Thanks for caring

To the editor:

Maybe it’s the instant appeal of the cheerful, streamlined office when you first walk in. Or maybe it’s Susan at the front desk with her exuberant personality, helping you to feel at home as she revels in her latest sports adventure, mishaps and all. Or maybe it’s the awareness that your physical and psychic knots are already starting to unknit as the soothing music massages your soul. Then again, perhaps it’s Dr. Hawkins’ friendly smile and earnest desire to help. Something, or most likely a combination of all these things, lets you know that this is going to be better than OK.

I’d put off getting these sad, sorry bones straightened out for way too long after moving to Palmer. My neck and shoulders literally felt as if they were cradling the weight of the world, and my lower back was a contorted mess, but I didn’t know who to go to and wasn’t about to trust such amazing aches to just anyone. After months of toughing things out, though, I desperately grabbed the Yellow Pages.

Bionic Chiropractic. Hmmm. I’d seen the sign with the motto “Believe It Or Not I Care” in the former location at the Koslosky Building, but somehow caring had seemed too much to hope for. At this point, though, I was ready to believe. Besides, a quick conversation with Susan told me that Dr. Hawkins offered free consultations. My bones and I needed no further persuasion.

The consultation was thorough and relaxed, and the optional adjustment afterward was reassuringly sensitive and gentle. My bones were cracking happily (whoops, “popping” is the accurate term — still, I like to think of Dr. Hawkins as a crackerjack cracker). A few minutes later, there was newfound, blessed comfort as I bent over to put on my shoes and as I walked home. Some of the usual soreness that follows an adjustment, particularly after a lengthy hiatus, crept in later on, but once that wore off, it was obvious I’d emerged from an uber lube job.

During subsequent visits, Dr. Hawkins provided increasing relief and mobility, along with a printout of stretches that have worked wonders. He also talked me out of chastising myself for habitually cracking/popping my bones for many years and adding to my pain, encouraging me instead to move forward in freedom. Then he added time on the aqua massager, which merrily bubbles away your soreness and tension. And the chiropractic pillow that he recommended from the variety he stocks has alleviated my stiffness and deepened my sleep. I don’t think I could do anything but believe at this point.

This bod still takes an unexpected beating with dazzling slips on the ice and my penchant for knocking into assorted entities like a caribou (a stuffed one, but still …), so I’m relieved to know there’s someone nearby who can breathe some normalcy back into my life. The overall improvement has been remarkable. Sitting, my long-time nemesis, is no longer a hopeless test of my will. Even when I spend hours bent over cleaning up the fun from a clogged drain flooding half the house, I remain surprisingly agile and pain-free. In a stinky mood, but moving quite freely.

Dr. Hawkins, you’ve put the limber back in my lumbar, taken the boulders from my shoulders and rejuvenated my wreck of a neck. Thank you for caring!

Vicki Walsh

Palmer