The following case studies are examples of how Anna and David approach their work with clients and will give you an idea of what to expect when you book your sessions. 

 

 

‘John’

 

John was a keen 35 year old runner with recurring knee pain that was inhibiting his progress.

 

When John came to me, he hadn’t been able to run for two weeks due to pain on the outside of his right knee which flared up immediately when he tried to run.

 

I assessed John’s posture and movement.  Due to many years of just running 50+ miles per week, without any other type of training and alongside a sedentary job, John’s whole body was very stiff.  His job was quite stressful and he used running to combat this; however, this compulsion to run despite his body telling him to rest was actually increasing the stress on his body.

 

John’s spine had a slight twist through it (which is very common) which meant that there was also a twist in his pelvis.  This meant that certain structures were under more stress as he moved.  Most people have some kind of imbalance in their bodies which can create niggles/aches but with manual work and the appropriate movement, these niggles can be reduced.

 

I began with some manual therapy work with John.  His tissues were reluctant to release so I worked slowly and gradually to encourage a softening – going too deep too quickly has the opposite effect and can increase tension.  John was keen to understand more about the injury, so I explained as I went what compensations I could detect and why this might have happened.  I also suggested that I take a look at John’s running technique.  At the end of the session, I used kinesiology tape to temporarily provide support to John’s knee and gave him some simple strength and release exercises to practise.  I encouraged him to keep mobile through the day but asked him not to try running again yet.

 

The following week John reported that he hadn’t tried running but that his knee was feeling different and better.  He had been practising the exercises and trying not to sit for too long; the outcome of this was that he felt much looser.  I did some more manual therapy work and was able to work a bit deeper this time as John’s tissues were more responsive.  I asked him to continue with the exercises and added a few more to his programme. 

 

In further sessions, I identified some areas in John’s running technique that were contributing to his knee problem.  I also suggested some meditation and breathing techniques to help him deal with his demanding job.  I modified his movement programme again to include some more strength work and exercises to help the ‘spring’ in his tissues.  John gradually made his way back to running and is no longer having knee pain.  He sees me approximately every six weeks for some maintenance treatment and to tweak his movement programme.  John also reports feeling calmer at work.

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‘Jane’

 

Jane was a 48 year old woman who was experiencing fatigue, joint pain and weight gain.  She had seen her GP and been referred for various tests, the outcome of which revealed hormonal fluctuations consistent with perimenopause and stress.

 

Jane also worked as a lawyer and lived with her husband and two young children.  She was finding life quite chaotic and was struggling to maintain a consistent sleep pattern.

 

Jane was keen to establish a regular exercise routine, lose weight and also to reduce her pain. 

 

After speaking with Jane, I decided that a Reiki session would be useful to initiate a rebalancing of her system.  She had not had any energy work before so I explained how the treatment would proceed and let her know that there was no right or wrong reaction to treatment.

 

At the beginning of the session, I ran through some breathing techniques with Jane that she could begin to use on a daily basis to help with stress levels and to improve sleep.  Once Jane was in a calmer space, I began the treatment and after an initial emotional release, Jane fell in and out of sleep.  After the treatment, we reflected on her experience of and what I had picked up from it as well.  Jane felt slightly ‘off’ for the rest of the day but sent me a message the following day to say that she felt much more centred and able to deal with her busy work day without reacting negatively.

 

Jane’s next session involved some hands on soft tissue work and mobilisations, with an emphasis on myofascial release and Harmonic (rocking) Technique.  Once again with this treatment, Jane was able to release some emotion and her tissues began to relax.  She had also been practising her breathing and we did some more work on this along with some abdominal and diaphragmatic massage. 

 

After these first two sessions, which involved a lot of talking as well, Jane was already feeling much better.  We discussed time management and how Jane could build some regular exercise into her day.  She reinstated her subscription to a yoga platform and began doing some short, daily yoga and mediations sessions.

