I sat in my medical school class as a new osteopathic medical student. I was finally embarking on my journey towards being a doctor. It was something I had sought after for so long. After a few minutes of sitting in the chair, I began feeling a familiar discomfort in my back and hips. It was a feeling that I was far too familiar with. I had had it for as long as I can remember.
It was this achy feeling and this sensation that the bones in my back needed to “pop” and I could not be comfortable until I tried. I twisted my back in one direction and a series of “pops” went up my spine. I twisted the other way and another series of “pops” happened again. Then I had to twist my neck trying to get “pops” again. Finally, sometimes I had to use the edge of the chair trying to “pop” my tailbone.
Pain is something I had been all too familiar with up to this point. Even as a kid, I had always tried to figure out why we had pain and why there were knots. Mostly because I had them. I used to look for corners of desks or walls that poked out enough that I could dig into to try to get some relief in the places I could not reach. I had tried so many things for pain relief and never had much in results. I finally had this realization as a future doctor:
“If I cannot heal myself, how can I expect to help other people?”
That’s when I began to really find answers on this lifelong journey. I had sought osteopathic medicine because I felt like it offered something unique, a hands-on approach called osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). With everything I had tried for relief in the past, nothing had the results that I sought. I felt like there had to be a better way and I felt like osteopathy could have the answers that I was seeking.
Luckily, I ended up stumbling across an amazing osteopathic physician early on in my training. His approach was unique. It was subtle, but profound. Most of the time, it just involved a light touch. Superficially it had an aura of mysticism and intuition. However when I heard him explain his thought process through cases, I realized that it was purely based on a profound understanding of anatomy of the human body. It really wasn’t intuitive, but a systematic application of principles. He had learned to tap into and harness a process in the body that resulted in healing.
I was intrigued with my initial experiences and decided I would go to him as a patient. As a patient I was fascinated. Although it involved light touch and at times I questioned my sanity, I could feel my body changing in profound ways that I had never experienced before. Sometimes it would feel like a whole region of my body was tingling like it was finally waking up. Sometimes I could just feel an area relax that I had never been able to relax. When I would get up off of the table and move around, it’s when I could really feel the change. There was a freedom in my body that I had not experienced before. It was like being in a new lighter, more limber body.
Soon after a few visits I remember sitting in class. It was a class just like any other, but it was also totally different. I remember because as I sat in class expecting to get the sensation and feeling that I always did: the discomfort and strong urge to twist to “pop” all my vertebrae in my back and neck. I was astonished because I just didn’t get that feeling. I tried twisting and… nothing happened. It just felt like a good stretch, but felt more limber than ever. That was over a decade ago, and I have never had to “pop” my back like that since. When I do feel that sensation starting, I know that something is wrong and needs to be resolved.
So I knew I was on the right path with osteopathy and was really excited. Really, it felt like a very daunting task to learn, but I also felt like I had stumbled upon the most powerful method of healing I had come across. It produced the results that I had expected from everything else. I dedicated my life to learning this to the fullest extent that I could. I loved the feeling of trying to share similar experiences to mine.
My life is about health. I’m talking about real optimal health. That’s not easy to define. Have you ever stopped and pondered what “health” is? Health is not just an absence of symptoms or disease. Health is more than just normal lab values and physical exam. Health is more than just daily exercise and whatever diet we ascribe to. Sometimes for real answers, we have to dig deeper. That’s what I do. Throughout my career searching for answers, I have been able to help people with all kinds of issues including neck pain, low back pain, headaches, pelvic pain, and many kinds of other issues, some might even surprise you.
It is my mission to give people experiences like I had. To give them their lives back. I also want to share and spread osteopathy. I want to share ideas with you. Ideas of things that I have learned along my journey. Things that can benefit you and help bring you real results. I cannot replace the skills of a professional, but when there are things I can teach you, I will. Some of it will be structural, some of it will not, but if you’re willing to learn more about the human body, then I would be honored if you join me.
