A 72-year-old man complained of swelling down his left arm and carpal tunnel syndrome. He’d been operated on 6 months prior but even after the operation his pain and the swelling had persisted. He was at his wits end as the pain was keeping him awake at night. His neck was extremely stiff and so was his lower back but he didn’t feel that he had any lower back problems (although he admitted to having pain in the lower back in the past).
He had pain in both legs, from knees to his hips, he had calf cramps, numb feet and constipation. He’d recently been struggling with headaches and the mobility in both of his arms was impaired.
The body stress tests showed areas of body stress in the lower back, upper back and neck area. Although the client wasn’t complaining of lower back pain, this is typical of a client who has had a history of lower back trouble. As the compression in the lower back area advances the client ends up with a numbing effect in the lower back and starts to complain of referred pain into the legs, knees, feet and calves. Over time the bowel will be affected by the disturbance to the nerve pathways from the lower back and the neck and shoulders will lock in as the long upper back muscles tighten in response to the stressed areas in the lower spine.
In these cases it often takes a few consults before the lower back releases sufficiently for the protective spasms in the upper spine to release. I explained this science to the client and since he understood the logic he was prepared for the long road ahead. Initially he felt like he’d been “hit by a truck”, as the nervous system restored, he felt tired, achy and his lower back and neck started to flare up. This is a common response as nerve communication optimises and the body starts to heal. After 4 consults he started to notice some steady improvements – his lower back had started to get very sensitive but the pain from the legs had started to withdraw and the mobility in his neck was improving.
By the sixth session his hands had started to improve and the swelling down the arm had disappeared. He no longer had headaches, The pain down the arms had decreased and his bowel was starting to work better. He still felt incredibly tired after each consult, but his sleeping was starting to improve and the pain down the legs and into feet had subsided completely.
By his tenth consult he was back to the Bowling Club much improved and he was thrilled with the increasing mobility in his neck and shoulder area. His hands and arms no longer bothered him, and his neck stiffness had all but gone. He commented that he better than ever, saying that patience with his body’s healing process had paid off – after two and a half months sticking with the BSR his body had improved so remarkably he felt 10 years younger!
10-Jun-2014