Case Summary  |  Excruciating back pain. Could not move!

Three years ago, I woke up and could not get out of bed. I had not had any serious injuries in the past.

I couldn't sit, walk or syand. It was miserable. I immediately saw a family practice physician who gave me pain medication, but the muscle spasms would not stop.

5 hours later, I stiil had no decrease in symptoms. I visited a chiropractor who saw me as an emergency patient. I had never been to a chiropractor before because I thought they were quacks.

The chirpractor was a short and small woman, I could not believe she was strong enough to adjust anything. I still could not walk or lie down. While still standing, she twisted my upper torso---and crack! I hurt so much that whatever made the sound didn't cause more pain.

Her husband is also a chiropractor, and both worked on me using manipulation, when they could, for about 30-45 minutes.

They gave me hot packs on my neck and back and later electrical stimulation from a TENS unit.

At the end of the treatments, I felt about 90% better! No drugs!

They gave me a diagnosis of "displaced rib head". I am a biologist, and this did not make any sense to me from an anatomical perspective. So I asked them what caused it, and how do I prevent it from EVER occuring again? They taught me some physical therapy type exercises for increasing strength and mobility of the affected muscles and joints. I asked when I should return and they replied, if the pain or stiffness does not completely go away, give us a call.

Within two days, I felt better than I have in many years. No pain, no stiffness. The episode of pain was so bad I NEVER want to experience that again.

I contacted other physicians (MD's) to get their more recognized scientific opinion.

Here is the cause: Two months before, I was driving my car. I had one of those yawns that you can not stop. I was driving fast and did not want to get in an accident because of the stupid yawn. So I turned my head slightly to the right to slow down and stop the car. At this exact same time, I sneezed! This all happened within a few seconds!

Yawn and sneeze at almost the same time. It felt painful at the time, but the pain went away.

It appears that the combination of yawn and sneeze ---both violent reflexes caused some type of mechanical change of my muscle and bone alignment..

Never sneeze and yawn and the same time. It sounds humorous, but it was very painful.