Yesterday (Friday), was a day of medical tests. In the morning I went to get a physical examination done at a hospital, which included blood and urine samples, blood pressure test (a little low, but normal for me), eye and ear test and even a chest X-ray. The exam also includes a dental examination, but the dentistry department is closed on Fridays, so I will need to go back tomorrow to get that part of the exam done. The reason for the physical examination is because it is a new requirement for working Visas here in Korea and although I have a two year contract at the university where I teach, the Visa needs to be renewed annually. Luckily my employer reimburses the physical exam. I’ll have to wait a week before I get the results.
Also yesterday, I had booked an appointment with a chiropractor. I’ve started to notice that my tendency to slouch has increased, especially when I’m tired, and therefore I wanted to get an expert’s opinion on my posture. The appointment with the chiropractor confirmed my suspicions. My spine is slightly out of line causing a one degree tilt in my knees and hips and a three degree tilt in my shoulders; thus my right side is ever so slightly elevated more than the left side. I’ve noticed some tension in my right shoulder, especially when I’m stressed. The test also shows that I have more pressure on my left foot than my right – most likely compensating for the slight raise on my right side. The real problem is my lateral alignment, which has a six degree tilt between my knees and hips (causing somewhat of a swayed back), and an eleven degree tilt between my shoulders and head (causing somewhat of a turtle neck). This explains why the pain in my occasional back ache shifts, depending on which is more stress – the bad angle between my knees and hips, or the bad angle between my shoulders and head. For perfect posture your knees, hips, elbows, shoulders and ears should all be in line when you stand comfortably with your feet shoulder width apart.
So over the next couple of weeks and months I’ll be working with the chiropractor for a series of treatments and exercises to fix the problem. Much of the problem, says the doctor, is from poor posture habits and sleeping on my left side too much. He ordered me to henceforth only sleep on my back, and if I do sleep for short bouts on my side, I should balance it out with turning on my other side for the same amount of time.
I’ve decided to tackle this problem even though it is going to make me much poorer. My medical aid does not cover chiropractic treatment. While these are not serious problems at present, they will probably develop into more serious ailments later in life if left untreated. So I consider the money spend on this treatment now as and investment. I prefer proactive treatment over reactive treatment. Nevertheless, as I said, I’m definitely going to feel it financially. One session will cost me around R500 and for the first couple of weeks I will be going for two or three treatments per week! I don’t even want to know what it all will add up to, but comfort myself with the fact that a back surgery twenty years from now will cost substantially more. Furthermore, now is a good time to do it. When I go back to South Africa I might not be as economically free as I am now, since I will probably have more expenses to concern myself with. At the moment my housing is supplied by my employer so it frees up more money than if I were to work in South Africa.
Besides, I’ll get a better posture, which always makes one look more self-secure and confident. And I'll acquire more healthy long term habits.
The tests also reveal a number of other interesting facts. My Body Mass Index is 22.0, which is healthy. My percentage of body fat has climbed a bit from the last time I checked (5 years ago) and stands now at 14.4%, which makes sense as I'm exercising far less. It used to be within the upper section of the “Athletes”-range (6-13%). Nonetheless, 14.4% is still within the healthy “Fitness”-range. My waist-hip ratio is 0.83 which is in the good to excellent range. My right arm is 0.2 cm, and my right leg is 0.1 cm bigger than their opposing partners respectively, but I guess that is to be expected since I’m right-handed.
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