The Pain
My husband had been having niggles in his lower back for a
few months, when one morning he felt like he was suddenly hit with a sharp
instrument that sent excruciating pain down his legs to the point that he had
to crawl to the bathroom. Definitely not good and we were a 4 hour plus drive
away from home at the time.
Prolapsed Lumbar Disc
On our arrival home this acute episode was diagnosed as a
Prolapsed Lumbar Disc and my husband’s GP sent him off for an MRI (Magnetic
Resonance Imaging) Scan immediately. Besides the extreme pain he was
experiencing numbness down his right leg into his foot and impairment to
bladder nerves which was affecting his bladder function.
The result was that the Orthopaedic Dept. of Wellington
Hospital wanted him to have immediate surgery as in their words “Surgery is the
only way to treat this Prolapsed Disc!” Even an Osteopath we consulted told us
it would likely take 6months for this prolapse to resolve, treating it with
nutritional supplements.
Treatment
I had begun my Naturopathic Training earlier that year and
my husband and I talked about treating this incident by natural means. He
decided he would rather take the natural approach than have surgery despite his
debilitating pain, as we had heard many first-hand accounts of people having
spinal surgery, only to be plagued for years with on-going and/or pain and
complications.
So began a regime that included an holistic mental,
physical and emotional look at his health on all levels before, during and
after this acute attack.
We purchased an inversion frame for him to hang from
several times a day. As painful as this was initially he diligently hung as
often as he could and this relieved the compression of the nerves involved. The
pain was reducing!
I began a Practitioner Multi Vitamin, Calcium – Magnesium,
Vitamin C programme with him at therapeutic doses, which I felt was covering
the physical requirements for optimum healing.
Aside from that I ascertained there may be a link between
emotions and back pain as suggested by Louise L. Hay (You can Heal Your Life)
and wanted to cover all bases. So I prescribed the appropriate Bach Flower
Remedies to address the emotions that he acknowledged having for the 12 months
prior to this acute prolapse. Together with this he undertook his own
visualisation and colour therapy meditations focusing on his spine.
Result
Over the next few weeks he found the pain reduced
considerably enabling him to return to work and his almost normal daily
routines. After six
weeks he had no pain at all and full feeling in his right leg and
foot, as well as no bladder interference what so ever.
On his return to his Orthopaedic clinic appointment part
way through this treatment programme, the Specialist was very impressed as he’d
had no experience with natural treatments of this condition and was to get this
Protocol from my husband on his final visit to the clinic. Sadly an Orthopaedic
registrar saw him on the final appointment and was not interested, other than
to say they didn’t need to see him again! My husband has had very little
recurrent back pain since then.
The success with my husband and other people I have
encountered with prolapsed intervertebral discs following this, led me to
investigate the mental/ emotional relationship if any, as Louise L. Hay
suggests. Hence I decided to focus my Thesis at the completion of my
Naturopathic Diploma in 2002, on the following questions.
1 Does Mental/Emotional Stress Relate to Back Pain?
….and….
2 Can Bach Flowers Successfully Treat Back Pain?
This was a great study which I enjoyed immensely and was
very instrumental to the way I approach Health and Wellbeing in my
practice. I believe there is a strong relationship with our emotions and
our Health.
I have had considerable results with clients who have been
advised they require surgery for their back pain.
Take Action
Are you one of those people or do you know someone
who is?
Contact me, Ruth at Nurture You to talk over options that
may suit you today.
Ruth Winmill © 2013
Nurture You – A Healing place for Mind, Body and Soul.
Reference: Louise L. Hay (1984) You can heal Your Life.
