I was having a lower back pain that was the worst I’ve had in years. The pain was similar to the muscle spasms that put me in the hospital many years back. Since that time I have always been very careful about my back, especially when lifting things. Therefore, I was very surprised when I woke up one morning with extreme pain in my lower back. The only thing I could attribute it to was stress from the medical challenges we had faced in the past few weeks.
Since I figured it was ‘just’ from stress, I didn’t worry about it too much…I thought it would go away with a little extra care on my part. I immediately became very careful about what I did and became very mindful about every movement I made. I also used a moist heat pad and did a few of the back exercises I had learned when I first encountered the problem in 1986. However, it wouldn’t go away, and I had never realized how extremely important your lower back muscles were to sitting down and getting up. Getting out of the car was a killer move, no matter what I did! I even bought a back brace, which I thought was helping and I was considering taking a cane with me to our Boston conference to help me get up out of a chair. Yes, the very next week Ray, Marie, Bill and I were headed to a conference in Boston!
It was so much on my mind that I mentioned it in almost every email I sent out to friends. A special friend, Lilian Marton (Focus on Mexico alumnus from March 2007), wrote me the following, which I practiced daily…I thought it was very inspirational!:
As for your back problems: Yes - they will surely disappear once this tremendous stress is out of your life. I don't know whether you have ever read Louise Hay's metaphysical reasons for various ailments, but here is what she suggests are the reasons for different pains:
- Upper Back Problems: Lack of emotional support. Feeling unloved.
- Holding back love. (I cannot imagine this for you!)
- Middle Back Problems: Guilt. Stuck in all that "stuff" back there.
- Get off my back.
- Lower Back Problems: Fear of money. Lack of financial support.
Some of the affirmations Louise Hay suggests:
I love and approve of myself. Life supports and loves me.
I release the past. I am free to move forward with love in my heart.
I trust the process of life. All I need is always taken care of. I am safe.
Whether you believe in these things or not, Karen, it doesn't hurt to repeat such affirmations whenever possible. After all, everything starts in the mind.
I agree totally with Lilian (thank you, my friend!)…everything starts with the mind, and I think these are good things to tell yourself every day. However, unfortunately, they did not help my back problems this time.
On the Monday before we had to leave on Tuesday, Marie called me in the morning. She was at Barbara Rotthaler’s clinic in San Antonio Tlayacapan (near Ajijic) having her sore neck ‘readied’ for our big trip. Barbara is a Naturopath, Homeopath Massage therapist for deep tissue and trigger point massage, reflexology and lymphatic drainage. Marie said, “Karen, Barbara has an appointment open at 3:30 this afternoon. Please come see her about your back.” I think Marie was surprised when I said, ‘okay.” So was I. I hurt so bad that the mere thought of anyone touching and kneading that area of my body almost brought me to tears. However, I was desperate. I really didn’t want to be a whiny, complain-y witch on our wonderful trip where I was so looking forward to eating a feast of tasty New England Lobsters.
When I arrived at Barbara’s clinic, she had me sit down and talk to her awhile, asking me questions about medication, health problems and any allergies. Then I got undressed and struggled to get on the table, whimpering the whole time…it was an ugly sight!
As Barbara started working on my back, all I can say is that I had thought I had received therapeutic massages in the past, but until Barbara, I can honestly say I had never received a ‘real’ one. For instance, when I’ve received any kind of massage (which I have been getting now for over twenty years), I flop on the table and expect soothing music, dark lights and no talking! Well, during a therapeutic massage, you are almost constantly talking so you can tell the practitioner where it hurts and how bad.
As Barbara gently probed, massaged and worked on my back, she immediately found the trigger point that was causing the most problems…a trigger point is characterized by knotted muscles and a painful tender spot, and it can radiate pain and sensation through nerves to other places on the body. While it was on the left side of my back, it was affecting my entire lower back. She worked gently and firmly on that area, plus making sure that she worked on other areas of my body also to keep everything in balance. She was constantly checking with me about how I was feeling, and what was or was not working.
When I had to turn on my side, she had to help me. It was very painful to move. At the end of the session, she had to help me off the table. I will admit, I was a little disappointed. I thought I would feel better immediately (I’m such a cock-eyed optimist!). However, since I had come there afraid for anyone to even touch me, I had to admit, I was feeling pretty good.
I am sure that one of the most important issues Barbara dealt with was that she helped me release most of my worries and fears, which was important for the healing. After she examined me thoroughly, she saw that there was nothing seriously wrong. However, back pain, triggered by stress etc., can turn into the so-called TMS (tension myositis syndrome). Due to tension and lack of oxygen, the pain receptors of the nervous system react with "pain messages," which creates the spasms, which creates more worries. It can be a never-ending cycle, which is why pain should be dealt with as soon as possible.
