Archive for June, 2011



What Can a Woman Do About Back Pain During Pregnancy?

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ 9:01 pm

Pregnancy can be quite a thrilling time in a woman’s life. All the anticipation of picking a name, painting the baby’s new room, celebrations with family and friends. It sure can be a time of eager waiting for you new bundle of joy. But sadly, for a surprisingly large number of women, the later months of pregnancy can be quite painful when they start to experience chronic back pain.

This is particularly unfortunate, since back pain not only causes problems with day-to-day chores, but it also affects a woman’s quality of life in what is supposed to be a joyful and happy time in her life.

Of course one obvious reason for the back pain is the added weight from the growing baby. As your belly grows larger, it pulls you forward. In order to keep your balance, you need to lean your upper body back. This accentuate the arch in your back and puts a lot of stress on your lower back and hips.

This makes sense, but there is actually another cause of most cases of back pain. I’m talking about muscle imbalances here, which are in fact the leading in cause of back pain and sciatica not just in pregnant women, but in the general population as well.

The overall condition of your muscles and their tone is very important when it comes to maintaining a healthy back. Normally, your muscles should work equally to help you move your joint. When one muscle contracts, an opposing muscle should stretch. And the degree by which these two muscles contract and stretch should be equal. If they aren’t then there are muscle imbalances.

Now, as a pregnant woman, every time you move, walk, bend over, twist, or even sleep your muscles must accommodate the weight of your growing belly. Any muscle imbalances you have are only exaggerated and made worse by your pregnancy.

These muscle imbalances pull your back out of alignment and put added stress on your bones and joints. Your spine is made up of 24 separate vertebrae. Normally, your back bones and your pelvis are in alignment to carry the weight of your body. But if even one of these bones becomes misaligned, then the back muscles have to take up the extra slack and carry the added weight. When this happens you develop muscular imbalances and you are much more prone to back pain and even injury.

Now, if this is what is happening to you, you now have to deal with your pregnancy in a severe amount of pain. It is quite sad that pregnancy, which is often one of the most cherished times in a woman’s life, might be filled with intense lower back pain and sciatica.

The secret to clearing this up then is to deal with the muscle imbalances and correct your posture. If you’d like to learn more about how to improve back pain and the sciatic nerve during pregnancy, please check out my Lose the Back Pain review, where I discuss a popular and effective method for eliminating back pain.

Leroy Lombard used to suffer from sciatica brought on by Piriformis Syndrome. After studying the causes and cures for sciatic nerve pain and finding lasting relief himself, he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.

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Top 4 Back Pain Exercises

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ 4:52 pm

If you are suffering from back pain you must read this article because here I will be providing you complete solution to pain issues. It is very feasible to keep exercising for the reduction of pains and avoid medicines as much as possible.

Let me tell you some basic precautions to reduce your back pain. There are three precautionary measures which you will need to follow:

Keep straight, remain active and avoid postures which increase your pain.If you feel back pain, its best to use ice and take any pain killer if ice doesn’t work.Start exercise only if you don’t have any pains.

Now I will provide you best four back pain exercises to reduce your pain to minimal.

Ankle Pumps:This is the most basic and common exercise. You need to lie down on your back and move your ankles up and down. You must feel the stretch on lower back muscles. Move your ankles up and down 10 times slowly and effectively.Abdominal Contraction: You need to lie on your back and bend your knees. Your hands need to be in rest position somewhere below your ribs. You need to stretch your abdominal muscles to feel the effect on your back. Do not hold your breath when you stretch your muscles.Wall Squats:This is the best exercise for the basic back pain. You need to stand against a smooth wall with you back towards the wall. Keep your feet about 10 inches away from your body in front. Now bend your knees to 45 degrees, keeping all the effect and stretch on your abdominal and back muscles. Stay in this position for around 30 seconds and then release to normal.Leg Raise: You need to lie down on your back. Keep your one leg straight and the other bent. Now slowly lift your straight leg upwards about 8 to 10 inches keeping all the effect on you back and abdominal muscles. Keep the leg in upward position for 10 to 15 seconds and then lower it down.

Follow these instructions and exercises regularly to reduce your back pain.

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Article Submitted On: January 19, 2011

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Neck Pain? What to Do About It

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ 1:51 pm

Neck pain can come on due to many different reasons. To understand how it can occur, it is helpful to know the basics of how the neck works.

In a properly functioning spine, the brain sends signals that travel through the spinal cord and go to all parts of the body. This information controls the vital functions of our bodies. The nerves of the neck travel to all parts of the head and neck as well as the shoulders and arms. There are seven vertebrae in your neck which also allow your neck to move in all different directions. Surrounding these bones are ligaments and muscles that support the head as you move about. When your neck is injured there can be a malposition of the spinal segments as well as tightness or spasm of the muscles of your neck. When this occurs the information that is traveling from your brain to the neck can be interfered with. Thus, you feel the pain or discomfort.

