A few years ago, I experienced the most excruciating pain of my life -- worse than childbirth pain. It started as a deep ache in my upper back, the kind you try to brush off. But it wasn't just muscle tension. The pain was coming from my neck, where a disc herniation was pressing on my nerves. 
I did what so many of my patients do -- I pushed through it. I kept working, treating, sitting at my computer, going to hockey games in freezing rinks, running, doing yoga and even playing hockey myself. I told myself it would pass. But it didn't. 
Instead, it got worse. The pain spread down my arm, like a hot knife searing through my skin. Sleep became a nightmare. I'm not someone who cries easily, but there were nights I sobbed because I couldn't escape the pain, no matter how I positioned myself. Medicating barely touched it. Two injections -- no relief. I cycled through neck pillows, hoping one would let me rest. Nothing worked. 
For three months, I suffered. I was desperate. I wanted surgery. 
Finally, I turned to a cervical spine surgeon with a group I had trusted and worked with for 15 years. He told me something I wasn't expecting. Take two weeks off. Completely. Give your body a chance to heal. He was 90% sure I'd see a difference. 
So, I listened. I stayed home, wore a neck brace for hours a day (which, shockingly helped), worked on my computer standing at a high-top, and cleaned out every cabinet and closet in my house just to keep moving -- but in a way that didn't hurt me. 
And he was right. 
The pain started to subside. But my real healing didn't just come from rest -- it came from understanding why this happened in the first place. 
Why Did This Happen? 
Stress. More than people realize, stress is a massive contributor to pain. Leading up to my injury, I was under a lot of it -- mostly good stress, but stress nonetheless. And stress has a way to catching up to you when you're not careful. 
But it wasn't just stress. It was years of unconscious habits. ​

• I've spent years running with my dogs, always holding the leash on my left side. 

• I've spend years sleeping on my left side, only to end up on my stomach with my head twisted to the right. 

• I'm a left-handed hockey player, which means my body has been moving in the same repetitive patterns for years. 

All of these small, consistent movements build up over time -- until my body finally hit a breaking point. My disc herniation was on the left side of my lower neck, and looking back, it's no surprise why. 

What I Learned -- and What It Means for My Patients 

• The right therapy matter. Dry needling was my saving grace -- it gave me relief -- but it wasn't enough on its own. My core was weak, which meant I couldn't maintain the proper posture to relieve pressure off my disc and nerves. Strength mattered just as much as treatment. 

• Modifications are key. I went back to yoga, but I had to completely change how I did certain poses. Downward dog?  Always different now. But those changes helped me rebuild my strength without making my injury worse. 

• Not all chiropractic care is the same. I love getting my neck adjusted, but during this time, I couldn't  tolerate it. Instead, I relied on a gentler, specialized technique for disc herniations -- one that I now use with my patient in similar situations. 

• Pain changes everything. It affects how you think, how you feel, and how you move through the world. It's isolating.  It's exhausting. And it's depressing. I get that now in a way I never did before. 

• Early intervention is everything. So many of us ignore our pain because we're busy. We push through. But waiting only makes it worse. Taking care of yourself isn't selfish -- it's necessary. 

Today, I will still sleep with my goofy neck pillow and I don't leave home without it. I am back to all of the activities that I was doing prior, but I am more careful. I use all the therapies in our office when needed, and I am not afraid to ask for help. I practice what I preach. But more importantly, I take what I learned from my own pain and use it to help others. I understand what it feels like to be desperate for relief, to be afraid that nothing will work. And because I've been there, Im even better at getting my patients back to the life they love. 

I f you're struggling with pain, know this -- you don't have to go through it alone. I've been there and can help. 

-- Dr. Christi Jo Christian