Ask Dr. Mona: Consider nontraditional healing techniques like massage therapy - The Desert Sun

[massage]

A massage therapist works with a client. "Sometimes traditional medicine needs a boost with other techniques," says Dr. Mona Khanna.(Photo: Submitted)


Sixty-nine-year-old Linda Partone didn’t fall, have a stroke or a car accident. Her right leg suddenly became painful and “just stopped working,” she said. “I couldn't move in the direction I wanted it to go. I was limping, couldn’t walk fast and lost control over my foot; it cramped and would go ‘bang’ on the pavement. I couldn't bend over, couldn't lift anything, couldn't carry more than 3 pounds, couldn’t stand up from being on the floor, couldn’t sleep and couldn’t dance or play tennis.”

She was diagnosed with a pinched nerve at L5-S1, and given conventional treatments of medication, injections and physical therapy. After improving 25 percent, her physical therapist told her there was nothing more he could do. He told her to go home and get used to the pain, suggesting she use a cane or spring in her shoe.

Partone took charge. She called Stephen Sutherland, a body mechanic and movement specialist, of Massage Therapy by Stephen. “He pummeled my muscles until I wanted to scream," she said. “He unhinged the muscles that were distorting my structures and trapping my nerve.”

The technique used was to loosen the outer muscles and then go deeper and deeper to loosen the inner muscles, like the layers of an onion, free of the spasms that were causing Partone’s inflammation and compressing her nerve.

After three months of weekly 1.5-hour targeted massage bodywork focused on her lower back, gluteal muscles and legs, Partone was back on the tennis court, painfree. Best of all, she now walks normally and is back to her old lifestyle.

Partone’s sage advice is “Don’t be complacent.” She tells people to exhaust every resource, to think out of the box when it comes to getting better. I agree. Sometimes traditional medicine needs a boost with other techniques.

Here’s a new way to think about pinched nerves along the spine and how massage can help:

http://massagetoday.com/mpacms/mt/article.php?id=13203

GOT A QUESTION?

Please email comments and your medical questions to AskDrMona@gmail.com. We’ll answer as many as we can in this weekly column. Remember: Your health is your most important asset. Guard it with your life.

Mona Khanna, M.D., is a triple board-certified physician, Emmy Award-winning journalist and humanitarian who proudly calls the Coachella Valley her year-round home.

Read or Share this story: http://desert.sn/2qNSZYY

Let's block ads! (Why?)