| Have you ever felt that your life was over? The life | | | | diagnosis of osteoarthritis, I was continuously told by a |
| you loved, cherished, and had dreamt about...just | | | | physical therapist, who was supposedly aback |
| blasted into a million fragments and scattered in the | | | | specialist, that my back problem was caused by weak |
| wind? It happened to me one winter's day. I was | | | | muscles. Yet, I had been a gymnast for numerous |
| divorced with a nine year old son. We had been | | | | years (one of the most physically demanding and |
| through some challenging times, emotionally and | | | | strength requiring sports). I had muscle on muscle. |
| financially. But everything, finally, was coming up roses. I | | | | Think about some things: |
| had landed a job at a Fortune 500 up and coming | | | | 1. Who gets carpal tunnel syndrome? |
| small company. A few weeks before I landed the job, | | | | 2. Who gets shin splints? |
| as a hobby, I had signed up for a computer repair | | | | 3. Who gets golfer's elbow? |
| course. It, too, was going wonderfully and was a super | | | | 4. Who gets tennis elbow? |
| outlet. Without the financial stress hanging over me, my | | | | Virtually all of those who suffer with musculoskeletal |
| son and my relationship began to flourish. | | | | problems have a history of actively using the part of |
| We experienced one of the best Christmases that we | | | | the body that is causing the pain! |
| had ever had together in 1997. But just a few weeks | | | | So, what goes wrong? The muscle bellies (the part of |
| later, my life took a disastrous turn. Walking out of my | | | | the muscle that contracts) tighten due to injury, |
| computer class one night, one of my fellow | | | | repetitive use and even from emotional stress. Tight |
| classmates, a 300 plus pound rugby player, unthinkingly | | | | muscle bellies pull on their tendinous attachments |
| picked me up (as rugby players do to fellow | | | | (tendons are the ends of the muscles that attach to |
| teammates), and before I could holler from the pain | | | | the bones) causing inflammation, restriction and pain. It |
| caused by his two powerful fists being thrust into my | | | | is imperative to understand that musclescan remain |
| spine, he knocked the wind completely out of me. I | | | | chronically and habitually contracted long after the |
| was left with a spinal cord contusion and spent the | | | | stressor is gone. Chronically contracted muscle bellies |
| next year in bed. To say I was devastated would be | | | | continue to pull on their tendinous attachments causing |
| an understatement. It felt as though 150 volts of | | | | not only inflammation and restriction of mobility, but |
| electric current were being shot down my legs--the | | | | calcium build-up (alsoknown as bone spurs), scar tissue, |
| pain of childbirth paled in comparison. Because of the | | | | adhesions and degenerative changes to bone and |
| excruciating pain, for the first two weeks I wasn't able | | | | cartilage itself. |
| to eat and lost approximately 12 pounds. After that, | | | | Because blood vessels are constricted and nerves |
| each day was a sickening blur of pain and tears. My | | | | are compressed in shortened, tight muscles, strange |
| father, thankfully, stepped in and took over the care of | | | | and severe symptoms can occur. These symptoms |
| my son. (My mom had passed away five years | | | | include tingling, burning, numbness and more. Eventually, |
| before.) | | | | the syndromes mentioned previously (arthritis, back |
| The days endlessly dragged, one meshing into the | | | | pain, etc.) begin to occur. But the problem doesn't lie |
| next. And, with every passing moment, I grew into | | | | within the tendons, the ligaments, the nerves, the discs |
| deeper despair and depression. Suicidal thoughts | | | | or the bones. The problem lies within the muscle. |
| crossed my mind. I didn't want to die; I loved my son | | | | So what is the solution? People merely need to |
| and had loved my life, but I so desperately wanted a | | | | lengthen and loosen the short and tightmuscle fibers. |
| reprieve from the pain, I was considering all my options. | | | | It's been nine years since my injury. I'm now a therapist |
| At times, I could venture out of bed for brief periods. It | | | | and a self-published author (Back Pain Breakthrough |
| was excruciating to move, but I did manage to get out | | | | and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Breakthrough). I've had |
| and see doctors. At 33 years old, I was told that mine | | | | the good fortune to be able to touch lives in ways that |
| would be a life of endless, relentless pain. | | | | make my heart sing. I've had people come for |
| Yet after about six months of lying in bed crying, | | | | treatment from as far away as Florida (I'm in Los |
| something in me shifted. My dark, ominous depression | | | | Angeles). People come to see me: some sobbing and |
| grew into anger. I knew I wasn't the only one suffering | | | | depressed, some even suicidal, because of their |
| with chronic pain. One out of three Americans live in | | | | relentless pain. Some people have serious ailments like |
| constant pain. I made a pledge to find an answer. And, | | | | severe disk herniations and arthritic knees that doctors |
| I made a covenant that if I did find a solution, I'd come | | | | say need replacing. Yet I have an unbelievable |
| back to help others. I literally went on a crusade | | | | success rate. |
| reading close to 200 books and articles on the back, | | | | During that year in bed, I was blessed and fortunate |
| joints, arthritis, and on health in general. I also picked up | | | | enough to literally find the cause and solution to many |
| the phone and interviewed over 300 physicians, | | | | ailments that plague our society--and I want to tell the |
| chiropractors, physical therapists and other healthcare | | | | world. My goal is Oprah! And, the beauty of it is that |
| practitioners. | | | | most people don't even need me or any other |
| One day it hit me; I had a major epiphany! I realized | | | | therapist. In my books and talks I give, I teach people |
| that the majority of the medical community was | | | | how truly simple, in almost all cases, it is to heal their |
| missing the real cause and, for that reason, the simple | | | | own bodies. The message that I so desperately want |
| cure of almost every single musculoskeletal ailment | | | | to convey to the public is that, in almost every single |
| (back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, arthritis, | | | | case, there is a simple, non-invasive answer to their |
| etc.). | | | | musculoskeletal ailments. |
| A major clue came from the numerous research | | | | I know I've nailed the cause and solution because |
| studies I examined that illustrated that there was | | | | presently I share an office, but I'm contemplating |
| basically no correlation between spinal abnormalities | | | | opening up my own. If I do, I'll be able to offer my |
| and pain. For instance, at George WA University 67 | | | | clients money back guarantees for everything from |
| people, who never had back pain, were given MRI's of | | | | back pain, to arthritis, to carpal tunnel syndrome, to foot |
| their spines. Nearly half of these people had a bulging | | | | problems (like hammertoes and plantar fasciitis), and |
| disc, several had herniated discs, many had arthritis, | | | | for many other ailments. |
| etc. Yet, these people were pain free. | | | | Little did I know that cold wintry day, nine years ago, |
| I realized that, in virtually every case, all musculoskeletal | | | | when I thought my life was over, it was merely in a |
| conditions (carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, | | | | metamorphic state. Out of a cocoon of unimaginable |
| hammertoes, arthritis, etc.) are simply caused by | | | | pain, I am able to painlessly spread my wings, |
| incessantly contracted muscle tissue. | | | | embracing others--helping them lead pain free lives. |
| Our bodies are almost 70% muscle. And before | | | | Copyright © 2007 by Sue Crossen. All Rights |
| spending that year in bed, I had suffered on and off | | | | Reserved. |
| with back pain for over 20 years. Besides receiving a | | | | |