My strength was once my weakness.
16 years ago I was quite literally hit into the direction of my career path. I was a passenger in a small car with no head rest that was rear ended. I suffered soft tissue injuries to my neck and back with an undiagnosed concussion. Being so tall (I’m 5’10”), I only recall the back of my head hitting the window.
Three years following that, I found myself struggling with depression related to my chronic pain. My life was on hold and I wasn’t seemingly getting ‘better.’
Within 4 years,
I saw a physiotherapist.
I saw a kinesiologist.
I saw a chiropractor.
I saw a massage therapist.
I saw an acupuncturist.
I saw my doctor.
I saw a sports medicine doctor.
I saw a counsellor.
I was provided with the standard treatment of care for a 15 year old involved in a car accident. But I wasn’t getting better.
Today, some 16 plus years later I can happily say, I have fully (physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually) recovered from that accident.
So what changed?
In 2009 I decided to devote my life to helping fellow human beings like myself who have been injured. I stopped putting my life on hold, and went back to school.
In a serendipity of events I landed at Camosun Colleges’ Bachelor of Athletic and Exercise Therapy program. I started learning for the first time, a full in-depth understanding about injuries, various phases of healing and appropriate strategies for treatment and rehabilitation. I also developed a solid framework for self-care including daily movement and a weekly strength training routine.
Later in my studies, I met David Laurin Findyourhealth.ca who like myself was an Athletic Therapist studying something I have never heard of called Manual Osteopathy. I recall one night at the Cowichan Valley Rugby Club (Go Piggies Go!), David studying the formation of the temporal bone. I asked him why he cared so much about one bone in the cranium and vowed to never return to school once I was finished with my current Athletic Therapy degree.
You know what they say right? “Never say never!”
After graduating and working in a busy clinic for 5 years, I went back to school to learn more about Osteopathy. My poor Mom, she truly is becoming less patient, waiting for grandchildren. I’m now well into my 4th year to becoming a Manual Osteopathic Practitioner: graduating from The Canadian College of Osteopathy (5 year program). I love sharing my knowledge and passion with others who like myself, are finding a way out of chronic pain into health and ease of movement.
Interested in what I am studying? For more information check out:
www.osteopathy.ca/en/osteopathy/
Note: This post is in no way intended to discredit the numerous other qualified health professionals in the Cowichan Valley. Rather, it’s intention is to encourage you to find a health care practitioner that fits with you. One who listens, helps, encourages and ultimately provides positive and measurable results to your health.
trishagilks.ca 