Case Studies

25-June-2008

Thomas J

Thomas had an appointment with Andy Thomas in or around July 2007 for treatment of a painful back.  He was using a walking stick as his pain was such that it was affecting his walking ability.  He was having difficulty with stairs, he couldn’t lie on the couch properly and was having referred pain in his knee and foot and his foot was numb.

He had no history of back pain or injury or accident.

Andy did an initial assessment and reported that on feeling his lumber spine it was “like a babies” and so no potential there to do anything.  Further up the spine was not in such a good state and Andy also discovered that Thomas had very short hamstrings.

Thomas had an MRI scan and re-visited Andy a few weeks later.  Andy worked on Thomas using FMM techniques including spinal rotation to free up the corset muscles.  Thomas was feeling much better by this time but still very concerned about his future mobility.

Andy had 2 or 3 sessions with Thomas and then after quite a lot of progress referred him to me for yoga.

Thomas and his wife both came to a few classes, but we all agreed that a one to one would be the best idea as his movements were at that time still very laboured and he found a lot of the postures used in a general class far too difficult.

I have been working with Thomas now for the last 8 months, seeing him at least once a month.  After a very long first session with him working out what postures he needed and teaching him how to practice them for remedial benefits not just a “good stretch”, we now work together at least once a month.

I have revised his postures 3 times now and he is practicing virtually all the postures that I teach in my classes.  The exception is the seated forward bend as he does have a protruding disc and a seated forward bend would not benefit him at all.

Thomas practices every day, without fail and understands (after a lot of coaching) the importance of being patient and accepting that the change will happen if he practices slowly using his breath and not forcing himself into postures.

He and his wife have both benefited so much from the practice of yoga and they are both very surprised by how powerful the practice of yoga is.  They enjoy the physical benefits and Thomas has been pain free since about October/November.  Their attitude to the rest of yoga, such as the spiritual benefits, mental and emotional benefits etc. is sceptical.  They know that yoga is about more than the physical postures but are not ready to explore that side of it any further.

As far as Thomas is concereed yoga and Andy’s therapy have mobilised him and he is very grateful to us both.  He has made fantastic progress and has used yoga very wisely to help himself recover.