Oliver Jay's Success Story
Oliver Gets Two Herniated Discs For His Birthday
As if turning 30 at the height of a global pandemic wasn’t enough, Oliver threw out his back and herniated discs L4 and L5, in the summer of 2020. While not quite the birthday he had in mind, he was fortunate to have Kim as his mother-in-law and Stretch as his go-to for pain relief.
Oliver came into Stretch a few months prior, with back tightness, “tight hips and really tight left hamstring. To the point where stretching, or rolling it out wouldn’t work”. Physical therapy, dry needling, and personal training were helping some, and he was making progress, but he still didn’t have much mobility in his hips, which left him at risk for injury, especially when lifting his wife or pushing her wheelchair.
“I think over time my back just weakened due to my scoliosis, bad posture, and lifting [my wife] with poor body mechanics. So there wasn’t a one time where I was like my back hurt. It always kind of hurt a little bit with my scoliosis when it would become tight, then over time, I noticed it hurting more and more. I could tell my muscles were tight, and my hips were out of line causing the left leg and hip to flare up. I was getting some PT and personal training for a few months to try and strengthen everything, which was helping but I was still not moving correctly outside of the clinic. On the day before my birthday, I went in for personal training and could tell my back was more locked up than normal but I thought if I pushed through the workout that I would feel better after. Then on the night of my 30th, we were having people over, and I was bent over cooking on a small fire for a few hours and then I tried to lift some heavy tables and coolers to get them out from a rain storm that popped up quickly. Then I was laying on the floor watching a game and went to stand and had the worst sciatic pain I’ve ever experienced that almost knocked me over. My back was entirely locked up and I couldn’t put any weight on my left leg, nor could I stand up straight.”
After his injury, he could barely function, and ended up at urgent care, where they discovered his disc herniation. They referred him to his doctor, who performed an adjustment on his back, prescribed him steroid injections and muscle relaxers, and told him to continue therapy at Stretch. He was looking at the possibility of having surgery to correct his injury, but first wanted to try as many conservative options possible. So, he switched from traditional PT to working with our head Mobility Coach, Jordan. That’s when things really started changing for him.
“The PT was great at recognizing my issue and treating that issue. But the mobility coaches were great at taking that a step further. Jordan was really able to look at my back, the way I walked and lifted objects, and created a treatment plan to not only improve my back injury but also do what she could to prevent it from happening again. Jordan and the other Stretch Mobility Coaches that I worked with really spent the time to teach my body how to move correctly to help me prevent injuries in the future.”
Low back pain, sciatica and hip pain are the most common cases we see, here at Stretch. Oliver’s case was one of our most complex. He worked with our coaches twice a week for over a year, then came in on an as-needed basis for another year, to maintain his progress and prevent any issues from coming back. He now has a newfound understanding of “how everything is connected. My tight back, will pull on my hips, which then causes my hamstrings and legs to tighten up. I never really understood all of that until working with them so intimately.”
He’s now pain-free and doing so well he’s joined a CrossFit gym and is looking to compete soon! “The hands on work that Jordan and Kim did [helped] get me back on my feet, literally. They are kind and patient, and they want you to feel better. Their goal is for you to never have to come back to them if you are healed. Kim’s dedication to her business and her patients really shows. She is always looking for the newest techniques or procedures to help her patients. For example, the laser and the red light therapies. No one else that I saw would even think to have something like that for their patients to get better.”
We couldn’t be more proud of the progress Oliver has made, and are so thankful he trusted us to help him heal.
