Diane
16-10-2004, 08:11 AM
Woman, early 40's, professor, just moved to the wet coast from the east, big city hurry/stress sort of feel about her, brand new job teaching this fall in a major university, wanted to do everything just right, getting her place in shape and unpacked, etc...
Low back pain for 17 years, tons of chiro, tons of everything, no help, finally had her flattened, bulged disc out 2 years ago, big disappointment when she still had pain, although at least she could walk(!) which she couldn't before surgery.. some complications including a nicked dura mater and a subsequent second surgery two weeks later, developed meningitis... finally recovered from all that, still pain bad to the point of couldn't really bend over, pain felt like a tight band preventing her moving.
Treated her this way and that way, tried teaching a few exercises which she didn't do because of being so stressed... talked to her a lot about pain, input, output, Melzack etc.. how it wasn't the "disc" anymore if the disc was out.. on and on, told her my analogy of the cart rut, how we could aim to get her cart (the cycling thoughts) out of the rut (that she was someone who had pain) so that the grass could grow in the rut and it would gradually fill in..
She soaked this up over the course of about 4 sessions, got about 40%better, was bending somewhat better, went to a yoga class that was poorly taught and didn't look after herself during it, did too much, tried too hard, whatever... and ended up at square one again. Palpable frustration. Hope dying. I decided to tape her (kinesio tape). One big strip down the back, stopping just short of the scar. Asked her to bend over. Oh no, I don't want to do that, she said. I said, ok, move around...come and sit here, and bend forward with your elbows between your knees. That she could do, no problem. While she was sitting and bending over I taped her on each side of the first piece with thinner strips, in an upward direction. I asked her to stand up, move around, and then to bend over.
She bent all the way over, with no hesitation. She straightened back up with a look of great shock on her face, and burst into tears.. When I asked her if she was OK, and what were the tears about, she answered that there were two reasons, one, all the frustration and confusion for the last several years was pouring out, and second, tears of relief were coming out. Mostly relief, she said. She really couldn't believe that she had just done what she had done. It took her a few more minutes, and a couple more successful bendovers, to feel confident in her new found ability. Right away she asked, can I go jogging? (argh!) I said, why don't you wait awhile longer and let your brain and body get to know each other again first? She left happy, and offered to pull off articles for me I told her about on my lengthy pubmed clipboard of skin proprioceptor research, at the university library! Hurray, a new source that's local.
Diane
Low back pain for 17 years, tons of chiro, tons of everything, no help, finally had her flattened, bulged disc out 2 years ago, big disappointment when she still had pain, although at least she could walk(!) which she couldn't before surgery.. some complications including a nicked dura mater and a subsequent second surgery two weeks later, developed meningitis... finally recovered from all that, still pain bad to the point of couldn't really bend over, pain felt like a tight band preventing her moving.
Treated her this way and that way, tried teaching a few exercises which she didn't do because of being so stressed... talked to her a lot about pain, input, output, Melzack etc.. how it wasn't the "disc" anymore if the disc was out.. on and on, told her my analogy of the cart rut, how we could aim to get her cart (the cycling thoughts) out of the rut (that she was someone who had pain) so that the grass could grow in the rut and it would gradually fill in..
She soaked this up over the course of about 4 sessions, got about 40%better, was bending somewhat better, went to a yoga class that was poorly taught and didn't look after herself during it, did too much, tried too hard, whatever... and ended up at square one again. Palpable frustration. Hope dying. I decided to tape her (kinesio tape). One big strip down the back, stopping just short of the scar. Asked her to bend over. Oh no, I don't want to do that, she said. I said, ok, move around...come and sit here, and bend forward with your elbows between your knees. That she could do, no problem. While she was sitting and bending over I taped her on each side of the first piece with thinner strips, in an upward direction. I asked her to stand up, move around, and then to bend over.
She bent all the way over, with no hesitation. She straightened back up with a look of great shock on her face, and burst into tears.. When I asked her if she was OK, and what were the tears about, she answered that there were two reasons, one, all the frustration and confusion for the last several years was pouring out, and second, tears of relief were coming out. Mostly relief, she said. She really couldn't believe that she had just done what she had done. It took her a few more minutes, and a couple more successful bendovers, to feel confident in her new found ability. Right away she asked, can I go jogging? (argh!) I said, why don't you wait awhile longer and let your brain and body get to know each other again first? She left happy, and offered to pull off articles for me I told her about on my lengthy pubmed clipboard of skin proprioceptor research, at the university library! Hurray, a new source that's local.
Diane