Last Friday night my hip started to ache. I woke up Saturday morning feeling very uncomfortable but decided to “practice what I preach”. I started doing visual, vestibular and sensory exercises to relieve the pain and then I went for a walk thinking that in a few hours I would certainly feel better.
Sunday morning the pain was worse and I had been feeling feverish all night. Ok, I have to get serious. I did some more visual, vestibular and sensory exercises, adding some balanced movement because maybe I was just mis-aligned. No walks, too cold and I still felt a bit feverish.
By Monday morning I felt totally discouraged and horrible. Obviously, my exercises weren’t working. I could barely walk and stairs were agony. I realized this was not just sore muscles and went to Emergency.
After more than 12 hours in emergency and a lot of tests, including having fluid removed from my hip joint the orthopedic surgeon met with me. She said, “looking at your initial lab results, I would expect to see you in severe pain laying down, unable to move. But you have walked to all your tests and are sitting in a chair. I don’t’ understand……” But I did understand.
I had felt discouraged that the neuro-sensory exercises had not worked to relieve my pain. But they had! I would have been so much worse if I had not done them. Best of all, it turns out that my hip infection was viral and my own immune system has kicked in. I continued my exercise routine throughout the week and this weekend I am almost pain free.
I am so grateful to be studying and using neurology-based exercises. I know my balance is much better than it used to be and now I also have personal knowledge of how effective this method is for pain reduction. This experience, while unpleasant, has given me new confidence as I work with clients to relieve their pain and bring back their joy of movement.
