November 12, 2017
CONDITION and HISTORY
This male client was approximately forty-three years old when he came for his first appointment in 1993 for pain in his hip and legs. He was an avid tennis player and reported that a prior structural condition had begun to hamper his game and put his tennis activity in jeopardy.
Following an accident at age fourteen, he had almost lost his right leg due to gangrene. After five weeks in the hospital and surgery the following year to narrow the wide one-and-a-half-inch scar, the surgeon reported that his right leg was growing more slowly than his left. He used crutches for months, and the doctor prescribed an elevated heel for his right shoe. As the years went by, he did not always use an elevated heel. He reported that the result of that accident was a curvature of the spine to compensate for the imbalance.
Around age twenty-seven, he received a diagnosis of sciatica. The doctor prescribed medication from which he received some minimal relief from his back, hip, and leg pain. He utilized chiropractors over the ensuing years to treat bouts of sciatica as they occurred.
When the sciatica recurred in 1993 during his tennis playing years, he determined to seek a cure for his condition rather than just treatment for the symptoms. He came to my office upon referral from another client.
TREATMENT
October 6, 1993 - Sciatica
During CS2’s first session, a posture analysis determined that his legs appeared to be the same length but his hips had rotated in such a way as to cause his right leg to appear shorter. The slight curvature in his spine was most likely due to this condition. Upon completion of an hour-long session of Applied Bio-Mechanics, he reported that he no longer had back and leg pain, and he returned almost immediately to playing tennis and strength training.
He has subsequently reported (most recently in March 2016) that the sciatica never recurred after that single session.
September 26, 1998 and October 1, 2002 - Preventative/Maintenance Sessions
CS2 returned through the years for two additional sessions. He reported that he did not have any particular complaint but wanted to maintain periodic sessions as a precautionary measure and to keep his skeletal frame in good working order. Basic Applied Bio-Mechanics was the only bodywork applied during these sessions, with positive benefits in how he felt as well as improvements in his posture.
July 24, 2007 - Cervicals/Bone Spur
CS2 requested help with a cervical problem and tingling in his left arm. He reported that a medical doctor had diagnosed a bone spur in his neck, which was causing numbness and pain in his left shoulder and arm. The pain level was in the six to seven range out of ten, and surgery was recommended. Physical therapy was also suggested as a possibility to get some relief. Instead, he made an appointment to receive Applied Bio-Mechanics. At the end of the session he reported that his symptoms were gone.
December 2007 – April 2008 - Cervicals/Bone Spur Followup
CS2 scheduled an appointment on December 12, 2007. At this time he reported that he “fell back,” meaning that his previous symptoms had recurred due to the prior cervical and shoulder problem: a bone spur at C5-7, pain in his left shoulder, and tingling down his left arm. The session went very well with improvements in his pain level.
As he was now approaching age 60, we discussed the seriousness of the situation and solutions that would improve his long-term health and physical condition. He obtained six additional treatments of Applied Bio-Mechanics over a span of four months: two more sessions one week apart in December 2007; one session about a month later in January 2008; one session about ten days later in February 2008; one session about a month later in March 2008; and a final session about a month after that in April 2008. Significant relief was obtained immediately, starting December 12, 2007, with steady improvements in his pain level and overall condition as time passed.
These sessions have served as a foundation for him to live free of all sciatic and neck/nerve pain ever since (nine years as of this date) without any additional followup.