Neck, Back and Arm Pain
Neck Pain from Herniated Discs
In June of 1996 I was diagnosed with two herniated disks, C3 & C4 in my neck. I went through 1&1/2 years of Physical Therapy nothing was helping my symptoms they just got worse. My arms and hands would have this terrible pain, tingling feeling & they would go numb, I did not have enough strength in my hands to even hold on to a pencil. My doctor informed me the only way I was to get any relief was with surgery. I agreed, in July 1998 I underwent a fusion in my neck at C3 & C4 disks, along with added hardware to support the neck while healing. Once my neck was healed from the surgery, the doctor had no intention to remove the hardware, this created a new pain it was a compressed feeling as if someone was sitting on my head along with constant headaches. I later found out that my body was trying to protect itself from the foreign object inside my neck, therefore my neck was always tense, creating lots of pain. I controlled this pain with pain pills and an occasional massage when I could afford it.
In September 2001 I was in a motorcycle accident I flew 60 feet in the air and landed on my buttocks. I shattered my L1 vertebra in my back which caused nerve damage in my spinal cord, lost all control of my bladder and bowl functions as well as my back and stomach muscles. If I sat for longer than 15 minutes my legs and feet would go numb along with my buttocks and a terrible piercing pain in my lower back. The doctors were able to put me back together and teach me to walk again, soon I was able to train my bladder and bowl functions on my own nothing else could be done to help with the pain.
But I felt lucky to be alive and to be able to walk on my own, so I accepted the fact that I would have pain the rest of my life and would have to take pain medicine to control it.
So I did up until November 2006 when I was at my doctor's office and simply told him I wanted my life back so he referred me to M.H.P.T.
Since I have been receiving treatments the compressed feeling in my neck and headaches are not as frequent and not as severe. I am much more flexible and can move around much easier, even tying my shoes is not such a chore. I can sit for almost one hour before it gets to uncomfortable. I am getting some feelings in my bladder & am able to feel when my bladder is full . For the first time since my accident my menstrual cycle has been regular. My attitude and outlook on life in general has improved a lot I am much happier, I can feel improvements in my body that I have not felt before and it gets better daily I still have pain but I do not need to control it with pills. I HAVE NOT FELT THIS GOOD IN YEARS. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH M.H.P.T. You all gave me the light to guide me through a very dark tunnel. I am looking forward to living my life again .
Neck, Back and Arm Pain with GERD (gastroesophogeal reflux)
Along with the back injury, I had bulging discs, numbness and pain in my left leg, and stiffness with immobility in my left shoulder and neck all resulting from a serious fall in 1997. Other physical conditions are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and GERD from a hiatal hernia.
My first visit to Mission Hills Physical Therapy brought immediate relief and relaxation to my back. The home exercises brought increasing relaxation and relief from the resulting anxiety over my limitations. Through the course of treatment, Ralph and Danielle pinpointed the source of my problem: the hiatal hernia. I was holding and moving my body in contorted and controlled ways to protect this inner problem.
It is almost miraculous to me that I can sleep, walk, sit, stand, swim, care for the grandchildren, and move freely without fear after twenty therapy sessions. My reflux is greatly reduced to almost minimal. I feel happy and strong again. Thank you, Ralph, so much, for caring and working on me to achieve this great success.
Neck Pain and Headaches from Whiplash
The first time I heard about IMT from somebody I met at a friend's party. The lady claimed that IMT literally made it possible for her to walk again after a serious car accident. She claimed that she spent thousands and thousands of dollars looking for help and nothing did much until she discovered IMT. Her story made an impression on me and I saved info on IMT in my files.
More than 8 months ago I had a car accident on my own that resulted in whiplash. It was my very first real physical trauma and seemed it was a minor one at first. I was told I would be fine in a month or two; all I need is occasional Tylenol. Month pass by, than another one, than another one. I had daily headaches, I had to stop playing tennis, dance, hike, or to do anything that noticeably increased blood flow to my head because I would start to have a headache in 20 min that would last for 2-3 days and no Tylenol would help. I would wake up exhausted, with a stiff neck, loss of movement and a pounding headache.
