I have been a patient of Doctor Stagnone's since June (2005).  I came to him with pain and movement problems in my neck, shoulders and upper back.  Today, I am pain-free with restored movement.  Please note that the description provided here is my own.  The terminology and medical explanations are my own and therefore may not be 100% correct or correctly worded.

For years, I had occasionally had problems with pain in my upper back and neck area.  About once a year I would "pull a muscle" and walk with my head crooked for a week or so due to extreme pain in the affected area.  Gradually, over years of time, the pain - which would seem like a headache, but I knew better - became more frequent.  Eventually, I started to experience the pain more intensely and as often as weekly.  Ultimately, this summer, the pain was almost constant.

In addition to the pain, I could not rotate my head as far as I had been able to in the past.  I also was not able to sit or lay certain ways without causing additional pain.  It even got to the point that wearing collars that just contacted my neck would cause days of pain.  I had jackets and coats, chairs and pillows that were all "defective".  Who made these things?  Oh, you mean the problem is in my neck, not the clothes?

My brother, a former patient of Dr. Stagnone's, recommended that I schedule a visit.  I heard all of the things that people have to say about chiropractors and was a little concerned, but I had to do something.  I waited, but things just got worse.  Finally, I called.  The first visit was nothing but an evaluation.  I was disappointed.  I expected a quick cracking of my back and off I would go - all better.  Well, you can hope, huh?

The second visit started with Dr. Stagnone going over my evaluation with me.  We looked at the x-ray images, discussed what I had wrong with me and what the treatment would consist of.  I was very impressed when Dr. Stagnone pointed out that I probably have some minor pain in my lower lumbar area.  I had not mentioned that area since it was very infrequent and not much pain anyway.  He could see a misalignment in that area.  The fact that he could predict and describe exactly what was going on gave me confidence in his diagnostic abilities.  But could he fix my problems?

As I left from my second visit, my first "adjustment" visit, I walked away feeling a little strange.  I didn't feel "all better", but I did feel a little... um... looser.  How did he loosen me up?  The process was to get my back muscles relaxed by phased electrical pulses and then the actual adjustment.  The adjustment is basically moving the spine back into a normal alignment and feels like cracking your knucles.  It seems simple enough, but I didn't know that before my first adjustment.  Since I was out of alignment, my muscles were always working to straighten me up, causing muscle tightness and pain.  I was scheduled to come back in a couple of days.  Just like the doctor said, after a few visits I felt better.

The third visit was pretty much the same, as was each of the following visits.  Pretty soon, probably after the third adjustment, there was a noticeable decrease in the pain.  After more visits, the pain was completely gone for normal day-to-day activities. 

Periodically, Dr. Stagnone has evaluated my progress.  There has been steady improvement and now I am able to move, basically, like I should. However, even as I write this, if I sit too long at the computer, for many hours for example, I can feel my neck tense up.  Since I waited so long to get chiropractic help I am limited as to what I can expect.  I will never be as good as I was because some permanent damage has occurred.  However, I am pain-free and able to move freely.  I consider this a tremendous improvement; more than I thought was possible before meeting with Dr. Stagnone. Don't wait as long as I did.

Oddly enough, I notice the additional movement capability most when doing ordinary things like backing the car up, or looking for things.  I remember thinking, "wow, I feel as though I can turn my head like an owl!"