jokingly called our “Marshall Spinal Care Roast.”

Ed also questioned the clicking. “Is that you or me?” he asked. “It’s you,” was the response. That line alone kept us laughing for days.

But Ed also shared something more serious. He talked about a friend’s child who had been diagnosed with one of the familiar alphabet conditions. Donna had seen the child’s behavior firsthand before care. After being seen at Marshall Spinal Care, the child was calmer, drug free, and thriving. The child’s mother now travels from Kansas to maintain that progress. That story shifted the tone of our evening and gave us pause.

Then it was my turn.

I had known for years that one hip was higher than the other. Even my mother had noticed it when she sewed my clothes as a child. Massage therapists later confirmed that one leg was longer than the other. My friends had a field day with that.

My experience was dramatic. When I stood up, I felt dizzy and could feel blood rushing through my body. I had to sit down. It felt like something had been released. I relaxed, rested, and felt warmth through my spine. It was intense and memorable.

Then came the strangest moment of all. For the first time I could remember, both feet felt firmly on the ground. Later, when I backed my car out of the driveway, my head turned without my body moving. It startled me. My friends laughed, but I knew something real had changed. And yes, I gained an inch.

Bill was the last holdout. Still doubtful, he finally went when his back pain became unbearable. He has hearing loss in one ear and was disappointed he didn’t hear the clicks we’d all talked about. Turns out, you don’t always lie on the same side. He didn’t get immediate relief the first time, which only fueled his skepticism. The second visit took care of that. Afterward, he experienced the same head turning sensation that had surprised me.

We laughed, we debated, and we teased. But today, everyone is better off. Ed’s back is well. Donna no longer has headaches or back pain. Bill sleeps through the night. And all of us want to maintain that sense of balance, comfort, and being grounded.

My only regret is that I never got that initial “high” again. But my blood flows, my head turns, my legs match, and both feet are firmly on the ground. I suppose that’s all a girl can ask from Marshall Spinal Care.

— Constance J.