On this day the shop bell tinkled, tinkle, tinkle, announcing the arrival of someone. I had no booking for that time which meant an unexpected visitor. In the doorway stood a very frail, badly bent elderly lady, who for these purposes we are going to call Sarah.
To my surprise Sarah said to me
“My son’s sent me, he says you can sort me out!”
Sarah said she couldn’t stop but wanted to book an appointment a week for as long as it took. We booked Sarah in for an appointment and away she went.
Sarah’s first appointment
The day and time came for Sarah’s appointment the door opened, and in she came dead on the dot. Sarah followed me into the treatment room where she just stripped off and said
“look at me its not right is it? My belly button shouldn’t be here somethings wrong. My lad says you can fix it and get me right. I believe you can!”
Now here was a dilemma for me because I wanted to believe that I could help. But how! why was Sarah’s belly button not where it should be? Where was Sarah’s belly button you’re asking? Well, it was not the midline of her abdomen but twisted all the way over to the right-hand side of her abdomen. Half way between where it should be and the actual side of her body at least 6 inches (10 cm) from where it should be.
What was causing this?
I so wanted to help Sarah, I wanted to believe that I could help her as much as she believed I could. She was suffering from back pain and not sleeping very well.
“My son has told me I have got to get a new bed as mine is years old.”
Sarah asked me if I thought it could be her bed that’s causing the problem. I answered her honestly that I thought it would not be helping. As we need a good mattress to support our backs and because her bed was a very old divan it would be best to buy a completely new bed, not just a mattress.
When Sarah turned around I could have cried this little frail hard-working lady of 70. Who was still holding down a full-time job as a waitress had scoliosis of the spine. Not just one curve but three – neck and thorax, thorax and lumbar and lumbar and sacrum. Sarah asked,
“you can sort this out can’t you?”
My heart went out to Sarah
I had to be truthful and I didn’t know how much help I would be. Knowing that massage would help with the sleeping and the pain but correcting such deformity I doubted it could rectify this amount. Believing, Sarah believed in my work. I knew that it would help, even if the massage helped to slightly improve Sarah’s posture. Definitely it would relieve her stiffness and pain – that would help.
The First Massage
The first massage was very gentle, a lot of gentle rocking and light effleurage, especially wringing of the lumbar region, taking care not to do more harm or go beyond Sarah’s body movement boundary’s. I listened very carefully to Sarah’s body only going to where I could feel tension and resistance. As time went on I could feel the tight muscles softening and imagined in my mind them lengthening and unknotting, becoming smooth.
Without fail
Every week Sarah would turn up on the dot, never early or late, always on time. After a few weeks on one visit a very animated and excited Sarah arrived. Because that day they were delivering her new bed and she couldn’t wait to get home. She so wanted to be there when it arrived.
Sarah had redecorated her room ready for its arrival new carpet, curtains and everything.
Changes were taking place
After a period of time Sarah reported that she was in less pain and was sleeping better as her body felt more at ease, freer. Sarah felt that she was walking better and more up right. Sarah certainly looked straighter and less bent than the first time I saw her when she came in. Although the scoliosis was still there and her belly button hadn’t moved any.
As the weeks passed and became months Sarah’s back continued to improve, the thorax lumbar was the first to straighten and lengthen, it was like magic watching it uncurl. However still the belly button was out of alignment.
Sarah felt so well and so pleased with the progress that she didn’t want to stop coming.
Gradual Improvements
One day I realised that the neck and thorax were straight. The adjustments were small and taking place slowly that it was as if all of a sudden there it was a straighter spine. Noticably Sarah was taller and straighter, she no longer was bent over to the right, twisted and in pain.
A Year Passed
A year passed, and the only weeks Sarah had missed coming were when I had been on holiday. I shall never forget the day Sarah walked in on the dot as was her custom. In the treatment room she stripped off and said
“Look Jack, look at my belly”
Yes there it was the amazing belly button back where it should be dead centre and perfect.
Sarah was straight and there was only a very slight imperfection of the lumbar sacral spine, a case of the Ultimate Massage Experience………..