 

I did a further two treatments with Jane, one Reiki and one manual therapy, and also put together a movement programme for her to follow, built into blocks so that she could shorten or lengthen it according to the time available.  I recognized that she would also benefit from some specialist nutritional advice and referred her to a dietician.

 

Within two months of Jane’s first visit, she was feeling more centred and in control, and had lost 10 lbs.  She had a much better understanding of her own body and of how to manage nutrition and exercise.  Her sleep pattern had stabilized and whilst she periodically still experienced some joint pain, she was able to recognize the psychosomatic element of this and use particular breathing/meditation techniques along with targeted movement to ease them quickly.

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‘Mary’

 

Mary was a 52 year old woman who contacted me with plantar fasciitis with which she’d been struggling for several months.  She initially felt a tightness/stiffness in her right ankle which developed into quite severe heel pain, particularly first thing in the morning when she could barely put her foot down on the floor.

 

Mary’s assessment indicated some lack of mobility in her lumbar (lower) spine along with instability at the pelvis.  On further investigation, the Mary had also periodically experienced some hip pain and lower back pain on the right hand side.  She enjoyed long walks and was keen to get back to doing this, along with eliminating her pain. 

 

When a client presents with a chronic issue like this, it is useful to do some hands on work first which usually helps to instantly reduce the pain and can provide even more insight into what might be happening mechanically.  Some initial soft tissue release work with Mary around her lower back, hips and into the calf muscles was immediately helpful in reducing her pain and allowing more movement.  I also gave her daily exercises to maintain the movement and strengthen around her feet and ankles.

 

Mary had two more hands on treatments and I gave her further exercises to improve pelvic stability and balance.  Her pain continued to reduce and she was able to gradually return to increasingly longer walks.  She also had some further movement sessions to help build strength and balance through her body.

 

During our sessions, we discussed pain management; often with plantar fasciitis, exercise doesn’t increase the pain level so there is an element of moving through the pain.  The things that exacerbate the issue are inactivity and/or bouts of strenuous activity followed by a long period of inactivity.  Discussing these things with the Mary and helping her understand the pain messages she was receiving formed part of her rehab as well.

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‘Robert’

 

Robert was a 42 year old man who enjoyed a number of sports including cricket, golf and running.  Robert had suffered a suspected disc prolapse in his late 20s which was treated with physiotherapy at the time but had never been fully resolved.

 

Robert contacted me when he was suffering a particularly intense flare up of pain.  He had not played sport or exercised for four weeks and was frustrated as well as extremely uncomfortable during his day to day life.

 

I assessed Robert and found him to be holding a great deal of tension.  When someone has a recurring injury or is dealing with chronic pain, their body goes into ‘protection mode’ and they limit their movement in an effort not to aggravate the pain.  The tension that is subsequently created affects not only the whole body but the mind as well, initiating a cycle of injury – pain and frustration – tension – further injury.  Robert was stuck in this cycle and needed some help not only physically with some manual therapy but also with his mental approach towards his pain.

 

During Robert’s manual therapy sessions, I worked with the soft tissues and joints to begin to unravel tension. I also discussed with him the nature of pain, drawing on my own experience to explain that pain is merely the body relaying to the brain that something is not quite right.  When there is a recurring pain, the mind becomes hypersensitive to that area and can slightly distort the level of actual injury.  I encouraged Robert to become less emotional regarding his pain and think of it as just a message.  I taught him how to refocus his mind so that each pain episode didn’t become all consuming.  I also helped him to be more positive about his own body, focusing on what it can do rather than its restrictions.

 

After two manual therapy sessions, I gave Robert a simple programme of exercises.  Another mistake Robert had made in the past was trying to return to dynamic and complex exercises too early in his recovery.  I taught him how to slowly but consistently progress his movements so that they complemented the hands on work.

 

Robert was playing cricket again within four weeks and is now able to maintain his active lifestyle without pain.

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