I was a very lively tomboy with three younger brothers to encourage me to even greater heights.
When I was 24 years old in 1960, I came off my scooter on an oily wet road. Later that year I was involved in a motor vehicle accident and injured my left sacro-iliac joint.
During 1963 an orthopaedic surgeon diagnosed chronic arthritis, told me I would have lower back pain for the rest of my life and that I should learn to live with it. I was sent to a physiotherapist who helped me a lot at the time. I still had to do everything on my knees – like making the bed or working in the garden, as my back was just too painful to bend. I was of great amusement to the children in the kindergarten class I taught, as I would have to walk around the low tables on my knees.
Being independent, I often did a lot of manual work on my own, which needed two people and would strain my back. I continued with physio but my back steadily became stiffer and more painful, restricting my movements. After ten years of exercise therapy I was no better.
On 14 April 2000 I went for a scan of my lower back and it showed degeneration of the disc space between L4 & L5/S1. For three years afterwards I did not have the energy or the willpower to do my normal activities. I had put on a lot of weight, over 84kg. My waist swelled up to 102cm and I wore a size 20 dress.
In 2004 I started Directed Pressure Point Technique therapy. My sacro-iliac joint pain eased, the stiffness lessened and my lower back hardly ever troubles me these days. Now I weigh 71kg and my waist measurement is 86cm and dress size has reduced to a 16. My figure is shapelier causing my trousers to sit lower on my hips and I had to shorten the leg length. This all happened without me being on any diet or exercise program.
Susan