Gail’s Story

18 Oct Gail’s Story

When Gail first came to see us, she was close to tears. She told us her feet were so painful, she thought she might need to give up her much-loved nursing job. She couldn’t take it anymore. Gail had tried all sorts of ugly, bulky orthopedic shoes and orthotics. Nothing was working.

The pain was keeping her up at night after a shift. She was taking pain medication before bed, and sometimes getting up at 2 am for more. Rest and cold water foot baths gave her some relief short term, but were not fixing the problem, and were not practical for her real-world job.

Her bunions were red, swollen, and throbbing and she had swelling the pain was mainly across the top of her foot, sometimes in the arch of her left foot.

We suspected osteoarthritis and sent her off for some imaging. Bingo. Midfoot arthritis, but, the good news was that there was some cartilage left to work with.

We recommended 8 visits of foot mobilisation therapy, initially once a week, then spread out as needed. The aim was to get her joints moving again, reduce her pain, and look after the cartilage she had left. Gail said she was prepared to do anything to get these feet working again. She desperately wanted to avoid surgery or any time off work.

Fast forward 9 weeks- Gail has been PAIN-FREE for the last 2 weeks.

No injections, no surgery. It turns out her feet just needed a bit of love and attention.

We have used hands-on techniques and massage in each consultation (5 so far). Her previous orthotics are now doing their job, no need for new ones. Gail doesn’t have to wear her “granny shoes” anymore and she doesn’t wear any orthotics at all in her sandals on her days off. Best of all she doesn’t take ANY pain medication anymore.

I want to thank Gail for all the hard work she has done at home, before work, and at work to make these changes happen. Without taking accountability and making time in her daily routine for her feet, to massage, stretch, strengthen, and stay mobile. We could not have dreamed of such amazing results without a single day off work. It is amazing what you can do when you truly want to get better.

We are only halfway through our plan and Gail is finally able to join a Yoga class with her bestie and go to work pain-free. To make these physiological changes stick we must finish off the program by spreading out our visits to every 2 weeks, then monthly, etc. That allows the body to adapt to the way it was designed. Then we will only need to see Gail if she has a problem in the future. I am confident we have given her the tools she needs to check in with her body at home and keep on top of any niggles that might pop up from time to time.

More to come….