Part 1: Impact Injuries
Introduction:
If you are seeking relief from a painful issue that hasn't done the decent thing and simply just gone away, then this series of articles offers:» avenues to explore that you may not have considered yet
» fresh perspective on those you may have tried already
» some suggestions about where to best invest your time, energy and money.
In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the Question “Why am I in pain?” It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”
The usual issues that raise “the Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines.
The un-usual issues that raise “the Question” are those frustrating aches and pains that come and go, move around, or are in odd places. They have usually been tolerated for a long time, and may be written off to “old age”.
1) Impact Injury (a model used in the modality ConTact C.A.R.E, Flinch-lock release therapy)
Impacts that are overwhelming or surprising can be stored in the body. These “flinch-locks” are lodged in bones, and are typically not consciously known by the client, as the tissues involved are frozen in the “mode” of self-defence, which is instinctive and not a consciously controlled state. Rather, the client is conscious of resulting pain as the body tries to work around and make up for the effectively frozen part.
Luckily these Flinch-locks can be found, and unlocked by matching the pressure and direction of the original force, this time in a situation of comfort and safety. (Think of unhitching a belt.)
This work is pleasant to receive, with a characteristic feeling of support and common-sense “rightness” that comes from working with the individual pressures and shapes.
It is common for very old injuries to “suddenly” cause trouble elsewhere in the body. My experience is that if clients have received even good work from other practitioners, but the work hasn't “held”, then this approach enables the discovery and resolution of an otherwise missing part of the puzzle.
What to do
If you recognize the timing of any pain or dis-ease as starting soon after an impact, anything from car accident to an operation to stubbing your toe, or if you have pain or stiffness that responds only temporarily to common forms of body work, find a ConTact C.A.R.E practitioner!
If you really haven't had any injuries (see Dans case study in in part 7), consider that your habits of movement could be the culprit...look out for part 2.
Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies, ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.
