When I found Jennifer online, I was starting to feel desperate.  I had been diagnosed with myofascial pain syndrome, probably related to an accident I had many year ago, causing extreme pain in my mid (thoracic) back.  Nothing I was doing was working.  Physio, exercise, myofascial release therapy, massage, even medication - it seemed like I had tried it all.  I am doing my PhD and have no choice to sit for longer periods of time than I would like, contributing to the problem.  I really wanted to get back to exercise as I was quite certain this would help, but every time I tried I made myself worse.  I was intrigued by Jennifer's expertise working with people with chronic pain, and when we initially spoke it was clear that she knew what she was talking about.  She spoke about a concept called "graded exposure" - something I am familiar with from my field of psychology - and how I would need to retrain my central nervous system to accept exercise again, and that this would take time.  She also told me that it was critical that I do as much as possible to manage my pain to stop the pain feedback loop that happens with people in my situation.  Essentially, she explained, the more my body was in pain, the better it would become at pain - so cutting off this process was necessary. She encouraged me to stop treatments that were making me feel worse, and to consider other options for medication that might reduce my pain, so that I could learn to move again.

 

One of the best things about working with Jennifer is her multi-disciplinary approach.  She is also a social worker and a great listener, and found a way to help me be positive about my capacity to get better.  She is even knowledgeable about many of the medications used to treat pain and gave me some ideas to bring to my doctor. When she assessed me, she noticed some biomechanical issues - instead of framing this negatively, she said it was actually a positive thing because these were all issues that could be addressed by the right exercises, and by retraining how I moved.  She also told me that under no circumstances should I do any chest work at all, which had probably been causing my mid-back area to seize up, or swim, as this would do the same thing, even though other professionals had told me that swimming is gentle and would be OK for me. This approach worked and I have continued to get stronger.  My pain, while still there, is much more manageable than before and I exercise every day, following Jennifer's plan.  Nothing in her exercise program has ever caused a flare up and I credit her with helping me learn how to move again.

 

I have just completed my PhD dissertation proposal, something I could not have imagined six months ago!  Thank you Jennifer!