IMT was surprisingly gentle therapy. Nothing was pulled, pushed, twisted or anything what usual physical therapy would do. But I am experienced with hands-on healing therapies when therapist is barely touching a patient, but produce notable results. During my first session I felt immediate response in my body: increased circulation, tension relief, overall relaxation and increased sense of well-being. I was wondering how long it would take to treat my headaches. Well it took only two sessions. After the second session I felt so much lighter in my neck and shoulders that I really could not remember when the last time it felt this good. I felt significant increase in my neck's range of motion.
I could not possibly describe how happy I was to get this much improvement in such a short period of time. Whiplash is considered a somewhat "mysterious" injury that nobody is sure exactly what to do with. And I was miserable and tried and was not sure what to expect.
It is past two months since my first great improvement and none of relieved at that session symptoms came back.
Over the following few weeks most of my remaining neck problems was taken care of: neck and shoulder tension gone, I got range of motion back, headaches gone, I started sleeping as I used to before my injury and overall I felt that whole neck issue is under control and my neck is healing. Numbness in my arms even though would happen less often and cause really only minor discomfort was most stubborn, so I continue my sessions. As additional benefit to my neck treatment I noticed that sessions have very calming effect, decreasing my anxiety, something I have a problem with a lot. I couldn't help but notice gradual increase in overall well being that no other therapy I have tried before ever produced on such level.
It became clear that IMT heals whole body and I was enjoying "side effects" of my neck treatments. In comparison with my new discovered neck flexibility other parts of my body feels stiff and uncomfortable. My therapist was working on one area after another following my constant feedback and I felt continued increase in energy, less anxiety, increased circulation, more optimistic. My body feels little stronger after every session. Even though I did not have a problem with my digestion, I could not help but noticed that my digestion is better too.
My improvements were coming as snowball: it felt like my body was gentle stimulated and reminded how to get back to healthier, stronger self. It is only two months as I am doing IMT and I gain more improvement in my overall health than all other therapies I tried before my injury.
I am quite health conscious and tried numerous things to heal some problems or just improve health. My "weakest" links was liver, chronic stress and anxiety, fatigue. I tired acupuncture: herbs and needle treatments, naturopath, chiropractor, biorhythms, hands-on-healing, spiritual healing, psychotherapy, supplements.
I also wanted to be more fit and I tried to work at a gym, work with a personal trainer, Pilate's, tai chi, yoga. I took classes on tennis and dance. Even though all these were fun I ended up having to stop because soon after starting my next thing I would soon have pain in joints, or back or both. I would be hurting or could not get postures right because of stiffness here or there. Well, after only two months of IMT, without even getting up from a table I got more abdominal strength than I had after 1 year of Pilates (reason, I think because I was not able to use my abdomen properly during Pilates class and miss out on benefits while with IMT I "found" my abdomen), I have more flexibility in whole body than after 1 year of thai-chi and 8 months of yoga. I had to stop yoga because of joint pain. And to my astonishment, I noticed that I am getting physically stronger while lying on the table getting IMT.
This is what happened to me this past weekend. Because of my neck injury I did not actively exercise for 6 months. Right before I started IMT I tried to bike on my usual trail to see what happened. Well I got tired really fast, overall made only half a trail and 50% of that I walked because felt too tired and weak to ride a bike. Last week I decided to try to ride a bike on the same trail again, for the first time since I started IMT, that is after two months of IMT.
I did the entire trail without even breaking into sweat and barely noticing any effort. During the ride my body felt more integrity than I ever remember enjoying before. It worked like well-oiled machine, given out more energy with much less effort.
I am continuing taking IMT because it so effective, it gives such a great "return" on my "investment". After two months I still have some areas that could be better, and now with first-hand experience power of this technique I cannot possible left anything out without give it a chance. I continue to enjoy every visit, and I continue feeling just a little more strength each time and integrity in my body.
I would highly recommend it to everybody. By the way, I did try traditional physical therapy also, once after I twisted my ankle. What a waste of time that was for me. I wish I had known about IMT then.
O.F.
3/10/07
Neck and Upper Back Pain
Neck Pain
The care I received from Mission Hills Physical Therapy was top-rate, from the staff when I called to set up appointments, to my therapist, I felt as though they truly wanted to help me get better; I was never treated as though I was ‘just another patient’. Everyone there was more than happy to take the time to answer my questions.
