Female living in Japan
I had a car accident three years ago. I was hit from behind while waiting for a green light. The orthopaedic doctor diagnosed me with whiplash.
The treatment I received was the application of low-frequency electrical waves (something like that), traction to my jaws by a machine, and then a 10-minute massage on my face, plus compression and oral medication. I continued this for a month, and when I felt no pain, the treatment was considered to be finished.
I’ve had a sore shoulder since I was thirty and I realized that it was becoming worse. I had almost forgotten about the accident.
Moreover, my neck started to become painful again. I thought it was a side effect from the car accident, so I went back to the same place. An X-ray was taken and I found out that my neck bone had become very straight; it no longer has the normal curve that a neckbone should have. I was told that my vertebral disc and nerve were not damaged, so the same treatment was applied for 10 days.
I felt that I couldn’t trust this place because they knew that my neck bone didn’t have a normal curve, but the treatment was the same as for whiplash. I wondered whether the treatment was the cause of problem. I began to think that this was not the treatment I wanted. I wanted to determine and cure the cause of the pain.
I expressed my feelings to a friend who is studying Tao Shiatsu therapy and my friend suggested that I get a treatment, so I arranged for an appointment. The therapist that I met with explained to me that all of the blood vessels in my body shrunk to avoid bleeding out when I had the shock of the accident, and one of the meridians distorted at the same time and stayed that way. The pain in my neck and shoulder developed as a side effect, as well as limitation of mobility.
During treatment, I felt an echo along my entire arm like something moving down it, but somehow felt warm and safe. While the treatment continued along my whole body, I experienced pain in my lower back. I told the practitioner about this. He explained that the shock of the accident must be affecting my lower back too, but my attention had been more on the pain of the whiplash, so the issue in my lower back went into a deeper state and was hidden in my subconscious; he suggested that while I was receiving treatment, the pain came to the surface. So, in this way, I received treatment for a symptom that I didn’t even know I had.
The pain in my neck decreased by about 50 percent after the first treatment; after the the second treatment, which was a week later, it was even less. I was so glad, because the result was surprisingly good. I was able to put my trust in Tao Shiatsu therapy and in the therapist as communication between us deepened. I also learned something about food that is not so good for our bodies, so I’ve quit eating food containing white sugar.
