I eventually found myself at a chiropractor in Santa Barbara about a year after I had surgery on my knees. They actually put in knee replacements as I’d worn out the cartilage over the years. I think the problem started when I played competitive tennis as a youngster. All that pounding on the court for several years led me down this path. There’s no going back, obviously, but replacing bad knees is generally a safe procedure. They warned that there could be some post-operative pain (of course), but I thought I’d bounce right back after a few weeks of bed rest.

When the pain didn’t go away, I still didn’t think much of it. The doctors said my knees looked good and to not worry about the pain as it should still go away. The problem is that the pain did not go away. In fact it got worse because of course I had to walk or stand most of the day for work. It got to the point where I had to transfer over to a department where I could sit down most of the day because I simply couldn’t endure the agony any longer. I needed some help.

My sister recommended a chiropractor because she said they do great things with post-operative pain. I was skeptical, but decided to give it a shot when I realized I couldn’t go on like this and I wasn’t about to get hooked on pain killers because I was taking them like candy. I made an appointment and went in and it’s the smartest decision I’ve made in my life. They did some stretching and pulling on my legs to help unlock the muscles around the replacements and overnight the pain greatly subsided. A few more treatments and I should be totally back to normal.