One simple cause of neck pain can be sleeping in the wrong position for long periods of time. This can allow muscle tightness or in more severe cases, spasm of the muscles of the neck. The longer these spasms exist the more likely the pull of the muscles will change the position of the neck vertebra. And that will interfere with the normal function of the nerves of the neck.

A more serious cause would be a whiplash injury. In this particular type of case the severe movement of the neck when the collision occurs can cause severe muscle spasm of the neck, headaches and pain that can travel into the arms. This is the type of condition that needs to be treated, not let go. As time goes on, the malposition of the spinal segments can eventually cause arthritic changes if left untreated.

Chiropractic treatment is one type of treatment that can be effective in the treatment of neck pain. Typically, physical therapy modalities can be used to reduce muscle spasm, gentle chiropractic treatments can help restore normal spinal function, and rehabilitative exercises can strengthen the muscles of the neck to help keep the spinal segments in the best functional position.

You don’t have to suffer with neck pain. If you have any questions feel free to visit the website below.

Dr. Alfred Santoro has been in private chiropractic practice for the last 29 years. He enjoys helping others get the most out of their lives. He is also a certified chiropractic sports physician and has had the opportunity of treating of all levels of athletes, from the pee wees to the pros.

http://www.drsantoro.com/

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Quick Tips To Aid With Finding A Good Chiropractor

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ 9:30 am

Are you in need of chiropractic care? If yes, then these tips will show you how to go about finding a good chiropractor. Finding just about any kind of doctor could be a challenging task. There are factors you need to consider when searching for a good Louisville chiropractor.

The very first thing you must do is conduct telephone interviews and this will enable you to get a feel of their attitudes, plus determine whether or not you are comfortable with this person. A good chiropractor would prefer to answer questions from clients to help them make informed decisions and also get persons to feel comfortable with them.

In addition, make an effort to get a professional chiropractor who will specialize in musculoskeletal problems and back pain. There are some who claim to select chiropractic care and will also try to continue experimental therapies. A less careful doctor might promote the usage of scare techniques in order to get you to sign contracts to get additional therapy. When you are getting treatment from a respected doctor this will generally allow you to see results in just a couple of visits. These people might recommend physical therapy and this will generally help with fast recovery even more.

Several warning signs to identify a trustworthy chiropractic could involve excessive books revealing the concept that a lot of back problems and illnesses originate from nerve disturbance. When they need x-rays included in the regular checkup, this will be a sign that they might not be trust-worthy. Test for x-rays are unneeded for this type of care and tend to be of limited diagnostic benefit. When they recommend dietary and herbal supplements or even sell them at the office, then this might be that they are basically selling products in order to get a profit.

Stay away from chiropractic specialists who utilize laser or all-natural acupuncture, bio-magnetic or magnetic therapy. Additionally, steer clear of doctors who rigidly adhere to just a few types of treatment option.

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Types of Spinal Stenosis

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ 4:30 am

There are 3 main types of spinal stenosis found in the human backbone. Stenosis is one of the most common potentially degenerative back and neck pain conditions diagnosed and treated within the modern dorsopathy industry and may relate to a great number of causative conditions. Being that spinal stenosis is such a broad and often confusing topic, patients are advised to do diligent research once diagnosed, in order to better their chances for effective and successful treatment.

So, what exactly is spinal stenosis anyway? The term stenosis means a narrowing or decrease in available space. When applied in various sections of the spine, this condition describes situations in which typical anatomical spaces are narrowed due to one or more causative or contributory structural issues. Spinal stenosis is a normal and expected part of the aging process for most people and in mild to moderate forms is unlikely to enact any pain or related neurological symptoms at all. All varieties of spinal stenosis can be found anywhere in the spine, but are most prevalent in the mid to lower cervical levels and the lower lumbar levels.

There are 3 different varieties of spinal stenosis. The first, central canal stenosis, also called central spinal stenosis, is the most dangerous and potentially the most symptomatic. This condition is described as a narrowing of the main spinal canal which contains the thecal sac, the spinal nerves and the spinal cord itself. This central canal runs throughout the spine, down through the vertebral foramen, which is the large open hole in the middle of each vertebral bone. Central canal stenosis usually enacts symptoms on the spinal cord in the cervical and thoracic levels and the cauda equina in the lumbar levels. Effects can range from none to complete disability, making central stenosis a highly variable and potentially lethal diagnostic verdict.

Neuroforaminal stenosis is a different kind of spinal narrowing. At each vertebral level, nerves branch off the spinal cord and exit the spinal canal through openings called neuroforamen, or simply, foramen. When these openings become narrowed, the patient may be diagnosed with foraminal stenosis. If the opening becomes closed off to a sizable degree, the nerve may become compressed as it tries to exit the spinal canal. This is commonly called a pinched nerve, or in medical terms, a compressive neuropathy.

