My Story 6

This experience, although harrowing at the time, taught me several important lessons -

1) chiropractic treatment was not going to improve my condition,
2) none of the chiropractors who I had visited really understood what was causing my situation,
3) the only way I could see to get to the bottom of what was really causing my pain was to research it myself – by being open-minded, listening to my own body and trusting the signs it was giving me, and using the internet as an invaluable research aid.

For the following year, I put my plan in action; I chose not to have chiropractic treatment, learnt to really listen to my body and study it, to examine the obvious signs that things were not right and put my detective powers to the test, with the help of the internet, to pull all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together and work out why I was suffering. I also studied the principles of yoga, pilates, acupressure and Alexander Technique, and sought innovative ways to implement the principles at home on a tight post-graduation budget.

A combination of all these methods enabled me to control the severity of the pain, and I was soon able to recognise what actions and activities aggravated my condition. Although my situation still deteriorated, I learnt to recognise the early warning signs and act upon them to manage the resultant pain, and above all I always sought to really understand why I felt the physical pain, and associated emotional distress.

Sometimes I would achieve a major breakthrough, and other times it felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. However, I knew I had to be patient and never give up hope, as my experiences up until that point had left me trusting no-one but myself, and if I gave up, I was only too well aware what the consequences would be.

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