Not all smoke and mirrors...

I always believed that Chiropractors were nothing more than filler...the Oreo creme of the medical world. Then I hurt my back. I've been fighting a bad back for about 8 months. Constant pain, sleepless nights, the inability to stand like I have completed the evolutionary cycle...you get the picture.
I finally broke down and made an appointment with the chiro. So yesterday at 1pm, I went to see a guy that used to ride and hang out with us, who happens to come highly recommended by some other riders in town.
We spoke for a while about what my issues were and some possible fixes to work on outside of the office. Then, the cracking started. Dr. Coop put me on the rack, did some measurements, felt my spine and starting the process of re-aligning my frame. I've never felt more like a damaged automobile in my life.
My hips and back were/are so out of alignment that my right leg was 1" shorter than my left, my hips were skewed by at least 5 degrees and my spine was not in a straight line.
The first crack was to the left side of my neck. As you read this, try to touch your right ear to your right shoulder...without moving your shoulder. It cannot be done if you have any muscles in your neck at all. Well, my ear landed firmly on my shoulder yesterday and my neck gave a resounding CRACK.
Then he moved to cracking my back, which felt like crashing at 25+ mph. Oh, he did both sides, so I crashed twice in 60 seconds...
Then came the hips and pelvis, which felt strangely good. It was like pressure was being relieved.
Following the bone cracking, I was put on a table that could be (or maybe even has been) used in low-budget porn movies. I laid face down and the bottom half of the table moved side to side, stretching my back.
I was instructed to stretch more, do more ab work and come back Wednesday for another tune-up. Before you say, "Oh sure, he wants you to come back so you can drop more cash...!", Take this to heart. I still have residual pain and sensation, but fighting this for 8 months didn't exctly help the problem. The VAST majority of my skeletal pain and sciatic nerve pain has subsided. I have no problem standing from a seated position nor did I wake up last night with shooting/burning pains in my low back on legs.
My advice is to find a sports oriented chiro and go see him. Everyone might not have pain, but everyone has alignment issues.

I'm going back Wednesday afternoon and likely a couple more times. Then I'm going to be on a maintenance plan. Every 6-8 weeks for a tune-up.