Thursday, January 12, 2006

A stern talking to

I've been going to a chiropractor lately for the sore back I've had ever since my car accident. I've heard the whole gamut of opinions from "They're quacks" to "He made my bones move" but I thought I'd go see for myself and give it a try. I wasn't too convinced after the first few appointments, but it's feeling a lot better now! Yippee!

On Monday, the chiro mentioned that some of the problems in my back were kind of strange to find after a car accident, so he started asking questions about other things, like my job, my sleeping habits (yeah, those need to change) and things like that. I knew right away what was causing the problem, so I decided to fess up, and then got a lecture. It was a friendly lecture, and he joked about being required to give it, but it was a lecture nonetheless.

Folks, I have the worst desk set-up ever. EVAR. Behold the badness of it all...

Now that may not look so bad at first glance, but look where my monitor is. It's way off to the left. I sit diagonal on the chair, my right leg tucked underneath me, my left arm across my chest in order to reach the keyboard. Either that or I've got my knees under the desk and my torso twisted to the left to see the screen. My back basically looks like a twizzler stick when I sit here.

In my defense, if I put the monitor on the other side of the desk, half my desk would be rendered useless. It would not be a useful workstation at all. However, seeing as I never work at my desk except for when I'm on the computer, and my desk NEVER looks as clean as that (it's mostly used to store piles of junk - there ya go, there's my dirty little secret for you), I'm pretty sure the "it would be useless space" argument just isn't gonna cut it.

I guess I need to change my desk.

Hey! How's this for accountability... if you don't see a picture of a rearranged and uncluttered desk by Sunday night, yell at me! My back and my chiropractor will thank you!

7 comments:

Happy and Blue 2 said...

I think the way you have it set up currently is fine. If you want to end up like a hunchback anyways ,ha,ha..

AfricaBleu said...

The lady I get massages from suggested I go see a chiropractor because of old nagging injuries from my car wreck a couple of years ago. I just haven't mustered up the courage yet - I loathe all doctors of any sorts. But your tale makes me think maybe I'd better just bite the ol' bullet and go.

After another massage, of course...

Hillary said...

hee hee.... yes, massages are looovely! I went a few times to a massage therapist beforethe chiro, but it wasn't seeming to do anything for me (pain-wise that is! It was sure nice otherwise!).

It was kinda Seinfeldian in that I felt a wee bit guilty leaving the one for the other. Like a wierd break-up kind of thing! LOL!

Paul said...

I ended up buying a flat screen monitor to solve that half of a problem (the other half of the problem was that my old monitor broke).

Of course you could always put your monitor in the right place with one of these in front of it. Plenty of desk space left*

*Note: not a serious suggestion

WendyWings said...

It makes my back hurt just looking at the pictures.
Hope your feeling better soon.

Karen Bodkin said...

I starting seeing my chiropractor and he has made me feel a whole lot better! He also told me not to spend the money on massage yet, because with what he was doing, it would only swell the muscles more and cause pain. Since you're a newbie, don't hesitate to use ibuprofin and/or ice packs on your back after a session. It reduces the swelling caused by your adjustments.

Less than $100 could get you a better chair and a keyboard drawer so you could face forward.....wow I'm a motormouth tonight....sorry! LOL!

Canadi-Ann said...

HEY! Where's your pictures of a cleaned up desk? I know i'm 3 hours ahead and i should be sleeping instead of yelling at you, but hey, this is fun. :)

Anyway, ack, you didn't tell me you were going to a chiropractor - mine is the absolute best. email me if you want his contact info. he actually helped me out a ton, and is the least invasive i've ever had. i was very skeptical, downright bitter about seeing one, but now i can't go to anyone else.

he also explains what he does really well, which helps me understand what's going on. No wrenching at all. he also has you rest a bit after (take a little nap!) so your muscles figure out where they're supposed to be "at rest."