I have had low back pain for over 10 years, ever since a high school football injury. The bad back pain comes and goes, but I always have some scomfort. I received medical treatment immediately after the injury which was basically drugs for the pain and rest.

I had learned to live with this problem, by giving up many of the activities I enjoyed and staying in bed when it would go out on me. Not much of a life I can tell you.

If you don't like how things are do something different one day about six years ago a friend talked me into seeing his chiropractor to get my back adjusted.

I was very apprehensive, any aggressive movement usually laid me up for days, and this chiropractor wanted to twist me and make my back pop back into place. To make a long story short he did and I was laid up for over a week.

Don't rush to simple conclusions so now I was sure that I would never let another chiropractor touch me again. As the next four or five years pass I became friends and business partners with a gentleman who I later found out was one of these chiropractors.

After I found out what he really was I was waiting for him to try to get his hands on my back, it just wasn't going to happen. But he never really pushed me about it, and after knowing him quite well for a couple of years, I finally asked him about my back on one of the very bad days.

I told him what had happened before and he was actually listening to what I was telling him. After giving me an exam he explained to me that I was not good candidate for most forms of spinal manipulation in my current condition.

He then explained the type of treatment he felt would help the most. He worked of the muscle using something he called active release technical. It was like moving and stretching the muscles while he was doing deep massage to them.

Then he did a type of manipulation to my low back, but he did not pop or crack anything, it was more like stretching and moving the joints with his hands.

After a couple of these treatments I was feeling pretty good, it was then that he told me that I now needed to have my back adjusted, and I said you don't mean cracked do you? Well that is exactly what he meant.

He explained that the lowest joints of my spine were not moving in their full range of motion and until they were, I would continue to have problems. Hew also told me that the adjustment would not hurt, and said yeah right.

I had that before and it was bad, but he asked me if I ever went to a medical doctor for an illness and the first prescription did not work. I told him yes, so he asked what I did then. I told him I went back and we tried another prescription.

So what he says to me next absolutely had me with no real answer for him. Here is what he said. "When you first meet me and we got to know and trust each other, why did it take you so long to ask me to help you with your back problem.

Because you were judging me and what I do based on your experience with someone else, and it has nothing to do with trust.

It has nothing to do with reality either, over the past couple of week I have helped you get rid of your pain, and you feel better now than you have in years, yet you are still filtering my treatment recommendation thru your experience with another doctor. That other doctor has nothing to do with my treatment, so why would you let that experience stop you from completing my treatment plan".

Well he administered his first spinal adjustment to me that day, and I have to tell you I felt great afterward. And it did not hurt when he did it. Today it is the part of his treatment I look forward to the most.

I guess the moral of this story is don't let one bad apple spoil the bunch. There are many good quality chiropractor out there helping thousand of your friend and neighbors every day. Go and find a good one for yourself.