Gerard has had hip pain for over a decade. A “dull ache” in both his hips, it gets especially bad when he lies or sits down for long periods of time or needs to move his leg in a certain way – using the clutch pedal while driving, for example, can be really tough. He finds himself avoiding long journeys, in the car or on other modes of transport that still require sitting in one place for a long time.
The pain also comes in his hands from time to time, especially while typing at a keyboard, which Gerard has to do all day long at work. This can be particularly stressful.
Gerard tried functional training and physiotherapy, hoping to try and strengthen and stretch the areas which were giving him pain. He had some short-term results, but no real success long or even medium term.
Since he began Resolving Chronic Pain sessions with me, Gerard has begun to think about pain differently. He had previously been under the impression that he would simply have to ‘manage’ his pain. It has been a welcome revelation that the way he thinks about his pain makes a difference. “It’s not something that you just cope with, it's the idea that when I detect pain to think of it as a signal that your body is trying to tell you something,” he now says.
Thinking in this way, after just three sessions, has allowed Gerard to reduce his pain overall by about “10 to 20 per cent”. During the first session and in subsequent sessions Gerard has noticed a reduction in hip pain while we are talking, and this now continues to be the case between sessions. We’ll continue working together to reduce the pain – Gerard has so far found the approach both “interesting and profound” and says he is looking forward to more sessions. So am I!
You can see Gerard telling his story in his own words here.