Okay so it happened, I had a car accident. Other guy's fault, he got the ticket, but it still REALLY impacted my life. Most important for this blog, is how it affected my playing. Well, it is my lower back that is affected and I am surprised at how much this can impact movement and comfort in the upper body. I can't sit for more than 30 minutes without discomfort, so playing 2 hour gigs is no fun. While standing I need to move a bit, to keep things lose. When I do sit, I have to sit in just one position, or the pain gets much worse. And carrying gear? Forget about it! Now you may think"Why would a flutist have to carry gear?" But if you work with a band as I do, there are amps, mic stands, music stands, chairs, all kinds of things that need to be moved. In spite of being 50 years old, I have been able to do all of this stuff with relative ease and without thinking about it. Now all of a sudden I have to really think about it. It has really impacted my teaching as well. In class, I can't move quickly to help a student. I actually got dizzy the other day playing in the upper register for a couple of latin tunes. Turning the head to either side works only for about 3 minutes before it is uncomfortable, so my position to see the conductor or to communicate with other members of the group is currently somewhat challenging.
So the question is, what am I doing about it? Well I am really fortunate to have wonderful practitioners of some amazing types of therapy. The first thing I did, while still on the freeway, was call my acupuncture physician and say I needed to see her asap. I got in to see her the next day, on a Sunday morning, bless her heart. She treated me with acupuncture to relieve the acute symptoms, and some light massage. I had a gig the Saturday night of the accident, 2 hours, and another the next afternoon, also 2 hours. By Monday morning I had had it. My body and my emotions melted down. I was in a lot of pain all through the back, but particularly the low back. Dr. Kaplan did some muscle testing and recommended that I see a chiropractor. Now here comes the interesting part! I called the chiropractor, whom I had never seen before, and started treatment. In the insurance universe, in order to continue seeing Dr. Kaplan, the practitioner who recommended the chiropractor, I had to get a referral from the chiropractor to see the acupuncture physician. Hmmmmmm. Fortunately the chiropractor is so far willing to work with me in this manner.
With the chiropractor, I am getting heat therapy, electro stimulation for the back muscles and of course adjustments. The acupuncture physician is giving me massage acupuncture and she is also using Neuro Modulation Technique. This amazing technique helps support the body's healing process. She has, through this process, eliminated negative emotions stemming from the accident and helped the body get rid of toxins and infectious agents that flared up due to low immunity stemming from the accident. She has used the technique to help the various systems (muscular, nervous, fascial etc.) start to return to their normal state. According to the chiropractor, I am healing very quickly! I credit the use of the different modalities, massage, chiropractic, heat therapy, acupuncture and NMT with this. Finding the right doctor is of crucial importance. It is imperative to find one who will look for what YOU need, not what they do. I will let you all know how it goes!
