Three months ago, a former tennis professional was so hobbled by an apparent “bad hip” that invasive replacement surgery seemed imminent. Now, just 10 weeks after receiving a single Chiropractic adjustment, remarkably, he’s back on the path to pain-free living.
Jim Bartell’s troubles with his hip area began over 10 years before when he was in his mid-40s. He worked as a tennis director/teaching pro at world-class resorts teaching very high-end clientele. Sometimes, he’d work up to 10 hours a day on hard tennis courts. After a while, the wear and tear of the job took its toll and he began to develop a limp and hip-area pain.
The condition grew worse over the years despite many types of exercise and stretching therapies. At one point he had the area x-rayed by an MD whose only comment regarding it was, “Jim, your hip is older than you. Come and see us when you can’t take the pain any more and we’ll get it replaced.” Of course, pain relief medications were suggested.
Jim thought the time for surgery was near when about 3 months ago, after a nine-hole round of golf, “I was at a grocery store with my wife and I was in such pain that I had to use the shopping cart to hold myself up. I could only walk a few steps without having to rest.”
He had never really considered Chiropractic as an option, until a golf friend told Jim about his own success. The very next day, Jim attended a Health Seminar conducted by Dr. Jeffery Fowler at the Pierce Chiropractic Clinic in St. Petersburg, Florida. The x-rays confirmed that Jim’s top neck vertebra area had been out of alignment for a long time – maybe from birth or from some early-in-life traumatic event. The exam found his left leg to be about 3/8” shorter than the right with muscles in the left lower back in a state of constant contraction. This appeared to be the cause of the pain, not a worn out hip.
“About 3 seconds after receiving the Atlas Adjustment, I felt my back muscles relax, and with it, my hip. There was immediate relief. Wow, what a great feeling.” Dr. Jeff confirmed that after the adjustment that both legs were now the same length.
Of course, the adjustment alone only put the area on the path to healing. “I knew that I’d be responsible for a lot of my own healing, but I did everything Dr. Fowler recommended. This included follow-up visits; heat therapy and electrical stimulation at the office; and home exercises to improve hip motion.”
All of this has lead to a much-improved life for Jim, over 10 weeks of daily gains. This includes better posture, ease of walking, better stair climbing ability and, most recently, 18 holes of golf with no hip pain. “I’m not ready to run a Boston Marathon yet,” he said. “But I have been able to play tennis with my friends and enjoy much better mobility than I’ve had in years.”
Along with everything else, Jim is most amazed that the entire procedure and therapy was done with very little “pain to the pocketbook.” “I wish I’d have met Dr. Fowler and learned about an Atlas adjustment 10 years ago.”
For Your Health,
Dr. Salvatore Minicozzi