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Mary, Sorry to hear about your situation. I’m a physical therapist and have s   seen patients with your symptoms. It appears as if the scloliosis is the source of the problem with compensatory dysfunctio occurring elsewhere. Chiropractic manipulation at times is a ‘quick fix’ especially if your program is not followed-up with appropriate training/rehab. I would suggest you see a physical therapist who performs Muscle Energy Technique, Myofascial Release and CranioSacral Therapy. These are osteopath- ic in origin and really work well for those who have had chronic pain. Good Luck! Lisa

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Question: Is it possible for the misalignment of your hips to cause pain in your neck and shoulders? This is what I have been told by a Chiropracter.  I have suffered for over a year with sharp pains in my neck and right shoulder, with numbness down the arms and hands, tingling sensations and large knots in the muscles across my neck and right shoulder. Yes, it is possible, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that is your problem. I am a massage therapist/bodyworker. I have worked with chiropractors and M.D.s for eight years so I have some experience with your type of problem. Quite often, this type of situation is secondary to the lateral deviation of the spine. Many people have remarkable scoliosis and suffer no pain at all. But, the muscles involved are at a mechanical disadvantage due to the constant "tilt", They are constantly fighting gravity, and constantly held in contraction. This may cause a Myofascial Pain Syndrome known as Trigger Points. These are the "knots" that you described, and they can cause agonizing pain, both locally and referred to distant sites on the body. My suggestion is; 1. Always have an M.D. rule out a more serious possibilty.                            2. Try a short bout with a good chiropractor, but beware the ones that want you to go in three days a week for the rest of you life!                            3. In conjunction, a massage therapist/bodyworker that KNOWS about myofascial trigger point therapy. Just plain Swedish Massage probably will not help. Shiatsu is a little better for these problems, but they don’t generally know about trigger points either.                            4. Educate yourself about trigger points. A great book for laypersons is "Pain Erasure, The Bonnie Prudden Way, Bonnie Pruden, Ballantine Books, 1990 Physical therapy is a possibilty also, but very often you see the PT only on your initial visit, then your stuck with a PT aid the rest of the time. Also, PT’s really like to try to exercise everthing away. While this is great for rehab. Trigger points require specific myofascial therapy, not exercise. This is a well researched and documented fact. If you can find a PT that will work with you personally and knows about trigger point work AND you have insurance that covers him/her, that would be the best way to go (if it is indeed a trigger point problem). Good Luck :) Gary L. Cunningham, C.M.T.

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Question: Is it possible for the misalignment of your hips to cause pain in your neck and shoulders? This is what I have been told by a Chiropracter.  I have suffered for over a year with sharp pains in my neck and right shoulder, with numbness down the arms and hands, tingling sensations and large knots in the muscles across my neck and right shoulder.  In addition, there is good amount of crepitus in the right shoulder and neck.  I have had a battery of tests inclusive of x-rays, MRI’s, EMG’s, etc.  Nothing was found.  No slipped disks, no arthritis, no joint inflammation.  Absolutely no disease.  However, it was shown on x-ray that i have a mild amount of compensated scoliosis.  Also, I have noticed that one leg is about 1" longer than the other and one hip bone in the back seems to be jutted out more than the other.   The pain and discomfort in my shoulder and neck can be unbearable, to the point that I am unable to hold my head up.  Aspirin and anti-inflammatories help some.  I was told by an Orthopedic Surgeon to do exercises to strengthen the neck, lumbar spine, trapezius and rotator cuff muscles, and for a while I was feeling good, and it seemed that my hips were back in alignment and all was well, but all of the sudden ITS BACK!!!. SORRY TO BE SO LONG WINDED. BUT I AM TRULY FRUSTRATED AND WOULD LIKE TO SOLVE THIS.  ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED. THANKS, MARY

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Question: Is it possible for the misalignment of your hips to cause pain in your neck and shoulders? This is what I have been told by a Chiropracter.  I have suffered for over a year with sharp pains in my neck and right shoulder, with numbness down the arms and hands, tingling sensations and large knots in the muscles across my neck and right shoulder.  In addition, there is good amount of crepitus in the

<snip I believe the answer is yes. I have much less serious pains and discomfort in my left shoulder and down my left arm. I am convinced that this is comes from tightness in the muscle to the left of my spine at the level of the bottom of my shoulder blade. This in turn is caused by a mis-aligned sacro-iliac joint (in my pelvis). My osteopath hasn’t yet solved the shoulder part of my problem. I originally went to him for pains in my left buttock and left knee and digestive problems, all of which are mostly cleared up. Hope this helps. Lucy — Department of Computer Science Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2, IRELAND

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