Sona Gandhi – A Professor with Lower Back Pain & Ailing Parents
Sona had chronic pain in her lumbar region. She was very careful about what she did and how she moved. All her movements – standing, sitting, walking – were cautious so as to avoid any jerks that would lead to increased pain.
Background
Sona Gandhi, a 50-year-old, was referred to me by a friend sometime back. Hers was a long term complaint of back pain. She had been having chronic pain in the lumbar region. She had made the rounds of doctors, and had also undergone a bunch of tests. However, the pain persisted and she came in for a consultation with me.
As we started to speak, Sona told me that she is a professor. This requires her to stand for many hours each day. In addition to this, she attends classes on Zoom as well, which require her to sit for long periods. Obviously, this was not ideal for her physical well-being.
Chatting further, I came to know that Sona had the added stress of looking after ailing parents. She wasn’t leading a completely sedentary life, and she tried to occasionally go to the gym as well. However, this didn’t seem to be helping her. The work stress, and mental stress of being responsible for ailing parents and looking after the house were all taking a toll on her.
Diagnosis
Speaking to Sona, I understood that her pain had its roots that weren’t just physical, but also mental and emotional. During our consultation, I explained to Sona how therapy would work, and how we would work on mental, physical, and emotional levels to help her heal.
When Sona came in to see me, she appeared weak, almost fragile. She seemed to be very careful about what she did and how she moved. All her movements – standing, sitting, walking – were cautious. She would sit gingerly so as not to jar herself or trigger pain while sitting down or getting up. She told me how she was mindful of the way she walked. She said that she would avoid crowded places or any situation that could cause her pain to flare up. At all times, she seemed wary of any activity that could trigger her back pain.
In Sona’s case, the pain had complex roots: not just physical but mental and emotional as well. She had to work not just on healing her body but also on her emotional and mental issues. She not only had to strengthen her body but also her mind. She had to overcome not just physical pain but also her fear of that pain. She had to acknowledge and address the various stresses in her life.
Prognosis
I could see that Sona was having a lot of very troublesome and nagging pain. Not only that, she also lived in fear of that pain. The constant fear of pain had weakened her body, and also in a sense, her mind. She could not imagine that she could ever be pain free – she seemed to have a constant apprehension, a constant expectation of the pain.
Unless we addressed the various emotional issues that she was handling, unless we worked on lowering stress, her healing would not be sustainable. So I devised a multi-pronged treatment for her. This involved not just physical therapy and yoga, but also meditation, relaxation techniques, and counselling.
I asked Sona to trust the process and to commit to it fully, which I am happy to say, she did. I told her that if she stuck to the program and did all that I asked her to, she would overcome her pain. I explained that if she looked after not just her physical but also her emotional well-being, she would be free from pain, and would be able to live more fully and without fear.
Treatment
When I started working on her, Sona’s body was very tight and rather delicate. She had been guarding against pain so long that her movements were restricted and limited, and very careful. So we started working on trying to activate the body, to try and renew its ability to move. It was like trying to tell the body that it is time to start moving, that it is OK to start moving.
Of course there was resistance to begin with. Sona had lived with pain and fear for a long time. Also, as we started with various physical exercises, her body was protesting – it was not used to the activity. I reassured her that the soreness was temporary and that she needed to keep to the program, to work through the discomfort.
To her credit, she overlooked the soreness and soldiered on. Sona showed a lot of determination and had full faith in the process. She kept going. She committed fully and did what I told her was necessary. In a sense she had surrendered to what she saw as my insight, my experience, and my expertise. This actually worked in her favour and helped her heal faster. I must say that her absolute surrender to the process is one of the main reasons this particular case had such a positive outcome.
We also worked on her mental wellness. I suggested ways in which she could deal with her responsibilities and cope with the issues that confronted her. She also learned to accept those situations and circumstances that were not within her control. I guided her to change her perspective on a lot of things. This resulted in greater acceptance and enhanced levels of tolerance and patience.
Result
As we continued to work together, I found that Sona was becoming happier and calmer. She was able to let things go. Where earlier she would hold on to things that upset or stressed her, she was now able to relinquish these negative thought and behaviour patterns.
These processes helped her shed a lot of her mental and emotional baggage – baggage that was causing pain, baggage that was holding her back. This combined with the opening and strengthening of the body helped put her on the path to healing. This is what helped her in overcoming her pain.
Slowly she gained strength and found the pain dissipating. After a long time, the pain in her back, particularly the lumbar area, was soothed. The pressure was easing and she was becoming pain free.
Working at the mental, physical, and emotional level, and simultaneously addressing all these issues helped Sona a great deal. Along with this, some tweaks in her workout schedule and some dietary changes came together to sustain her recovery. This was a holistic solution that worked for her at more than just the superficial level. This was a wellness solution that worked for her physical as well as mental well-being.
The result was that Sona was fully pain free in about six sessions with me, over a period of six to eight weeks. At the end of her treatment, Sona had once again started to dance and to play badminton. These were things that she was actually scared to do when she first came to me.
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My Thoughts
Sona was able to once again do the things she enjoyed doing, but had been avoiding because of the pain. She was scared of the pain. (Yes, pain can be very scary!) Fear prevents us from doing the things we love and it stops us from living fully. She even took up jogging – something she hadn’t done for years because of the debilitating back pain. Now, she was able to enjoy things she had thought wouldn’t be possible for her to do again.
Becoming pain free is very liberating. I find that Sona is now freer – in her mind and her body. She isn’t scared and she isn’t limiting her possibilities. She is moving freely, without fear or apprehension. She is no longer the cautious, fragile person that first came to see me.
This was a case of someone who surrendered herself fully to the process of healing. She gave me the gift of her complete trust and followed the treatment plan fully. She worked hard physically as well. All of this came together to help Sona become physically pain free and emotionally liberated.