Some people baulk at the multi page consultation form I send out before a first appointment. Overkill, I think one person said. In truth, this is a pared down version of what I’d like to ask people, but I don’t want to scare people off, and it does at least give us a starting point.
I had a client come to me recently, a teacher and very keen gardener, who had right shoulder / arm pain, so much so in fact that her consultant wanted to operate. Being a teacher I figured this would be through all the writing on the blackboard (#oldskool) or whiteboard etc and should be relatively straight forward when we were talking on the phone. 🤔😳🤦🏻♂️
I sent out the consultation paperwork, and waited until I met them in person. When we were running through the paperwork they mentioned they also had jaw problems, eye strain and occasional difficulty rotating in the upper body (blackboard related?). 😢
We started the assessment, and discovered that when lifting both arms above horizontal this induced headaches and pain in the cervical spine. Revisiting the consult form I checked for head trauma. Nothing, so I asked if there had been any bumps etc. Apart from a car accident, there had also been two ‘minor’ head traumas involving concrete diving boards. 🏊🏻♀️
Once we knew this we could start to get into what was truly going on. The vast majority of core muscles, lateral flexors and right shoulder muscles were all being affected by the eye dysfunctions. 👀
Two sessions in, and the teeth grinding is subsiding, the clenching is getting better, and yes the shoulder is improving. The next session and they’ve decided to cancel the pain clinic appointment because their shoulder is feeling so much better. 👍🏻
From a neurological perspective things are working much better but the front line was still off, and crucially the TVA – essential for stability.
I had a nagging feeling that there was something else going on. Back to that consult form, and I notice two fairly minor ops, but that involve a GA. I ask if they’d been intubated, unfortunately they couldn’t remember. I checked the hyoid bone for mobility, stuck in two planes of motion 🤩
A bit more testing and not only is the front line now working, but all of the thoracic and lumbopelvic rotational patterns that weren’t working were now ox like strong 💫🐃💪🏻
So excited for this person, surgery avoided, and getting life back on track. Happy days 🧙♂️🥂
So if I ever ask seemingly bizarre questions, or want to revisit that fall you had as a kid #TheresAReasonForIt 😉
Your History Is So Important
No Expiry Date On Scars
No Expiry Date On Trauma
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Experience the difference – A refreshingly different approach to pain and dysfunction, so you can breathe better, move better, to live better.