[MLBW]

Hi Katie,

Really sorry to hear about your back pain. I can relate--have had back problems for quite some time and after my son was born I had that sort of pain that you're talking about--the kind that is so bad that you have to slowly breathe and work through it when you're going from a lying to sitting up position or from sitting to standing. At one point I couldn't stand at all and had to crawl around the house on my hands and knees.

I know a chiropractor as a friend here in HK--from the US--I went to see him. I don't know how your chiro in the US does things but he does things differently than any other chiro I've met. I found out I have a slightly herniated disc in my lower back. With chiropractic care you have to keep up the treatments until you retrain your body to be in alignment so I have to go see him sometimes 3 times a week which is time consuming.

Once you get to a place where you're in better shape, the only way to really get ahead is to do a physical therapy treatment--or learn how to strengthen the parts of your body in a slow and safe way in order to support the parts that are weak.

I also recommend acupuncture--if you haven't tried it, Hong Kong is a good place to find a reasonably priced acupuncturist. I know people who never found relief for their chronic pain until they tried Chinese medicine.

Massage is also super beneficial--in Hong Kong it is possible to find reasonably priced massage therapists of almost every variety. I know that massage has helped me tremendously.

Those are my suggestions. Again, I am sorry to hear about your agony.