My name is Joe Royland, and I’m 44 years old. I came to Back In Motion after seeing my Doctor for lower back pain and nerve pain and stiffness/numbness in my left leg. It turns out I had slipped a disc (L5), and the inflammation it was causing was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve. As a result, I was having great difficulty walking, and even standing or sitting for long without great discomfort. I was barely even able to sleep through the night, either. After an unsuccessful round of anti-inflammatory steroid treatment failed to help alleviate my condition, my Dr. recommended Physical Therapy as a means to treat it. Thereby, I ended up with an appointment at Back In Motion in Gorham.
Having never been to Physical Therapy, I had no idea what to expect, and was honestly a bit nervous. Any apprehension I had, however, was quickly put to rest upon my first visit. The whole staff was very friendly and welcoming, and the facility was very professional. After a consultation and diagnosis, a game plan and schedule was worked out for treatment. I would spend the first half of my appointments with a therapist, who would work with massage and other techniques to help alleviate the muscle/joint pain and stiffness. The other half of my visits would be spent working with an aide learning various exercises and techniques, and doing workouts to help strengthen and rebuild the damaged areas causing my pain. I was given detailed instruction, and diagrams for use for when I did these at home, too. Because of my schedule, I would often have to work with different therapists on different days/times – but all of them were very helpful, knowledgeable, and made me feel like a priority. Within a couple of weeks, my symptoms started to clear up, and my pain lessened. Each visit brought more relief, until the end of my time there, where I was able to leave pain free!
What started out as a very painful endeavor, soon became something I very much looked forward to doing each week. I am extremely grateful for all that I learned in my time spent while attending Back In Motion, and will use that knowledge to help prevent and further troubles. I would easily and readily recommend their services to anyone in need of such assistance. In closing, I’d like to give all the staff at Back in Motion a big heartfelt THANK YOU – In particular Janine, Matt W., Pat, Matt T., and Bob!
Joe Royland
My journey at Back in Motion Physical Therapy started after over a year of intense back pain. What originally started as an achy, sore back had progressed into lower back and neck pain that was so debilitating it had changed my entire life. I could no longer work. I could no longer drive a car, and was instead relying on family and friends to taxi me. I could not sit or stand for more than a few minutes at a time, and any amount of even the most minor physical labor, such as lifting, were completely impossible. As an active veterinary technician with a very busy lifestyle, this was extremely frustrating for me!
The first consultation I had left me feeling (for the first time in months) hopeful that I would one day be able to return to my life! The staff members were friendly and understanding, and clearly experts in their field. My physical therapist started by assessing my posture and noting abnormalities in the way I stood, carried myself, and moved. I found out that for years I had been standing flat-footed, hyper-extending my knees and back and hunching my shoulders and neck in a manner that predisposed me to a variety of neck ailments. My physical therapist helped me to understand that a combination of these issues along with the natural process of aging, my very physically demanding line of work, and an acute traumatic injury (a nasty fall at my birthday the year before) had been the recipe for my disaster.
The news was somewhat sobering, the reality being it would take a lot of hard work physically and mentally to overcome these problems. I needed to re-teach my body the correct way to stand, sit and move as well as work hard to heal the severe muscle inflammation and spinal stiffness that was causing all the pain I was experiencing. But despite this, for the first time in months I was hopeful! I finally understood where these problems were coming from, and here were people with the tools to help me fix it! After over a year of frustration – visiting various doctors who gave me no answers other than “take 2 of these a day and call me in a month” finally, finally, some real answers!!
The PT was by no means an easy journey, but slowly I began to see improvement. Within the first month or two I saw a significant decrease in my pain, and an increase in my ability to perform some of the tasks required for a normal life! Soon, I was able to drive again! Then I found to my delight I could move around the house and do daily tasks, such as cleaning, in relative comfort! There were some set-backs, but even when I found myself frustrated and disheartened by the process, my therapist and all the other staff members were there to keep me on track – calming and positive voices to guide me on the path to healing.
After my pain levels decreased and energy levels increased, my therapist began working with me on more specific issues. Teaching me “body mechanics” which is essentially the correct way to move. We talked about the tasks I would have to perform on a daily basis in my job and devised a training plan that specifically targeted those things. My therapist encouraged me to get back out there, increase my activity levels and start looking for a job!
I no longer am going to physical therapy. I work full time and am back in the swing of my active life. But, while I may not go to PT anymore – I still carry with me everything they taught me. Physical therapy gave me many things – pain relief, relaxation, and support…but what they gave me most of all was the tools to live my life! I know now how to identify triggers than may cause my back to flare up, and I know what to do when it happens. I have had a couple of minor flare ups since stopping PT but I have been able to use the stretches and other techniques I learned to nip it in the bud, and I have not had any serious issues.
I owe my current life as it is to the staff of Back In Motion! It sounds dramatic, but it’s true. When I started this journey I was not sure that I would ever be able to go back to work, or live a normal life. Every single team member at Back In Motion was a constant source of positive reinforcement for me. My visits were the highlight of my week, always a pleasant experience that I looked forward to. It was a long, difficult journey that, thankfully, ended in success! I now rave to everyone about the benefits of physical therapy! These issues are not ones that can be treated with medicine alone, it takes an integrated full body, full lifestyle approach, but it is definitely worth it! I cannot thank all of the people at Back In Motion enough for all they have given me!
Mim Coward
