When I first started Forza! I would perform each and every exercise along with each and every one of my classes. After a year or so of running my classes that way and, in particular, repeatedly performing a sideways walking kettlebell swing in multiple classes per day, several days in a row, I developed what I now know was an FAI (femoral-acetabular impingement) with a labral tear. In English it simply means the cartilage in my hip socket was getting pinched between my leg and hip bones and leaving some tears in that cartilage. This is a common overuse injury for athletes, but there was another factor that I discovered much later that I believe contributed to my injury. I’ll get to that in a bit.
FAI symptoms are rather vague and it took me several years to figure out what was going on. I sought treatment with a Sports Med doctor, multiple chiropractors, an acupuncturist and read everything I could find on-line related to hip pain. Over the next four years, my hip felt better at times but was never completely pain free. Last year it got really bad after a fall on a slippery slope that bruised my tailbone and kept me from doing any hip hinge movement (required in most of the exercises I do). I had finally had enough. I wanted some answers.
I went back to the Sports Med doctor and got an MRI to tell me what was going on. After being diagnosed with the FAI, the first step in my treatment plan was a cortisone shot in the hip. Let me tell you, neither the MRI or the treatment was fun to do. They both involve a very long needle being inserted deep into the hip socket and then the injection of dye or cortisone into the hip.
So I had the cortisone shot and it did give me some relief, but only for a couple of months, and I did not want to go through that again as it was painful, expensive and not a long term solution. I was also not thrilled with the idea of surgery, the recommended next step. I was back to just living with the pain, now knowing what was causing it, but not able to fix it easily.
Then along came Marjorie Brook. We were both attending an Original Strength (OS) Level II workshop in North Carolina in February. When I found out that Marjorie worked on scar tissue release, I was intrigued. I have a C-section scar that is 19 years old, but never really thought much about it. No one mentioned it as a possible contributing factor in my hip pain, and why would they? The hip pain started over a decade after the C-section. The OS staff let us borrow a small storage room where we set up a message table and for about 15 minutes, Marjorie worked on my scar. She told me that the scar was thicker on my right side, the side that was injured.
Marjorie has a gentle touch, but it is still painful, like the snake bite your friends would give you in elementary school where they twist the skin on your arm in opposite directions. Just in that short amount of time she worked on me, I could feel a difference, not just there, but throughout my whole body. I came off the table and walked around a bit, then we did some OS resets and Marjorie spent some time helping me figure out how to stand upright again. I believe the scar had been pulling my rib cage down toward my right hip and messing up the ligaments in my hip a little bit, making my hip less stable and more likely to get injured. Who knew?!
Since that time, I traveled to Long Island to get more work done on my hip and after about a month of adjusting, I can honestly say most of the time my hip pain is completely gone. I don’t have that constant ache and even when I do notice some pain after a strenuous workout, I now know how to stretch myself out of my hip, do my OS resets and the pain goes away again very quickly. No more painful shots. No surgery needed. Wowsa! Three cheers for Marjorie!
I am so thrilled with Marjorie’s work and want to help spread the word about the effectiveness of Scar Tissue Release Therapy, that I’ve invited Marjorie to Minnesota to present a workshop for Therapists on October 9 – 10, 2015. Click below for the workshop details. The early bird discount ends on June 30th and Marjorie is also offering a free cervical spine stretching download for the first 10 people who sign up. Great incentives to act fast. I know you won’t regret it.
If you are not a therapist, but have a scar you’d like worked on, Marjorie will also be available on October 11th to work with individuals. I highly recommend it!