Last week was not a good week for me. The cold I got Monday evening was the least of my problems, because earlier that same afternoon, something happened to my back that left me, for the most part, unable to walk for several days. Whatever it was, it was unlike any condition I could find discussed on the Internet (it's not related to a pinched nerve, slipped disk, etc.). As one might expect from a sudden and severe back pain, the pain was utterly excruciating.

I was mostly okay so long as I didn't move, so that bode well for sitting at my desk and getting stuff done on the computer.

The same thing happened about four years ago, and after three weeks of the aforementioned excruciating pain and trying everything I could think of to ease it – massages, cold packs, acupuncture, copious amounts of ibuprofen, sports creams, even moxibustion, all to no avail – I finally found a doctor who could treat it, Dr. Hamamoto.

Dr. Hamamoto gave me a massage that was perhaps more painful than the condition, massaging my feet, hands, legs, arms, neck... everything but my back, and all in the most painful way I could imagine. It was like torture, but the results were nothing short of miraculous. After the pain of his massage wore off, I could immediately tell that my back was a lot better. After three sessions over the course of a week, I was much improved.

(During the final session, which was not at all painful, I asked why he was going so easy, to which he replied “I'm using the same pressure as the first time. It doesn't hurt because you're getting better.”)

The clinic is 浜本整骨院 (Hamamoto Bonesetting Clinic), in Hirakata, Japan (between Osaka and Kyoto).

The condition seemed to have been rooted in a right/left imbalance in my back/butt muscles, such that eventually one set of muscles just seizes up, causing the pain and staying that way until “eased” back by the tortuous massages.

Over the years since, I've been better about stretching, but I have had fairly often mild lapses of an ouchy back. I've tried to find a similar doctor in Kyoto, but none are even close to achieving the results this guy could do. So, when I had my major can't-walk-anymore relapse a week ago, he's he first and only place I called. It's a good hour to get down there, but luckily, I could sit and drive without too much pain – it was trying to drive with a cold, and the painful bending involved in getting in and out of the car that posed the most difficulty.

I've gone almost every day for the last week, and like before, each session is less and less painful. Today, I finally feel I'm almost back to the generally-have-a-mild-touch-of-back-pain level I was at before. I even felt good enough to take the scooter down, which cuts drastically into the round-trip time.

After it happened this second time, I was surprised to find that I was still as flexible as I was before, so it seems that the type of stretching I've been doing was wrong, or, at least, not complete. I've learned some new stretches this time, and hopefully will be able to put this all behind me for good.

I don't suppose too many people will find the recommendation for the clinic useful, but I had to post it. I mean, really, how else would I get to use the phrase “bonesetting clinic” in a post title? 🙂