The consequences of a minor car collision

I want to share a story with you… a story that will hopefully serve as a bit of a wake-up call!

I was recently driving through the countryside, quietly minding my own business, when somebody ran into the side of my car at a crossroads, scratching the rear door across to the bumper and denting the wheel arch.

You hear these awful stories of people being targeted by scams. People drive into you on purpose to make a false insurance claim for thousands of pounds of personal injury compensation. Well, this may have been one of those situations… and it was the second time it had happened to me!

It took me a few beats to work out what to do. I was a lone female at a crossroads in the countryside. It was secluded. There was nobody around, and it was a poor signal area. What should I do? Do I stop and risk whatever could happen?

Apparently, these people also steal handbags following bogus collisions. Well, my handbag is worth more to me than my car! How about you?! So, I decided to slowly drive on to assess the situation and give myself some more time to think about it.

As I drove on, I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw the driver take off across the crossroads. I was stunned!

I’m telling you this because, at the time, I didn’t think I had any physical effects. After the crash, I didn’t feel a thing! But a couple of days later, all that changed. I noticed that my lower back was starting to stiffen up, and I was beginning to grunt like many of my clients!

A few days after my car collision incident, I started to feel a band across my lower back and inside my hip bones. Everything was feeling really tight!

It was also starting to restrict my movement. For example, moving in the morning and getting dressed… all the things my clients talk to me about!

“I’ve got to warm myself up in the morning before I get going”, they say, and I could now really empathise with them.

One morning, the pain was so bad that I didn’t even want to get out of bed! Although I could find areas where I was pain-free, I knew I had to go through that initial pain barrier to get myself up. Then when I had my morning shower, I couldn’t reach to wash my feet. This was all so frustrating, and I began to understand why my clients want to give up.

Even sitting comfortably, I daren’t move because I knew I’d have to go through that pain barrier again. When I did eventually pluck up the courage to move, I had to hold onto a table (like the infirm woman I was!) and rock myself out of the chair! Then all I could do was waddle around the room in an undignified manner while my muscles sorted themselves out.

Historically, I’ve always been keen to use my body as an experiment, so I could have a greater understanding of what my clients may be feeling.

However, after my car collision, it was one step too far… even for me!

This whole experience was painful, frustrating and no fun at all! But more so than ever before, it’s made me realise how much I want to help as many people as possible to live a life that’s pain-free! Because nobody should have to “put up” with pain.

Life has these ups and downs, and thankfully a car can be mended or replaced. But this experience left me more annoyed about what happened to ME though. There’s only one of me, and I want to look after myself as best I can.
And there’s only one of you too! I feel this is a great wake-up call for us all, so I wanted to share my experience with you.

“Thank you for life, and all the little ups and downs that make it worth living.”

Travis Barker

Well, it’s taken me close to three months of ‘treating’ myself using my own mobilisers and hands-on bodywork (where I could reach!) My lower back and hips were a little tricky, but with time, consistency, and persistence, I managed to heal myself. I also gave myself the time to heal rather than constantly pushing through.
I’m now 99.99% back to my normal (but everybody’s normal is different). When I wake up and get out of bed, I’m not feeling any discomfort. I now bounce out of bed like Tigger! (update – it took me nearly 12 months of working on myself, to get back to my 100% normal)

I know what it feels like to be healthy and active, and now I know what it feels like to be in considerable pain. And I know which I prefer!
If you take just one thing away from reading this story, it’s this… to think twice about your life and what’s happening around you. So many people put aches, pains and stiffness down to getting old. But it isn’t, and it doesn’t have to be!
You can take steps to make yourself feel better and to move away from the “It takes me a while to get going in the morning” mantra you’ve probably been telling yourself for a long time.

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

Jim Rohn