The last major type of spinal stenosis is called lateral stenosis or lateral recess stenosis. The lateral recess is the area to the sides of the spinal canal through which the nerve roots must pass as they head towards the neuroforamen. Certain conditions can cause narrowing in this anatomical region as well, enacting the lateral stenosis condition. Of all types of stenosis, this one is the most rare for actually causing symptoms, since the lateral recess is more than large enough to accommodate most nerves despite a significant degree of stenotic change.

All the types of spinal stenosis may or may not be the root source of pain and other neurological effects. Diagnosis of the condition is often faulted and many patients are misdiagnosed as suffering from the condition when they are actually merely demonstrating the normal and expected structural changes associate with spinal aging. In order to better understand the complete spinal stenosis diagnosis, I strongly advise continuing your research on the subject before seeking any drastic method of care. The Cure Back Pain Network website listed in the resource section is a perfect place to begin.

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Can Massage for Sciatica Really Heal Your Pain?

Thursday 30 June 2011 @ 1:18 am

A massage certainly feels good. After a massage session, you feel so relaxed and light. But is massage therapy a good way to treat sciatica or back pain?

If it is done correctly, massage therapy can be extremely helpful for people suffering from sciatica or any other form of back pain. If your massage therapist has a solid understanding of the human anatomy and sciatica, then you’re in even better hands (sorry for the pun).

Massage for sciatica can have lots of benefits for you and your body. Many massage therapists these days will use a number for different techniques during a given session. Anything from traditional massage to energy work or even correcting muscle imbalances. Many studies have even shown that massage can improve flexibility, decrease back pain, encourage sound sleep, and decrease feelings of depression.

When you’re looking for a therapist to give you a good massage for sciatica, try to find one that has an understanding of muscle imbalances. This type of therapist is incredibly rare, but if you can find one, they are worth the effort. Most cases of sciatica are the result of muscle imbalances, so a massage therapist that knows about this subject will be especially beneficial.

There are quite a few benefits to massage for sciatica. Massage can help to increase circulation in the body, which in turn can help reduce inflammation. This helps by moving lymph, which can actually inhibit circulation when there is a build up of it in your system. Additionally, you’ll also benefit from an increased range of motion, muscle relaxation, a better night’s sleep, and more endorphins to lift your spirits.

Massage can help relax tense muscles that may be putting pressure on your sciatic nerve, as may be the case with conditions such as Piriformis Syndrome. But can it help be an effective treatment in all cases of sciatica?

Although getting a massage feels great and can help with a lot of things related to sciatica, massage should not be your only weapon against sciatica. Simply put, massage does not deal with many of the important underlying factors that are responsible for back pain and sciatica such as muscle imbalances, poor posture, or other personal habits we might have about how we hold our body throughout the day.

If used in conjunction with other treatment plans, you will get great results from massage for sciatica. But by itself, massage will not completely correct the problem in most cases. You may wish to consider massage for sciatica in conjunction with stretching exercises specifically designed to correct muscle imbalances that are the underlying cause of most cases of sciatica.

So, go and get a massage. I’m sure it will help you feel better and relax you. But do yourself a favor and look a bit deeper than immediate gratification and address the root cause of your sciatic pain with a more comprehensive treatment plan in addition to the massage.

If you found these tips helpful and you’d like to discover the best sciatic nerve pain exercises and the ones you definitely want to avoid, check out my Bulletproof Back review. This program, combined with massage therapy is quite helpful for relieving sciatica and back pain.

Leroy Lombard used to suffer from sciatica brought on by Piriformis Syndrome. After studying the causes and cures for sciatic nerve pain and finding lasting relief himself, he enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.

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Back Pain Remedies: Free Yourself From Back Pain

Wednesday 29 June 2011 @ 9:14 pm

Back pain remedies can provide you with the pain relief that you have been searching for. If you are the kind of person who spends a great deal of time sitting and slouching then you are no stranger to lower back pain. If you are a regular worker who does heavy lifting but fails to apply the proper body mechanics then it will not take long for you to experience some discomfort on your lower back.?

Putting unnecessary strain on your back is one of the main reasons for the existence of this problem. Poor posture and poor body mechanics are also contributing factors. However, if you are suffering from this problem, there are back remedies available that will help ease the pain.

Traditionally, if you are experiencing some discomfort on your lower back people would recommend that you take a break and spend a few days in bed. However, studies have shown that instead of relieving the pain that you are experiencing, lying in bed only makes it worse.

Therefore, instead of recommending bed rest doctors now recommend that you remain active. Engaging in physical activities like walking and stretching are perfect back pain remedies.

