Harry came in after getting referred by another practice member. He had eye surgery, tension in the neck and shoulders, and every so often, numbness in his hands.
Almost two years ago, he was fly-fishing, and woke up the next morning with pain down his arm. He went to his doctor and was given some anti-inflammatory medicine, but soon after, it got so painful that he couldn’t even pick up a pencil. This pain lasted for over a month.
The doctors had Harry do some physical therapy, and that helped him out of it. I asked Harry, “Did anything change in your life when you the pain first started? What was going on at that time?”
Harry thought about it and said, “Oh that’s weird. Four years ago, my wife was diagnosed with cancer. She went through chemotherapy and everything and was cleared. Two years ago when my pain started, my wife was given a good bill of health from her doctor. It was such good news for her that when she came home, she said she wanted to take a two month vacation. I told her it was okay, but that I had my work to consider. I had to negotiate with her to break it up into three different trips that totaled two months.”
Harry loves his job and he’s grateful for what he has. He loves his wife, but yet, to take off for that long from his job was hard for him. The pain was on the left side.
He also has a hard time sleeping, and if he does fall asleep, he gets up in the middle of the night and has a really hard time going back to sleep. It’s been this way since he was young.
After getting adjusted, Harry felt more relaxed and was pretty surprised at that. Although he felt more relaxed, he also felt more pain than before. Harry’s shoulders felt stiff with tension. He felt like he worked out when he didn’t work out at all. There was less tension but more pain. I taught him how to breathe into it, and that worked well for him.
Harry came back recently and told me that he loves to watch the television show, “CSI”. He got ready to watch the show one night, but the next thing he knew, he opened his eyes, and the news was on. He said, “I missed ‘CSI’, and it was a new episode! I never miss that show! Then after that, I tried to stay up during the news, but the next thing I know, ‘The Late Show’ was on. I fell asleep through the news too!”
The next time Harry came, he was feeling like something weird was happening to him. He would feel some pain that would disappear right after it started, but it was just his body getting connected.
Harry also finds himself breathing more now, and realized that he would hold his breath a lot in the past. He has now actually slept through the entire night without waking up once, which never happened before. Because his body let go of tension, it can heal better.
If you can relate, or have a story to share, please comment below. Have you experienced hand pain? What did you find it related to? There is a benefit in expressing and exchanging our stories. Let’s hear it!
