Approximately 4 weeks ago during my roller derby training I was chasing someone to push them off track. I wasn’t very successful, the player got away from me and I got myself off balance which resulted in me falling quite hard onto my tailbone. A massive bone bruise followed and a few days later a very sore lower back.
I resorted to my usual ways of resolving the problem by visiting the chiropractor first. A few days later a muscular scoliosis developed which got sorted out with a trip to my Kinesiologist. The trouble is, she informed me, that the pain still hangs around in the ligaments. So I was prepared for so some lingering soreness.
Little did I know how long this was going to last and my level of frustration and impatience with it. After playing Derby in the scheduled bout I decided the chiropractor was worth another visit.
Two days later an exam followed which naturally showed some deficiencies. Obviously this was due to what had happened a couple of weeks earlier. The recommendation was to have six successive visits in a short period of time. I walked out annoyed and frustrated, probably mostly with my own body. It almost felt like I had lost my power over my own body.
I went back to my trusted ‘Triggerpoint Therapy Workbook’ and started studying the muscles of the hips again. I found that triggerpoints can form from sudden impact injury, not only from over use or too much rest.
Here I had an entry point into my own treatment. With new found enthusiasm I got stuck into the muscles of my hips with a ball. I figured that all the surrounding muscles, e.g. legs and back probably played a role here as well, so they got the treatment too. From previous experience with a frozen shoulder I knew I had to keep working on them several times a day for a few days. Past experience with this kind of thing is great, it helps keep you going when there seems no progress. Somehow though, every time the issue resolves very suddenly after enough work.
Back to my story. My next few visits to the chiropractors were scheduled for twice weekly for the next three weeks. After the weekend of working on myself I decided to let my chiropractor know that I didn’t want to come as often, that I felt that I had to do more work of my own to fix my back.
Suddenly a feeling of empowerment came over me. I knew then that I was in charge of my own body again. I have since been working diligently on those muscles until I had full pain free range of motion again. For me this was a moment of triumph. It was proof that I myself am in charge and that I am capable of healing myself as part of of a team where the chiropractor and the kinesiologist play a part, but my own role is hugely important and certainly not to be under estimated.