Sometimes that pain in the lower back that you are experiencing is due to muscle spasms, muscle tension, and poor blood flow. If this is the case then you need something that will help relax the muscles and improve blood flow at the same time.?

To help you achieve this you will need to apply heat on your back area. We all know that water is the best conductor of heat but that does not mean you should apply it directly on your skin.

In order to prevent skin burns, what you can do is soak a piece of cloth in hot or warm water, squeeze the water out and place the cloth on the affected area. Leave the piece of cloth in place for about 20 minutes or more. In the long list of back pain remedies, warm compress is one of the most effective.

The spinal column is the only part of the body the carries weight even when at rest. It also serves as the foundation for your frame. If you are overweight or obese, your spinal column carries more weight.

This additional weight will eventually strain the spinal column and you will begin to feel pain on your lower back. If you continue to put on weight, the pain that you are experiencing will get worst. Therefore, at this point the only remedy is to start losing weight.

Like machineries, your spinal column has a specific load capacity, which is in the form of your recommended or ideal weight. Diet and regular exercise will help you achieve your ideal weight. If your back problem is caused by your weight, even the best back pain remedies are useless because the only solution to this problem is to shed the pounds.

Sometimes the reason why you are suffering from this condition is because of poor posture in bed. The majority of us spend a good deal of time in bed. If your mattress fails to provide you with the back support that you need, you will eventually end up with severe back problems.?

It may take some time before you start to feel that tingling feeling in your lower back, but it does not mean that sleeping in worn out mattresses is good for you. Therefore, before you suffer from this medical condition it is best that you change your old mattress now.?

Buy those mattresses that are capable of supporting your back even as you sleep. It may be a deviation from the long list of back pain remedies, but as they always say, prevention is better than a cure.

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Three Ways to Reduce Inflammation and Pain Without Using Drugs!

Wednesday 29 June 2011 @ 5:45 pm

Inflammation and the cells that accompany it are necessary to heal the tissues so they do not fail in the future. However, when inflammation continues to hang around for weeks or even months than it becomes not only a nuisance but a painful reminder day in and day out. In fact, for many it prevents them from participating in the sport they love.

If you are a runner, or any type of athlete for that matter you will indeed suffer from inflammation of the soft tissues. Inflammation occurs from acute injury to a tissue like a strain or sprain from twisting a joint like your ankle or lifting something in your garage and hurting your back. Inflammation also occurs from repetitive stress or overuse. This comes in the form of a long or very hard track workout or can result from increasing mileage too fast. The inflammed tissue may be in the lower back resulting in back pain, or the knee, ankle or foot resulting in swelling and usually pain.

Conventional medical care typically involves the use of over the counter or prescription anti-inflammatory medication. However, these like all medications do come with side effects and consequences often not known to the individual. For instance, for tendon type injuries non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID’s) medication has been shown to interfere with certain types of white blood cells that are necessary for healing. That means that tendon type injuries often heal slower or not as well when NSAID’s are taken.

In addition to gastro-intestinal bleeding, over the counter anti-inflammatory medications require the liver and kidney to eliminate them. Over a lifetime this can create toxicity issues like liver and kidney failure for some even if they have taken the correct dosage. Unfortunately, we just don’t know who or who is not susceptible to this kind of problem.

What is one to do? Grin and bear it. Fortunately there are some alternatives and I will list three of the most common below. First and foremost RICE (rest ice, compression and elevation) can be helpful for almost all kinds of inflammation. Icing the inflamed or sore area for 15-20 minutes 2-3 times per day for several days or even for weeks in chronic conditions can be helpful and allow for continued participation.

Second, the use of proteolytic enzymes or protein enzymes taken on an empty stomach works very well to aid the body in controlling inflammation. The protein enzymes taken on an empty stomach enter the bloodstream and act like pac-men eating up the cells associated with inflammation. These do not have side effects of GI bleeding or liver or kidney issues like NSAID’s do because they work on a different pathway.

Finally, in cases where inflammation of a joint is involved or muscle inflammation due to poor biomechanics, adjustments can be very helpful. In the first case, in a 2010 study in Journal of Chiropractic Medicine ( 2010; 9, 101-114) adjustments were shown to decrease pain and inflammatory mediators in low back pain patients. Over the past 20 years I have seen more rapid rates of decreased pain and inflammation following adjustments to any joint in the body. Also, in many instances misalignments of the spine result in nerve pressure and or increased pull on muscles resulting in pain and inflammation. Correcting the misalignment results in better biomechanics, less muscle and ligament strain and reduced pain and inflammation.

So, the next time you are thinking about how to get rid of your sore and inflamed joint, think about some of these measures before you reach for that bottle of Advil.