After having been treated at two different physical therapy locations for the same problem, I can say I had much better and faster results with Mission Hills Physical Therapy. They are great! I was referred here by a friend, and I will definitely refer them to another.
Thank you, Carrie, Danielle, Ralph, and Daniza.
Neck Pain, Headaches and Back Pain
In June of 1996 I was diagnosed with two herniated disks, C3 & C4 in my neck. I went through 1-1/2 years of Physical Therapy nothing was helping my symptoms they just got worse. My arms and hands would have this terrible pain, tingling feeling & they would go numb, I did not have enough strength in my hands to even hold on to a pencil. My doctor informed me the only way I was to get any relief was with surgery. I agreed, in July 1998 I underwent a fusion in my neck at C3 & C4 disks, along with added hardware to support the neck while healing. Once my neck was healed from the surgery, the doctor had no intention to remove the hardware, this created a new pain it was a compressed feeling as if someone was sitting on my head along with constant headaches. I later found out that my body was trying to protect itself from the foreign object inside my neck, therefore my neck was always tense, creating lots of pain. I controlled this pain with pain pills and an occasional massage when I could afford it.
In September 2001 I was in a motorcycle accident I flew 60 feet in the air and landed on my buttocks. I shattered my L1 vertebra in my back which caused nerve damage in my spinal cord, lost all control of my bladder and bowl functions as well as my back and stomach muscles. If I sat for longer than 15 minutes my legs and feet would go numb along with my buttocks and a terrible piercing pain in my lower back. The doctors were able to put me back together and teach me to walk again, soon I was able to train my bladder and bowl functions on my own nothing else could be done to help with the pain. But I felt lucky to be alive and to be able to walk on my own, so I accepted the fact that I would have pain the rest of my life and would have to take pain medicine to control it. So I did up until November 2006 when I was at my doctor's office and simply told him I wanted my life back so he referred me to M.H.P.T.
Since I have been receiving treatments the compressed feeling in my neck and headaches are not as frequent and not as severe. I am much more flexible and can move around much easier, even tying my shoes is not such a chore. I can sit for almost one hour before it gets too uncomfortable. I am getting some feelings in my bladder & am able to feel when my bladder is full. For the first time since my accident my menstrual cycle has been regular. My attitude and outlook on life in general has improved a lot I am much happier, I can feel improvements in my body that I have not felt before and it gets better daily I still have pain but I do not need to control it with pills. I HAVE NOT FELT THIS GOOD IN YEARS. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH M.H.P.T. You all gave me the light to guide me through a very dark tunnel. I am looking forward to living my life again.
J.H.
Back Pain
Since I've been coming here (2 weeks?), I've noticed I'm able to do more of exercises I've been given. I'm able to do little things I've taken advantage of. The back spasms have almost been eliminated due to the great work the therapists are doing. With the stretches, I'm able to reach more and the little things are easier to do, I'm feeling more comfortable standing from my wheel chair, as long as I have something to hold onto. I feel the short time I've been coming here, I really feel a big difference in the way I feel and the things I can do. The therapists have all been great and they all are helping me. I feel I will be walking again with their help!
J.D.
Low Back Pain
I twisted and hurt my lower back. I stared out with just a small sharp pain and continued to do my work. As I lifted more boxes, the pain worsened until I couldn't lift or even walk. I lifted and twisted to the right without thinking of consequences. I went to the doctor and the examination showed that I hurt or pulled my lower left side. I was given medication and bed rest but the pain was still present. After two weeks of bed rest the pain was not as much but still persistent. I went back to the doctor and he gave me a stronger medication and prescribed therapy. I couldn't continue with the medication because I got a little nauseous, so I took it a little at a time.
When I went to the therapy session, the first day I felt a relief and relaxed feeling of my back. At therapy I learned of muscles and exercises that surprisingly help relief the pain. I went back to work and almost did the same work as before my injury. At therapy I learned how to exercise and how to lift properly, not to exert of how I lift or how much I lift. The exercises I learned have helped develop my posture and muscles I didn't know were there. I am a little more conscience of my work and how to prevent injury even though I know accidents will happen. The sessions I took have relieved the pain naturally without medication and given me more confidence that I can continue at work.
John Telles