Recovering from Injury - a True Life Story

Hello Friends

I wanted to write to you about what happens during the healing process when you are injured. I recently fell 5 feet onto my ribs. The pain was so great that it sent me into shock. I let out a blood curdling scream that alarmed my wife and sent my neighbor’s dog into a barking frenzy.

I was doing an abdominal crunch pull-up when the chin-up bar dislodged from the door jam. I hit the hard wooden floor onto my rib cage and scapula with a force of about 17,000 Newtons (I later did the math.) It was enough force to snap ribs as if they were twigs.

Fortunately, my body was warmed up and swimming in enough synovial fluid to absorb this enormous impact. My wife brought to the emergency room where I had my ribs X-rayed. Two hours later, I was ready for a good night’s sleep. Alas, it was not in the cards. I had to sit up and doze all night. Every breath, every tiny muscular twitch reminded me that I had just suffered a severe trauma. Sleep was out of the question.

I began to search the internet for a quick cure, but the general consensus is it may take 3 to 4 weeks to recover and that nothing can be done to speed up the healing process. So what do you do? I have discovered that you can do a lot! So, I offer this advice in the unfortunate event that you have to deal with injury:

• Drink lots of water–3-4 liters a day! This flushes the enormous amount of toxins that injury generates in the body.
• Don’t go to work for at least 3 days, even if you are convinced you can get through it in some modified form. I tried and immediately regressed.
• Rest. Rest. Rest. Sitting, lying, doesn’t matter. Be still as much as possible.
• Quickly learn which side of your body to roll onto to support yourself when getting up. (Hint: the wrong side sends your muscles into searing spasm).
• Ask your wife (or husband) to help you up after a warm bath. Make sure she or he can take your body weight to alleviate the burden on your bruised muscles.
• Treat yourself to an Osteopathy session from a qualified practitioner.

The most dramatic jumps in my recovery were triggered by Osteopathy sessions with my doctor, Michelle Hemingway, MD So what is Osteopathy? In my next email, I’ll post insights I’ve gained from this highly effective approach to healing!

Stay strong!