I was watching Brazil versus Columbia when Brazilian Soccer player Neymar went down. At first I thought, “Oh boy, more flopping”. When they were carrying him off the field I saw the pain he was in, and it did not surprise me to learn that Neymar broke a vertebra. I broke a vertebra in my back over 30 years ago.
My recovery was pretty straight forward – rest, pain meds, and a brace. The most difficult for me was sleeping. Sleeping on the floor was my only relief from the pain. I slept on the floor for years after that.
Years later I developed back pain that stayed with me for the better part of two years. Nothing gave me relief. I did everything I could to relieve the pain – new bed, swimming, getting rid of my chair at work, no long trips in the car, and standing instead of sitting during the night school classes I was attending. Exercise seemed to make it worse.
I stopped all exercise. Still it did not get better; it got even worse. I gained weight. I went to all kinds of specialists. One gave me some pain meds and told me if it got worse they could operate. I did not want a road map for what to do if it got worse; I wanted my back to improve.
I finally saw a doctor of physiatry. Physiatry is the study and treatment of disease and injury using mechanical and other physical methods. The doctor had me exercise on a MedX low back rehabilitative exercise machine. At the time it was the only one in the city. My back improved. I began exercising again – a few exercises at first and gently then I progressed. I lost weight. I often walked to work. After about six months the pain that I learned to live with and thought would always be a part of my life was gone – my back pain had totally disappeared.
I learned that exercise can help a situation or aggravate it. It depends where you are in your recovery cycle. It also depends on what type of exercise you perform, what type of equipment, and the protocol you use to perform the exercise. The MedX low back rehabilitative exercise machine at the time cost $34,000. It was computerized. The company was mulling over producing a non-computerized version for the gym but hesitated because they were afraid the gym version would take away sales from there $34,000 machine. In the end they did produce gym version of the machine – still very expensive but not $34k.
At our Austin Personal Training location we have:
MedX low back rehabilitative exercise machine
Other MedX core exercise equipment
The expertise in how to use the equipment safely
Plus long list of testimonials of those who have benefited from using it.