From Marianne: The Tin Man Gets an Adjustment 🛢️

Lately I've been waking up like the Tin Man. Not sore from a great workout. Just creaky. Like I need to be oiled before I can get out of bed.

Which makes no sense. I work out seven days a week. Strength, cycling, yoga, walking. I'm doing everything right. So why do I feel like a folding chair?

I went down the medical rabbit hole. Do I need a rheumatoid arthritis specialist? A hip doctor? A spine guy? One office literally told me "we only do knees." Great. My knees are innocent.

Then, because this is how life works when you put things out there, a chiropractor walked into my life.

Not my first time with one. But the first time I didn't treat it like a one-off. He took X-rays, explained my body better than anyone ever has, and put me on a very unglamorous plan: quick adjustments, three times a week. Nothing dramatic. Just small corrections.

Apparently I've been slightly out of alignment for a while. Compensating when I walk, standing wrong, moving wrong. He said in about three weeks I'd feel normal again.

After two ten-minute sessions I already do.

I also jokingly asked if he could make me taller. He said creating more space between your discs can actually add a little height. Promises were made.

Is it real? Is it placebo? Is it the stretches he gave me as homework? I don't care. I feel better.

Because sometimes the fix isn't a diagnosis, a medication, or a dramatic plan. Sometimes it's a small boring adjustment you didn't know you needed — and ten minutes three times a week.