Tag Archives: joint

Chiropractor

Chiropractor: (n) a practitioner of the system of medicine based on the treatment of misaligned joints.

Some people swear by them, some people swear at them.

Chiropractors, that is.

A friend of mine, when speaking about chiropractors, once suggested that they all must have gone to the University of Oregon.

This prompted me to ask, “Why do you say that?”

“Because the University of Oregon has a duck as a mascot and chiropractors are all a bunch of quacks.”

I don’t know about that. Please don’t state that as my opinion. I have never actually gone to a chiropractor. I have threatened to do so. There were many times in my life when I was looking for a joint to help my joints.

But I could never quite get myself to go, climb up on a table and be felt up–even if it was for medical purposes.

I’m sure I might get relief.

I’m positive merely getting attention from someone who understood that I was in pain would be comforting in itself. After all, forty years ago we thought acupuncture was quackery–and now it is practiced by many reputable physicians.

So I feel that I am incapable of drawing a conclusion about chiropractors. I do know this: some people get comfort and aid.

And in a time when such benefit is limited, I don’t think we should condemn anyone who provides it.

 

 

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Bend

Bend: (v) to shape or force something straight into a curve

Dictionary B

I cannot tell you how many nibbles I have in my ass from all the things I’ve taken for granted, which have now come back to bite me.

I think it’s probably the greatest lesson I’ve learned–since everything in life is basically temporary, don’t allow yourself to become permanently smug.

When I was much younger, I was very athletic–not in the conventional sense of playing for organized teams, but I was pretty proficient at most games.

This was especially significant since all of my life, I have struggled with obesity. So I always heard the phrase, “You really move good for a big man.”

This caused me to puff up my chest, believing that my present prowess, provided by my youth, would continue on into my later years.

I never stopped to thank God for the parts of me that bend, because I assumed they would continue their vigil.

They didn’t.

First my ankles bothered me, then my knees, and I will stop there because I don’t want to encourage further sympathy from body parts which have not yet given up.

I am in awe of bending knees. What a magnificent joint.

So since I have not retained the ability to bend all of my human physical parts with as much efficiency as I once did, I have decided to compensate by bending my will and mercy in directions that establish … my greater flexibility.

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Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix 

 

Ankle

dictionary with letter A

Ankle: (n.) the narrow part of the body, including a joint, between the foot and the calf.

During a six month period at age twenty, I sprained my ankle about five times. It was brought about by a natural imbalance.

I was a healthy, energetic and semi-athletic fat boy who believed I could move with the grace and ease of my skinnier counterparts, only to discover that my obesity played out whenever my ankle would step in the wrong direction and twist.

It made me so mad. I kept re-injuring the same ankle over and over again–my left one.

The first time I banged it up was caused by stepping down from a bus into a gopher hole, turning the ankle so badly that I was convinced that the bottom of my shoe touched my shin. Unfortunately, I had plans to go on a weekend trip which I refused to cancel, so when the ankle on my already-chubby leg grew to the size of a tree trunk, I insisted on walking on it and continuing my plans with friends, even though moving a mere twenty yards took me about thirty minutes.

I didn’t care. I was young, stubborn and determined to continue my quest for invincibility.

So the ankle tried to heal, and then because I went out to play football or shoot some hoops, it got bent again.

Honestly, I don’t know when it stopped being susceptible to injury, but somewhere along the line I must have rested it long enough to stop the onslaught of repetitive painfulness.

There are two parts of the human body that were never meant to be used for walking, running or actually any kind of upright position. One is the knee and the other is the ankle.

Sometimes when I look at that small region near the foot which is supposed to handle all of our weight, I think it’s a wonder we aren’t laid up in hospital beds … all the time.

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Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix