Snap, Crackle, Pop

Guess what? I just cracked my first neck! :-)

In osteopathic manipulative medicine lab this morning, we began learning a method of treatment known as high-velocity low-amplitude (HVLA) therapy. It's the type of treatment you usually think of when you think of chiropractic treatment--you know, the one where the physician twists someone's neck really quickly and it looks like they're going to take the patients head off? Yep, that's the one. It's only one out of a ton of different types of treatments we learn (most of which are more like massage therapy or physical therapy), but it is, to the non-practitioner, the most high-profile/interesting treatment we use [see link above for a description of osteopathy, if you're curious to learn more].

It was pretty funny to watch a group of medical students walk into cadaver lab for the first time back in August, but telling them they have to crack each other's necks for the first time? That's truly hilarious. Everyone was nervous. We thought for sure that one of us was going to break someone's neck. In fact, the professor had us start with the neck first, because it's the scariest part--he says that once we learn this, none of the rest of it will intimidate us. It's pretty crazy, though, to see a room full of 80 students, all cracking necks for the first time.

Good news, though--I didn't kill my lab partner. Nor did I break his neck. In fact, with a satisfying pop, I fixed his neck dysfunction! Ah, the joys of medical school. It is, without a doubt, a place where there is never a dull moment. Anybody want to volunteer to be my next guinea pig? :-)