Chronic pain from old injuries

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I am 45 years old, and have had chronic neck, jaw, shoulder, and thoracic rib pain for many years. Having never been in a major accident, I had decided that I must suffer from a genetic predisposition to go out of alignment on a regular basis. I felt that I was stuck like this for life. The idea of feeling pain for the rest of my life was very emotionally and psychologically debilitating, which only compounded the actual physical discomfort. I have two small children, and was not able to be as active or in shape as I would like.

I started working with Judith about 8 months ago, and currently feel more “normal” in my body than I have in years. I have also been doing regular Pilates, and seeing an osteopath for about 4 years, but the work with Judith has taken me over the finish line. I recall asking her if she could help me with my ribs, as I did not think that rib work was typical. She laughed and replied, “Some people have called me the Rib Maven.” That is when I knew I was in the right place! The journey with Judith has been very interesting. I have recalled several seemingly insignificant accidents that seemed to have done some long term damage to my body.

The earliest of these accidents was when I blacked out on the tennis court at 12 years old from heat stroke. My fall was broken by my braces getting caught on the chain link fence. When I woke up, my mouth was cut up, and while the braces were still on my teeth, the bands were ripped open, and sticking out of my mouth. The most amazing thing was when Judith started working on my teeth, all of this came back to me. This fall had clearly done some damage to my neck and jaw, possibly even caused some hairline fractures in the bones of my mouth. By releasing some of that blocked energy from those teeth, my neck and jaw pain is gone!

The next injury I experienced was when I fell off a rope swing while rafting down the Chattahoochee river, and landed on the shore only to bounce another 15 feet on my bottom into the water. It was funny at the time, but I probably fractured my coccyx bone during the fall. Working on my coccyx bone and lower sacral vertebrae has allowed my body to be in better alignment which helps in every way!

The final accident is the one that probably caused my most painful problem, the pain of my ribs moving out of position all of the time. When I was in college, I offered a male friend a piggy back ride back to the dorms from a frat party. You get the picture. He got a running start and jumped on my back. My knees buckled, and I fell to the sidewalk. I broke my left arm, and now realize that I might have fractured some ribs as well. We are still working on my ribs, but my pain has gone from a roar to a whisper, which is the most wonderful, and liberating outcome I could ever hope for!

Needless to say, my whole family has seen Judith for various ailments and accidents. I do not want my children to feel pain later in life from something we missed while they were children!

K. Foulk