finland chiropractic



Dr. Harri Maki-Pesola Pori, Finland

As I'm finishing my third year of chiropractic care, I'm reminding myself why I first came to see Dr Harri. My health problems began several years ago as a result of stress and poor ergonomics working in office. Back in '76 at the age of 25, I started to have severe shoulder and upper back pain. For months, the pain was so bad I couldn't stop the buss at the buss stop, because I wasn't able to lift my arms up. I actually had to ask other people to wave for the buss for me. If that wasn't bad enough, I had problems sleeping. I would only catch sleep in a seated position and in the morning I suffered from headache and terrible aches all around my body. At the time no one could offer me any help, besides temporary relief I got from medicine.

Ever since that time, I've had several bouts of back pain every year, with some horrible symptoms to go with it. The worst problem is that every few weeks as my back pain got worse, I began to loose my memory. Several times I didn't find my way home from work. I missed the turns for I didn't know where I was. I had problems with my daily duties. Had someone known it, I'm sure they would have denied my drivers licence.

All these years I relied on my medical doctor to alleviate my pain. I've tried all the pain medications and relaxants and almost lost my job, because I lost so much work on sick leave. I couldn't be much of a mom either so I nearly lost my family. The pills helped, although only for a short while. Although my health has only been getting worse during the last 30 years, I found it silly when I was prescribed epilepsy medication for my symptoms. They didn't help either, but nearly put me in a mental hospital. I was going crazy.

Then three years ago, I found a story in the neighbour town's newspaper. The story was about a chiropractor. I decided for the first time to try something new. I didn't have much to lose anyway. At my first consultation, I found a person, who took me and my problems seriously and told me he wasn't focused on my symptoms. he wanted to find the cause. For the first time I wasn't just given a label with a diagnosis and some pills. Instead, this new doctor told me I had severe subluxation, which in turn had ruined my posture and made be bend forwards. Then I also learned how my posture affected my health . that all made so much sense, it makes me upset for not knowing it earlier.

The beginning of my care was not easy. My symptoms actually got worse for weeks, but my chiropractor still insisted I keep my appointments. I'm glad I did. Few months on and I was no longer suffering from pain. My fingers started to straighten, I was able to look up for the first time in years, and back felt better than when I was a teenager. In three years I have not taken any medication. Actually I feel so clear in my head, I had to go back to my doctor and return the epilepsy pills. I can also sleep without waking up every 15 minutes due to pain, waking up fresh.

My husband tells me I'm actually walking up straight, and just few weeks ago I ran for the first time in over 30 years. That was the goal we set together with my chiropractor and as I accomplished that he sent me lovely flowers.

During my care I've learned about healthy life style and how I should take better care of myself and those I love the most. As a result, I've lost 8kg(20lbs) in weight without trying and the whole family has started to exercise regularly. For the changes happened in my life I'm grateful to chiropractic, and for that reason I pursue everyone to have their spines checked. I'm a patient for life. Thank you.

Arja