The diary of a Grange Fitness client with severe back pain

June 2009 my daily life as I knew it came to an abrupt halt. I was used to exercising 4 to 5 times weekly, plus hill-walking, cycling, gardening etc and of course working!
I got injured whilst exercising. Initial assessment diagnosed a grossly over stretched left sacro-iliac ligament....the good news was it should all be ok in 6 to 8 weeks. Little did I know then, that 6 to 8 weeks would actually be 2yrs!
The 8 weeks passed and I was nowhere near fully recovered; my left hip kept going out of alignment causing excruciating pain on standing /walking. I could not stand for any length of time; sitting down was very uncomfortable too. I'd not had a good night's sleep since it happened; lost over 12lbs in weight and was now getting very regular painful sciatica from my left lower back all the way down to the sole of my left foot.
Every day simple activities were getting impossible. I was starting to feel totally miserable and fed up.
5 months later I was now constantly in pain unable to even walk the short distance over the heath to our local shops.
Trying to stand at the hob and cook or prepare vegetables, hang the laundry out etc was excruciating......my independence was disappearing fast.
I was still unable to do any of the things I loved to do, I'd not done any exercise since June. I still wasn't sleeping more than 45 mins/1hour at a time at nights; the pain awoke me and then I was then another good 90 minutes trying to get comfortable and back to sleep again. My weight loss now was 15lbs and I was looking very gaunt and drawn.
My GP now referred me to the Muscular Skeletal dept at our local hospital. A further 6 to 8 weeks passed and I was still no further forward. The only plus was I was now on prescription anti inflammatory for the chronic nerve irritation.
Steve my husband and family and friends had been/were brilliant and very supportive and helped to keep me sane!
Early December arrived and Steve and I were getting very frustrated with the lack of any course of treatment so we contacted Gilmour Piper. I started seeing Mark Piper (osteopath) straight away, he immediately diagnosed a bulging L4/ L5 disc and an MRI a few days later at the Nuffield Hospital confirmed this.
Regular twice weekly, then weekly treatments started to show improvement in my well being and 9 months after the initial injury Mark Piper referred me to Matt Brennan at Grange Fitness for rehabilitation.
Unfortunately for Matt my rehab was not plain sailing. Long term chronic nerve irritation made it difficult for me to progress beyond the initial levels of rehab. Sports massages were so painful too!! Matt never gave up and constantly reassured me that I would get better and return to my exercising.....it was just taking longer than anticipated!
Dec 2010 I had a nerve root block into my L4/L5 at the Nuffield Hospital. Everything felt brilliant. For the 1st time in 18months I was totally pain free...I could stand for longer than 20mins at a time....I could walk.....I had my independence back!
2 weeks post injections my osteopath said I could start back gently with my rehab work...but as soon as the exercise levels were increased to the next stage my sciatica was back with vengeance.
Around this time too, Matt and Paul had just completed their Level 1 KCA course and both were very keen to start implementing their new knowledge into Grange Fitness client's PT sessions.
I still was not improving as rapidly as I hoped to do; so mid March I eventually went back to see my osteopath again. He was quite perplexed at first and after fully assessing me, said my spine was still offset to the right causing some nerve irritation. He referred me to Mark Newman the practice spinal physiotherapist who confirmed this and gave me a simple exercise to straighten my spine, He also asked me to refrain from twisting, rotating or load bearing the lower back until my spine was looking straighter. He liaised with Matt and Paul at Grange Fitness to tailor my rehab around these instructions.
Since then, I haven't looked back, I have come on leaps and bounds with Paul Stemp initially doing basic mobility and stretching work. His constant encouragement, knowledge and exercise programmes have isolated the main problematic muscle groups and I am now able to twist and rotate without any adverse effects.
I had a joint follow up appointment with my Spinal Physio and Osteopath at the end of June. They were both amazed at my progress and it is all down to the fantastic work of the personal trainers at Grange Fitness.
Steve, my husband, had got some long term old sports injuries and Matt and Paul have 'fixed' him too!
As a member I feel totally safe in their environment (my injury had made me very nervous) as their vast knowledge and experience is applied to each individual's requirements and adjusted as I make progress.
Grange Fitness is a very friendly place and both Steve and I have made many new friends here.
We had both been members at another club in Ipswich for many years but have now experienced, and seen for ourselves the excellent overall benefits that have been gained by following Grange Fitness’s integrated fitness, nutrition and exercise regime.
We have learned about our own bodies and understand a lot more now realising that it is not just exercise alone that is important but many of the other ideas that have been introduced to us by both Matt and Paul resulting in me feeling fitter, in better shape than I was before my injury and better prepared to progress to the next level of my training.
This is borne out by Steve’s bi-monthly assessments with all his measurements heading in the right direction including (over an 18 month period) loss of over 20lbs, reduced BMI and body fat as well as increased muscle mass and hydration. Most importantly of all his visceral fat has come down from 16 to 13 and hopefully continuing to reduce..
Encouragingly for myself even with the restrictions imposed by my injury and without intense exercise, I have kept my weight down and all other measurements are within healthy limits. Most encouragingly my visceral fat is only 8. All of this is down to the Grange Fitness regime. Before joining Grange Fitness, even with the regular exercise my weight would fluctuate and feeling bloated would recur. This seems to have come to a halt.
My sister has recently done two consecutive Kesgrave Bootcamps and her results are amazing....she said she wouldn't have achieved what she did without the encouragement and belief that Matt, Liam, Jayne and Karen gave her......along with the excellent nutritional plan and of course all her fellow boot campers who have now become good friends.
To date, I am not allowed to load bear the lower back yet but I am looking forwards to the time I am able to participate in some of the additional exercise classes held at Grange Fitness especially Paul's Stretching Class and Jayne's Thump Boxing......at this rate I won't have long to wait!
At the time of my injury both Steve and I had just semi-retired looking forward to doing lots of hill-walking and travelling. This of course has been put on hold for two years, but the benefit has been that I am more aware of my own body and with the massive improvement in Steve’s fitness and well being am confident that once I begin full training will have similar benefits.
I am currently away on holiday BUT standard things now taken everywhere with us are: yellow/green bands, foam roller and a folding broom handle.....as well as keeping my mobility work up whilst away; the foam roller is excellent when you've been laid lounging round a pool for most of the day reading!!!!
Gina Smith