By Bruce R. Posten
Reading Eagle

Mae “Hazel” Wansley, 64, Reading, a retired certified nursing assistant, struggled with walking for years because of chronic arthritis in her back.

But as a backseat passenger in a car that got rear-ended at a stoplight last August, she said her condition only became aggravated with neck strain and misaligned vertebrae.

“I couldn’t stand or sit or lie down for long periods,” said Wansley, who was prescribed medication, topical shots for pain and physical therapy by doctors. “I had trouble getting out of the bathtub. I’d wake up in the middle of the night crying in pain.”

By spring, Wansley was walking with a cane when she visited Eric Lisbin at the Acupuncture and Chiropractic Center, Shillington, in search of some type of relief short of surgery.

“I just didn’t want any cutting (surgery),” she said.

Opting for acupuncture and chiropractic treatments at the suggestion of her orthopedic doctor, Wansley said she was a little apprehensive because she didn’t know much about the treatments.

Her anxiety was eased when Lisbin put her through a series of scans or neuro-spinal screenings, once used for astronauts at the National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration, that pinpointed her painful areas. The scans generally matched earlier tests done by her orthopedic doctor.

“That gave me confidence,” she said. “After several more weeks of treatments, my muscles and nerves felt so relaxed. I was standing up and walking around without a cane.”

“There was a time that if someone told me, ‘Mae, I will give you a million dollars if you stand up straight,’ I would have lost the million,” Wansley said, proceeding to jog across the room to illustrate her improved condition.

After about six weeks, Wansley said she stopped seeing Lisbin for acupuncture and chiropractic treatments, which were covered by her insurance.

“I stopped going back, I felt so good,” Wansley said. “It was like I graduated.”