Dr. Ginsberg has been a doctor of chiropractic since 1990 and has had a private practice in Geneva Illinois since 1994 specializing in children and adults. Dr. G has post graduate training and holds advanced certificates in pediatrics, pregnancy and posture exercise rehabilitation. My philosophy is to take a team approach to getting the player back on the field as quick at possible. Dr. Ginsberg served as the 2010 team chiropractor for Chicago Slaughter Professional Indoor Football team, and currently is injury consultant for St. Charles Gymnastics Academy, Cheer Alliance St. Charles and Eclipse Select West traveling soccer club. For more information go to http://www.kidchiro.com/ or subscribe to our blog at http://www.geneva-chiropractor.com/.

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Massage and Physical Therapy to Relieve the Pain of Sciatica

Wednesday 29 June 2011 @ 12:47 pm

The human body’s sense of touch is incredibly sensitive. It has even been used as a form of medical therapy going back thousands of years to ancient time. With the right understanding of pressure points and anatomy, you can then, of course use the power of massage to help ease the pain of sciatica.

To many people that have dealt with sciatica for a long time, lasting relief from the pain may seem like a pipe dream. Only about one-fifth of all people with sciatica even know that they have a legitimate medical condition that, once identified can be treated. Some folks out there will just seem to look the other way and hope that the sciatica goes away by itself. Others, just sadly accept that pain is “normal” and an expected part of getting older.

One of the primary causes of sciatica is poor posture and improper alignment of the spinal column. When you start with any sort of back pain massage to relieve sciatica, you have to keep in mind just how delicate and sensitive the human back can be.

The lower back muscles are often heavily influenced by posture. Thus, in order to relieve these muscles, we often have to take into consideration how we hold ourselves when we walk and sit. Poor posture is an invitation for back pain to eventually become part of your life. Our muscles will adapt to how we hold ourselves over time, so poor posture can be a real challenge to overcome at first.

When you take part in some sort of physical therapy regimen, you usual will start with stretches that take pressure off of the lower back. When you weigh the options, this certainly is a much better alternative than taking pain medication daily and essentially ignoring the real problem. This actually allows the physical tissue in the body to heal, whereas taking medication only removes the pain while your body still deteriorates in silences.

Exercising and stretching for sciatica relief might take a little getting used to, but once you master a few of the basic movements, you don’t even really need to think that much about what you’re doing. Though the stretching may be more intense and time consuming at first, once the pain is gone, your upkeep regimen is often much lighter and easier to do. If you’re experiencing relief, then keep doing what you’re doing because it is clearly working.

You’ll want to, at this point, start incorporating better posture into your daily activities. This will make your recovery even faster and much more lasting than any sort of quick-fix.

Stretching, massage, and physical therapy, can do a lot to help improve any sort of sciatica you might be going through. But unless you want the results to be short-lived, you need to start taking better care of your body by adopting good posture in everything you do.

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Pain and Sickness Are Death in Slow Motion

Wednesday 29 June 2011 @ 8:23 am

Do you remember the TV show called “The Six Million Dollar Man”? The 1970′s show was about an astronaut who had bio-implants that gave him super-human type powers! Little did I realize that one day my husband would receive computerized implants!

In April 2004 I brought home my own bionic man!

My husband had received a diagnosis of “severe spinal cord injury with a spinal tear” and was told to sit still and rest for 1-2 years. Given a 5-pound weight limit and no hope for recovery, the doctors loaded him up with Oxycontin, Percocet, Morphine, and a few other heavy-duty painkillers – all at levels normally reserved for the terminally ill – and wished us good luck.

His final surgery for the year was an experiment to implant an electronic neurostimulator from the top of his back and down to his hip. Neurostimulators were becoming common in those days but no one had yet successfully implanted the apparatus into the region of the thoracic spine, we were told.

The theory is, you shoot controlled electric currents into the spinal cord to shut off the pain. Cauterizing local nerves also served to help shut off the pain, theoretically. The computerized battery was designed to control the current on both sides of the spine and could be dialed up or down by the patient.

The neurostimulator was to become yet another failed experiment that would forever impact our lives.

Making our way down the 401 from Bakersfield to California my husband went into out-patient surgery (yes, out-patient!) to have his back opened up and wires implanted along his spine, from top to bottom. In the middle, near the source of the injury, a junction box was installed that served to conduct electricity to the wires. Into his hip was implanted a computerized battery that was operated by a control unit with all kinds of fancy buttons.

Arriving in the recovery room, the doctor passed a box to me and told me to read the instructions, while a nurse handed out a yellow sheet of paper with standard surgical recovery procedures and then told me to bring my pickup to the front door.

This was the 9th surgical procedure, so I just did what I was told.

With the nurse’s help I lifted my husband out of the wheelchair and propped him up in the passenger seat, very droopy from anesthetic. I hit the 401 and we returned to Bakersfield.

