Expert: Dr. Paul Newhart - 4/18/2009

Question
Hello!  A couple of days ago I decided to go to the gym and exercise my back because I haven't done that in a while.  I noticed that my back seemed to not be straight (the middle vertebra seemed to rotate a little and the spine shifted laterally slightly on some exercises).  For the last several days my back has been feeling out-of-line.  I now have a bunch of knots along my spine.  Today I had a friend feel my back with me bending over and she said that two spinal processes seemed to be shifted slightly to the side.  I've never had a back problem before.  Two things come to mind, 1) I sometimes carry my back more on one shoulder than the other (this might lead to scholiosis, but would this cause rotation?) 2) I visited my roommate's chiropractor who was giving away free gift certificates and he didn't "align" my back evenly (he twisted/cracked my back an extra time on one side.  The X-ray prior showed my spine to be perfectly aligned).  What should I do to straighten my back?

Answer
I would suggest you find a chiropractor that deals with soft tissue as well as spinal alignment.  You should have some normal lateral movement of the spinous away from the midline.  The chiropractor may not have re-aligned you wrongly.  Many times, adjustments can be one sided.