I am a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason. This philosophy has stood me in good stead over the last week. The reason I say this is because last Thursday I woke with an ache in my lower spine on the left just above the sacroiliac joint.
As I tried to get out of bed, a shooting pain shot down the back of my left leg and into my left foot. I then realised that my lower left leg was completely numb. Straight away I thought I had a disc bulge at either the L4/5 or L5/S1 levels.
I performed a number of joint mobilisations to help centralise the discs and move them away from the spinal cord and spinal nerve roots. Whilst the mobilisations felt OK, they didn’t improve the symptoms.
As all my passions in life involve having a very well functioning body, including my work, tennis, yoga and DJing (well OK, maybe not DJing), I knew I had to establish the severity of my condition. I received an MRI scan (left) on Sunday and it confirmed that I do indeed have disc bulges at L4/5 and L5/S1. It also showed a level of disturbance of the nucleus pulposis of the L4/5 disc bulge.
So why has this happened? What’s the reason? Well, firstly I have been working extremely hard since the turn of the year without any real rest. This could be my body’s way of making me have a rest, both from work and from training. Secondly, as I help people overcome disc bulges, it has given me a much better insight into what my clients go through. Therefore, I have a level of understanding that you just can’t have without experiencing it.
Fortunately, the symptoms are easing day by day. I am hoping the symptoms subside further before I have an 11-hour flight to LA on Thursday for a meeting with Paul Chek to discuss a project I have been working on for the last 18 months. Following the meeting and a few days off to enjoy the sun, I’ll be taking part in a weeks worth of teacher training with the rest of The CHEK Faculty.