I know it sounds weird, but lots of my best ideas come to me in the shower! This morning I got thinking about something a patient said in a recent email:

"My neck/upper back have felt way better since our session on Friday and every day I am more optimistic and the light in the tunnel gets closer! I don't know if clients tell you enough, but I want to make sure that you know how invaluable your support is, especially when it comes to the recognition of pain. Having someone acknowledge that pain is a factor and support me by adjusting therapies based on it, means more than I can express. I truly believe that I am progressing because of that recognition and any fear and worry that I had at the start of these sessions has disappeared because I know that I will not be forced to do things that cause undo pain".

An elite athlete, this woman (we’ll call her Kim) has been in constant pain for a year and a half due to a motor vehicle accident. However, Kim has had people tell her that her problems aren’t that bad. She has also had healthcare providers try to shoehorn her into cookie cutter therapy systems even though they made her symptoms worse, not better.

To receive thanks and gratitude from patients is always tremendous, but what made this instance stand out was what Kim was grateful for. It sounds as though she is saying that she has felt “heard” and she is no longer fearful that she will be “forced to do things that cause undo pain”. The bar is indeed low when patients are grateful that we don’t hurt them!

Don’t get me wrong. At Alignment First not every case is a home run, miracle cure! But, I put a lot of time, effort, and yes, thought, into making sure you’re getting the care your body needs, not what some system says you SHOULD need.

I think my proprietary corrective exercise system, the Alignment First Protocol, is amazing, and most back pain sufferers working their way through that system using the Body Mechanic’s Handbook can make significant improvements to their quality of life. However, there isn’t a do-it-yourself system in the world that can deal with the complexities of a case like Kim’s. Recently, although our initial plan of care schedule called for a transition to a longer interval between therapy sessions, when we tried it Kim's symptoms worsened. This was a very clear message from Kim's body that it still needs more support than we can possibly provide with sessions every two weeks. These are the kinds of adjustments we need to make to shepherd our patients toward a better quality of life, regardless of what therapy systems, well meaning doctors, or insurance adjusters would have us do otherwise.

And I'm not immune to making mistakes either! I very clearly remember working with Igor Larionov, one of only six hockey players in history to win Olympic gold, the Stanley Cup, the Canada/World Cup, the World Junior Championships, and the World Championships. We were both working for the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL in 1991/92 and he had developed a lower back pain on his right side. Thirty years ago I was just beginning to learn about the relationship between posture/malalignment and pain, and my understanding was not very sophisticated. I recognized that he had a crooked pelvis, but only knew one strategy for straightening it. Knowing what I know now, I realize that what I did for him was NOT what he needed! That helped to explain why he was quite sore from what I did. On the bright side, although the corrective strategy I tried in this case was wrong, the mobilizations that I did almost certainly assisted Igor's body to self-correct his alignment problem over the next week or so.

Thankfully, in that case, everything worked out in the end. In fact, I learned a lot from that situation. We can all learn from our mistakes. 

One of the biggest mistakes is to ignore the messages your body is sending you. Pain is a call for help from your nervous system. And taking a "no pain, no gain" approach to your chronic pain problems is, with very few exceptions, a huge mistake. Sometimes you are doing the wrong thing, but sometimes you're simply "doing it wrong". 

If you're struggling right now, reach out for some help. I don't mean start surfing YouTube for answers or consulting Dr. Google! Sure, there's no shortage of information out there, but I promise you that is a pathway to more problems than solutions. 

You need answers and an actionable strategy to improve your quality of life. Although you can't find that on YouTube, thankfully, I can help you with that. It's my job to think about your situation, at the office, in my car, and yes, sometimes even in the shower, until you get the help you need. 

To see if you are a good fit for the Alignment First Protocol, reach out to Claudia at info@alignmentfirst.ca. We provide a 30-minute introductory/orientation session at no charge to make sure we can help you before we agree to take you on as a patient.

If you're an existing patient, and like a lot of people, have been laying low for the past couple years, you can email me directly at geoff@alignmentfirst.ca. We'll reassess and make sure you're on a healthy path.

Until next time, stay healthy!

Yours in health,

Geoff Dakin