Gary* had been told by every surgeon that he spoke to that there was nothing they could do for him. He had been a strong person for a long time, even when the back pain started to become a problem – persisting with all the usual things he loved to do even when those who loved him could see the discomfort on his face and asked him if he was ok. Slowly over time he gave up the heavy lifting around the garden. He stopped working on his project car that had been his pride and joy. Eventually he even stopped playing golf, though he would still catch up with the boys for a beer. It didn’t seem like it had been that long since he was playing 18 holes, and now he couldn’t last 18 minutes around the shopping centre without having to use a trolley to help prop him. And the agony afterward kept him grounded for the following day or two.
He had been prescribed so many different pain medications he had become indifferent to attempts to trial any new ones. They never gave him relief but they certainly gave him a range of other things – constipation, nausea, vomiting, fatigue so bad he’d sleep far later than he wanted to. He’d had massages, tried special supplements, even tried the gym for a while, but nothing really stuck out as being able to lastingly prove worthwhile. Funnily enough, when he first tried to get help from doctors, he got a few different explanations for his pain. When it didn’t go away, he got sent for scans, to specialist after specialist, all with no one really keen to explain what was wrong or game to give him useful advice.
It was only on a whim, with a new GP who he managed to see to get his scripts renewed, was he asked for the first time in his decades long struggle if he understood what was going on with his pain. He had to be honest, he really didn’t know. But if it had lasted this long he knew something was sure to be stuffed. This GP, on the other hand, asked him “has anyone ever explained those scans to you?” When he replied to the negative, the GP reassuringly showed him the images and explained how the findings may have occurred and that some of the changes on his MRI didn’t actually match up with his pain, but that this wasn’t abnormal because one can’t see pain on an MRI. The GP then went on to explain that someone with his sort of injury doesn’t necessarily have to have ongoing pain, that there may be a way he could actually get better. The GP explained that there wouldn’t be any quick fixes, but if he was willing to work with him, he could help him start to do more and potentially experience less pain.
It started with him learning more about what was and what likely wasn’t going on with his back. He found out that it was very unlikely he was going to hurt himself any more, in fact he was likely to do himself more harm by continuing to do less. But he was encouraged that he should start slowly and was encouraged to see a health professional who could show him how. They showed him how to really understand his limits, to make sustainable increases, and before long he was starting to walk with a little more confidence. His pain wasn’t completely gone by any means but he felt able to do more without experiencing more pain. Then he started learning how he could get stronger, and surprisingly with a sense of increased strength, he noticed his troublesome stiffness started to change as well. It really hadn’t taken any more than a number of weeks before he started to look at his set of golf clubs with a sense of cautious optimism and so he discussed it with his health care team. It was decided that, together, they would help Gary start practicing parts of the movements he needed for golf so that he could prove to himself that he wouldn’t make anything worse.
8 weeks after he started preparing to play golf again, Gary played his first round of nine. You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, and Gary hasn’t looked back since. Gary still has back pain - some days he isn’t able to do everything he’d like to - but more often than not he doesn’t have disabling pain at all.
Every day we help more and more people, just like Gary, learn more about their pain and the way they can move towards the life they want. If you’re the kind of person who feels a little like Gary, let’s talk.
*Name changed for confidentiality purposes