I was there an hour and a half, and in the course of the treatment, she used a vibrating massager, a small vacuum (from what I understand, this is to increase the blood flow in the tissues) and reflexology, among other things. She also recommended that I take a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory, and prepared a homeopathic remedy, all of which I began taking that day. I also continued to use my back brace and moist heat.
On Tuesday we left the Lake Chapala area around 6:30 a.m. to travel to Boston for our conference. I wore my back brace all day long (because I felt that the plane trip might be especially hard on me), and I felt okay…there was no intense pain when I got up or sat down. I was actually feeling pretty good. We went to the opening cocktail reception that night, and I stood up most of the time, while enjoying the wonderful Boston seafood spread of crab claws, oysters and shrimp.
The next morning the symposium began in earnest, and I decided to go ahead and wear the brace again since we would be getting up and down to go to several 50-minutes sessions during our first full day at the conference. By mid-morning, the back brace was beginning to annoy me, so I took it up to my room and I never put it on again. I walked, I sat, I ate (oh boy, did I eat!) and had the most wonderful time enjoying the beauty and timelessness of Boston, a city I had been to before, but one which I really fell in love with during this trip. And, I got to eat my Lobster which I had been dreaming about since I knew we were coming on this trip.
So that’s the story about how Barbara saved my Lobster in Lake Chapala, Mexico!! My back had been hurting so badly that food was making me nauseous, and I knew I could never have enjoyed the first New England Lobster I had had in five years! And, I’m sure Ray, Marie & Bill enjoyed the trip more too, because they can probably attest to the fact that if “Karen ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” Thank you, thank you, Barbara! And, thank you, Marie, for suggesting it.
My follow-up visit to Barbara was this past week. She was very surprised at how easily I jumped up on the table and turned when I needed to…no moaning, no groaning or whining. Also, during the course of our therapeutic session (which, again, was wonderful), she suggested it might be good for me to visit a chiropractor (and recommended one who practiced in Chapala). At that moment, I started chatting with her about my hearing problem and saying that a chiropractor might help in that area also, because I am just not convinced that I am going deaf…I think it has to do with some kind of an obstruction in my Eustachian tubes. Since I had scheduled another hour-and-a-half session, and because my back was feeling so well now, she decided to do a little therapeutic massage on my neck. After massaging for a while, she found some tender areas below my right ear (my worst hearing problem) and applied some gentle pressure…it felt very good.
After the session, I again hopped off the table with no effort whatsoever…I still can’t believe how quickly all the pain went away after just one session with Barbara. Moreover, as I sat there sipping my usual glass of water after our sessions, I noticed something interesting happening in my right ear …I felt as if something was draining down into my throat…I could not feel it or taste it…it was more a feeling of a light soreness working its way down my throat that hadn’t been there before. Later on that weekend, I was talking with a friend about my experience, and he asked me if I had tinnitus. I immediately said, ‘yes,’ because I have had ringing in my ears for years now. But at that moment, I realized that my tinnitus was much, much less…more a dull sound than the usual loud ringing sound. That was definitely exciting. I can’t wait to talk to a chiropractor as well as see Barbara again. I feel as if I’ve turned a very healthy corner and am on a path I want to travel for awhile. And, as all of you know by now, you’ll probably be hearing all about it.
I am more convinced than ever that our retiring to the Lakeside area of Mexico was a great decision. There are things I might never have tried while living Stateside, but there are so many options here that I believe I can find anything I want along the carretera from Ajijic through Riberas del Pilar to Chapala. I am more excited about the possibilities than I ever was!
I do have one thing to add…please, if you’re having any kind of soreness in your muscles, definitely give Barbara a try…it may be the best thing you’ve done for yourself in quite awhile.
Information or questions: Barbara Rotthaler, German licensed Naturopath,
Tel. 01- 376 766 1987, e-mail: b_rotthaler@hotmail.com, www.geocities.com/rotthaler.health/ Barbara’s office is in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico, in the city of San Antonio Tlayacapan near the city of Ajijic.
Barbara Rotthaler has been one of Focus on Mexico's Expert Speakers and is originally from Bavaria, Germany. Barbara has lived in Mexico since 1997 and her practice is in San Antonio Tlayacapan, a village on the shores of Lake Chapala. She sees clients, offers health lectures and works in a clinic for Natural Medicine in Guadalajara. She is a Naturopath, Homeopath Massage therapist for deep tissue and trigger point massage, reflexology and lymphatic drainage.
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Please note that this is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Please seek the help of your medical practitioner before embarking on alternative complementary therapy. Obviously, this is not intended to be a scientific document. This is an anecdotal account based on my own experiences and research in my journey to get relief from pain.