2010 to 2012. Chiropractors, the gym and massages.

In late 2010 I had had enough  of my back pain again and decided to go and see a chiropractor. He was nice. He Listened to me. He was surprised that no one had had any success at treating my pain. He said he would “fix me” great I thought, there is hope, lets stick with this guy for a while! The first few sessions were great. He said I had a twisted pelvis and that me SIJoints  were “out” so he used to do a re alignment of my SIJ’s which I hated but thought it was doing me good. This was the realignment he used to do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhwECwj3LDI  to watch this now makes me feel sick.

He also used acupuncture, which I got a fair amount of short term relief from. But it became apparent he was not going to be able to fix me as I just kept having flair ups and spasms. He referred me to Pilates instructor but she was snooty and made feel fat and unfit. We eventually went to just 3 month chiropractic checks, they were abosultly pointless and I was a wreck in between times. I think I realised he knew he couldn’t fix me but he never said. I just stopped going

I think it was about November 2011 we joined a nice gym. I was trying to swim and use the gym but the best way to describe it was that I just felt exercise intolerant. I tried swimming but breast stroke just hurt my back and I cant  do front crawl. I tried running on the treadmill and cycling but it all hurt my back. My back and shoulders were so tight and I was so miserable that winter. I decided to go and see Tanith, the deep tissue masseuse at the beauty salon there. It wasn’t cheap but I really enjoyed the massage in a calm and tranquil environment. She was really good. But I know that the severe tightness of my shoulders and lower back freaked her out. She kept at it though and it felt good. But I knew it wasn’t fixing anything.

Tanith and I  used to talk about my bad back. About what made it hurt, what treatment I had had and what I could do about it. I can remember one session she started massaging my upper leg, on the side (what I now know to be the TFL/IT band) It was SO painfull I was almost sick. “ I bet you didn’t realise you were so tight there” she said. No I did not! She mentioned to me a client of hers had been to a really good physio “Blue something” she said.

Over the next few months I continued with the massage. But my back pain was just getting worse. My legs hurt all the way to my knees, all the way round. If I pressed lightly on the outside of my thighs I could make myself feel sick. I was depressed. The doctor now had me back on the amitryptaline and also co-dydromol and tramadol when the pain was really bad. she didn't  think the pain clinic could do any more for me and I didn't want to go. I needed to do something new. Perhaps a sports massage was what I needed, to relax my legs? I got googling and found a Sports Physiotherapist called Donna, at Bluesky . Perhaps it is that one Tanith was talking about?  So I went to see her in April 2012.