At home I opened up the box and curiously inspected a gray control panel with a lot of buttons… similar to a PlayStation controller. What in the world? I asked my heavily sedated husband, “Did anyone show you how to use this thing?” Blurry eyed, he said he didn’t remember a thing.

Okay… if all else fails, read the instructions. Needless to say, it was all Greek to me. So we played with it. Controlling the electricity levels, he would have sensations of electricity alternatively jolting through his legs and out his feet… or hands… or even certain personal parts.

It was a bit odd, as I discovered I could make my husband hop, skip, and dance!

We finally resorted to going in to see a specialist, where a company representative arrived to teach us how to use the control unit. Hooking Randy up to his computer, he began properly programming the control panel. Using his computer mouse to determine the appropriate places to shoot electricity, my husband performed like a puppet for the technician. Click the mouse and my husband’s hand jumped. Click the mouse again and his feet reacted. Click the mouse again and my husband was yelling, “You’re making me wet my pants!”

There were times when so much electricity would shoot through his feet that it was like he was disco dancing. It was fun for a few months, but then body fluids filled the battery and shorted out the whole system! Determined to beat the system, we elected for more surgery. This time they tweaked the junction box, excavated the battery from the back of his hip, drained it out, and then re-implanted it into the front of his abdomen. Fuzzy from surgery, the technician tested the electronics and, satisfied with Randy’s responses, flew back to Colorado!

I pulled my pickup truck to the hospital, grabbed my dazed husband, and we left for home…. little realizing something was amiss. They forgot to turn on the computer! A week later they flew the technician back and she turned on the power. We finally left California and returned home to the mountains of Northwestern Montana.

Randy was still using a wheelchair, but it wasn’t working very well on the rocky ground. I’d see his empty wheelchair and then rush to go find him, hoping he hadn’t fallen down anyplace too hard to get him out of. I ordered two canes for him and he began dragging himself around the farm for short distances. But it was like having a 200-pound toddler to watch!

Randy was not one to sit for more than a few minutes. One day I lost track of him only to discover him limping out of the woods, totally drenched in sweat, the sweat of pure terror! In a drug-induced daze he had wandered too far out and had met up with fresh grizzly bear tracks and the sounds of a very large animal in the brush. One cane has broken in half and the other was severely bent out of shape. It’s amazing he got out of the woods in time!

The neurostimulator was too delicate for antics like that, and it broke shortly after that incident. By then our cobra insurance had run out and for the next two years we had no medical intervention except for appointments with the local physician, a country doctor, who said he could do nothing for Randy’s back except prescribe drugs.

There seemed to be no end to pain and suffering in sight!

Without the neurostimulator, Randy’s pain level shot up to the moon and we again experienced tortured nights of screams and groans. Sleep deprivation, the constant crises, and knowing that apart from a miracle our lives would never recover was like a dark cloud enveloping us day in and day out.

Living with a “bionic man” was so appropriate because all along Randy had been treated by his employers as little more than a machine… so much so, that my husband had begun to believe it and act like it! His significance and identity came directly from his work and how well he could out-perform most other men. But as anyone knows, who lives with an addict, especially an addict with ADHD, a former bull-rider, bull-fighter, and Motocross racer, wild-lands firefighter, assistant fire chief, logger, rodeo clown, and basically anything ‘on the edge’… it’s a setup for emotional disaster!

Unfortunately, when life gets that tough, we often blame the loved ones in our most intimate relationships.

The movie, “8 Seconds” is one of the best stories about this dynamic, especially in the life of a bull rider, that I’ve ever seen. It’s a great story and really helps me to understand my husband!

Many marriages cannot withstand the stress of chronic pain without some sort of medical and psychological intervention.

Randy and I had lost everything and our grief had yet to be processed. When you’re living on adrenaline for years how do you stop and rest? When you’ve lost your health coverage how do you afford medical or psychological intervention? When all you know is work, how do you change?

Even at church there seemed to be few solutions.

People loved us and cared about us, but they just didn’t understand! Randy would come home from a back surgery, such as the implantation of the neurostimulator with dozens of staples up and down his spine, and the very same church leaders who prayed for him during the surgery would come up and slap his back, welcoming him back to church that week! It was crazy. I felt like I had to be his bodyguard but I so often trusted people to ‘know’ what was happening, when in reality many people hide from things they cannot understand or control… it scares them.

If you know someone in your family, or if you have been in severe chronic pain or disease, you probably understand the need of people around you for you to be ‘normal’ and if you’re like Randy, you probably suck it up and wear a mask for as long as you can. Then, when you come home, you rip off the mask and let out all the pain… and if you’re like me, you are probably the nearest shock-absorber.

Without resting and taking your troubles to God, how can you address the tremendous grief and the pain of loss?

The best we could do, and what turned out to be the very best solution of all, was to find every bit of Beauty, Truth, Humor, and Joy we could every day.

