Rollercoasters

Last December when we went to Walt Disney World, my son loved going on the rollercoasters. In fact, he and I went on Space Mountain four times! The rollercoasters at Disney are pretty smooth, sometimes fast, but mostly fun. So he keeps asking me to take him to Six Flags. It’s only about 45-minutes from our house, so why not?

I delayed all summer for various reasons, and then earlier this month decided to buy a 2016 season pass, which gave me the rest of 2015 as well. I figure why not make the most of it and go as much as we can?  Last weekend we went and it was the first time I had been there in more than 15 years. What was our first stop? “MindBender” — for some reason he really wanted to go on that, I think it had something to do with the game Mine Craft (maybe he thought they were connected??). After a short wait in line, we climbed on the roller coaster and during the entire ride, he kept saying “I hate this, I hate this”; and I felt awful, wondering how I could let him go on this horrible ride. As we spun 360° several times, I wasn’t having a ton of fun either but I didn’t want him to know that. A few minutes after we got off, he said, “Can we do that again?”…..huh?  Well that’s what happens with roller coasters, right? You hate them while you are on them, but love them later. We went on five rollercoasters that day and I left wondering why I bought that season pass, and if I’ll ever go back.

By the next day, my neck was really sore and by the following day, the pain moved into my shoulder. For several days I was achy. My neck hurt, my shoulder hurt & I was having a constant headache. I basically had whiplash caused by a rollercoaster. I had adjusted my son the day after we went, but I wasn’t able to get adjusted myself (my chiropractor was unavailable and my husband was out of town). It was really frustrating. I had a massage that helped a little, but the headaches persisted.

Finally this week, I was able to get adjusted on Monday and had a chair massage by one of my wonderful massage therapists, and that helped a lot. I got adjusted again yesterday (two days in a row!) and felt amazing after that. My headache is gone and my neck feels much better. I wonder how people can go throughout their life not getting adjusted, as it makes that much of a difference. I love a good adjustment, it makes everything feel better and function better.

Have you ever been on a rollercoaster? Have you ever been tubing? Waterskiing? Snow skiing? All those fun activities just end up in one thing….whiplash. Yes, whiplash, when your neck bends forward, backward and/or side to side really fast. It may just be minor, but those repetitive minor problems lead to bigger problems. It doesn’t always have to be a big car accident to cause whiplash, it can be minor things over time. Please make sure you visit a chiropractor and get yourself taken care of. And don’t leave your kids at home, chiropractic care is for everyone!