We continued to dream and to pursue BIG dreams. I learned to unleash my creativity and pursue time for ME. Taking walks in the wilderness were a big way for me to tap into God’s peace. There was a looping mountain road behind our house that went UP the mountain on a fairly good incline. I would carry my heavy load of worries and troubles with me, beating out my pain with a fast clip up the mountain path. Near the top there was a slight dip in the road where a very careful middle-aged woman could sit down and rest for a minute. Then I would stand up high on this ridge overlooking our home and also the entire valley… a place where one could see with eyes like an eagle’s for many miles.

This was a sacred space – a place I only went with a very serious type of prayer in mind.

Shouting aloud, crying, and with the grace to ask for all of Heaven to be my witness, I made promises and vows to God that I would never give up. In fact, I prayed more dangerous prayers and asked God to send us to the most hurting, to the most broken… to do with our lives WHATEVER He wanted.

Then, having laid down my heavy load, I would skip and sing back down the mountain and pick up my work once again. Many times before I hit the end of the path I would have a clear idea of the next step. It was on one such day that I immediately entered the house and found my ideal business. I joined a team of like-minded people and, in the company of these great people, I began to thrive. Personal development was at the forefront of our learning curve while at the same time we honed our business skills.

I entered into personal coaching with Dani Johnson, of A Call to Freedom, Int’l, and within a year my sales pipeline was kicking out fairly well. For the first time in a long time, I could take my mind off of the constant crises and pain and focus in a positive direction.

My soul was healing and the numbness that I had used to protect my heart from all the pain and constant crisis began to melt.

As soon as my own healing began, something in my husband cracked and in his own pain he began getting very angry. Years later he would apologize for those days, saying, “Sue, you didn’t do anything wrong. I was just afraid if you got too strong and independent that you would leave me.”

His worst fear was that I would leave him, and in his broken condition, who would take care of him? Despite constant assurance that I was for him and not against him, the pain was having its way and my freedom to pursue business was tested in every which way. Nevertheless, he was very much for me… it was just this inner battle he had to deal with every day.

In Steven Pressfield’s book, “The Art of War,” he defines resistance as anything within you that will kick in to sabotage your efforts at anything having to do with the work you were created to accomplish in this world.

We must be ruthless with such an enemy and the best way to defeat it is to move in the opposite spirit, to do what does NOT come naturally.

As we beat back the resistance within us and begin to blossom and flow in our God-given identity and destiny, it automatically triggers those around us to panic. For when they see us having success battling our own demons, it lays a responsibility on them to slay their own fears… At that point in time, for me to move forward meant leaving Randy behind (emotionally and spiritually). And sometimes, when a person is not ready to grow and mature, it’s best for us to keep moving onward and upward. At first glance it seems pitiless. When in reality, it’s the only way we can help save another person’s life. We must first be healthy and strong enough ourselves!

We have to save ourselves, first, and then we can show by our example the way for others to follow and help them along from there.

Nevertheless, our lives were about to shift once again in ways that would forever change us. A brochure for a healing conference arrived in the mail and we signed up for it that very day! A few weeks later were traveling to British Columbia with one goal in mind: the complete healing of Randy’s spine. It was our only hope!

Randy had made a vow and he sealed it by not bringing enough pain medication to last the weekend. He told me, “If God doesn’t heal me then you can just put me in the ground!” The first day was really great but no healing. The second day was wonderful but just as Randy got in front of the speaker to receive prayer, they had to close down the service and empty the building! The third day was discouraging and Randy began to lose hope. It took about a half dozen of us to push him to the front to receive prayer. John Arnott was the speaker and he didn’t care about speaking so much as he wanted those in chronic pain – specifically those who had been in chronic pain for many years – to come to the front.

We finally pushed and tugged Randy forward. Later he confided that he wasn’t certain which fear was the greatest… that he would be healed or that he wouldn’t be healed! After all, a lot of people go to healing conferences and they don’t get healed. And really, when you see people fall down and claim to be healed, are they really healed or is it a bunch of emotionalism and hype, or worse? We were about to find out.

The actual moment of healing was recorded on tape and then produced into a DVD called “Miracles, the Randy McKenzie Story”. I was there watching but my husband was so short I couldn’t see anything with all the people in front of me. Then suddenly John Arnott was asking if anyone had come with Randy and for that someone to please come up front. Randy was stretching and bending, doing things that would normally have sliced the muscles and tissues in his back, with all the wires. My husband was crying and then suddenly he picked me up in his arms and began twirling me around!

He always told me that when God healed him, the first thing he would do is pick me up in his arms, and he kept his promise!

From somewhere to my right a voice was saying, “Honey, you’ve got your husband back!”

The whole world fell away as Randy and I just held each other, until the voice spoke again and said, “Well, I think we’ll just let them have their own private moment here!” I peeked out from having buried my head in Randy’s shoulder and John Arnott was handing me a microphone. Oh dear! I just said the first thing that came to my head, because it was the sum total of all Randy and I had been praying about over the years.

And that’s when our lives changed, irreversibly, once again. Not only had God removed my husband’s pain but when we put hands on his back he could feel our hands, whereas before they had cauterized so many nerves that his back had become numb. As if that weren’t enough, Randy had run out of pain meds and could not have taken any if he had wanted to… this was literally his last chance.

He slept for the first time that night – all night long! And never once suffered a symptom of withdrawal.

His doctor, during follow up after the conference, told him he should have died simply from going cold turkey off those prescriptions!

I don’t know what shocked us more: the injury or the healing. I think the healing. And that’s when the conference leaders sent a film crew to our house and began filming a drama/documentary in our living room and local area. We really didn’t want to be part of the movie and had no idea why anyone would want to film an ordinary family who lived in the wilderness and had made pretty much every mistake known to man. But a little ways up the mountain, in a sacred space, where the host of Heaven had been witness, some prayers echoed down to me, “We’ll go wherever you want us to go. We just want to touch the lives of the most hurt, the most broken, the most needy….” So we said yes and just trusted God.

I want to share what I feel is the most important lesson of this story: Steven Pressfield, in “The Art of War,” nails it on the head.

Some quotes from Steven Pressfield:

Our job: “Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”

Our greatest fear: “Fear that we will succeed… we fear discovering we are more than we think we are…. We know that if we embrace our ideals, we must prove worthy of them.”

Steven shares an illustration demonstrating the power of our choices over the human spirit. When, our of fear (or Resistance), we choose to limit or diminish ourselves, to that extent our human spirit is diminished. What results can take forms such as cancer, auto-immune diseases, being accident-prone, and a number of other maladies both physical and psychological.

When a person overcomes Resistance and slays the giants of their own personal fears, many times the physical or emotional form of the weakness goes into remission or disappears.

I don’t know what happened to Randy when the pain disappeared (miracles are mysteries), taking with it all addictions to pain medications, but I do have a sense of what happened when the third and most debilitating injury occurred. Through a lifetime of performance mentality, expressed as workaholism, Randy endured one broken relationship after another.

With a broken heart he was limping through life and despite his great physical strength and determination, the buried dreams, identity, and destiny were simply an expression of his buried spirit… and the death-defying accidents (the petroleum-coke accident being only one of the three accidents/miracles) were physical expressions of the inner working of death in his innermost being. I believe, as Steven Pressfield advocates, that Randy’s innermost being was being issued a challenge to “Wake Up”!

His walk to the front of the church symbolized his willingness to awaken and to arise. The man praying, John Arnott, was simply an instrument being used by a loving Father in Heaven, to assist the broken man to rise up and to receive the good gifts his Father wanted to give him.

Pain and sickness are simply death in slow motion. Accidents and injuries and suicide attempts are just more obvious and quicker expressions of the same malady.

Do you know of someone who is sick much of the time, accident-prone, or depressed? We cannot give health evaluations or advice, but in a world where sickness and disease are on the rise in a 1st World Country such as the USA, it seems wise for us to become detectives and search our own hearts for any places where we have given up our dreams, where we have settled for less, where we have put on masks and tried to please other people, or anyplace where we feel stuck.

There is a master plan, a thread that weaves our lives together and knits us into wholeness. We see the bottom side, all threads crisscrossing each other and looking like a chaotic mess. But God sees the topside and skillfully and masterfully weaves each thread, even the dark threads, in our lives in such a way that we each have the potential and abundant resources to fulfill our destinies.

What do you enjoy most doing? If you could do anything in the world today, or be anywhere in the world, with anyone in the world… who would you be with, where would you be, and doing what? If it’s not where you currently are or doing what you are doing now, what steps can you take to make a course correction?

We can’t change ourselves or anyone else. We can only make one decision at a time, one prayer at a time, and get rid of anything that would stand in the way or create resistance. We don’t battle against people – they are not our problem. We battle against Resistance, our fears. I wish I could stand here and tell you that our battles are over and done with. In some ways, they are only just beginning! Little did we realize that our greatest battles were just around the corner!

For more information and resources to help you start on the journey to writing your life story visit http://susanmckenzie.org/. This website was designed to help you preserve the golden nuggets of your valuable life experiences and to craft your stories into a gorgeous full-color Life Story Book that will certainly become a valuable family heirloom to be shared with the next generation… a living family legacy.

Susan D McKenzie is passionate about families – constantly learning and seeking ways to help heal the heart of the family. She writes articles, memoirs, personal essays and loves to mentor people of all ages in the art of storytelling.

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