How to Manage Pain & Musculoskeletal Issues – Jacob McGill Shares His Story
I wonder what people feel when they are in pain, when all the physiotherapy and the massage and other treatments have not managed to ease the pain. I wonder what it is like for people who have been told that surgery is the only way out and to then find that there is in fact a workable alternative; one that will ease the pain and heal? I recently had the good fortune of speaking to Jacob McGill, who has created a program to help end the pain – based on the pain that he himself went through.
A midlife crisis at age 17.
At the age of 17, Jacob was in a horrific car accident that required him to be airlifted to hospital. He very nearly didn’t make it. He was in a coma and then spent months in a hospital bed. It was a long and tortuous journey to recovery for Jacob. After receiving what he calls the‘lucky to be alive speech’ he returned home, but still had mobility issues. He tried nutritional interventions, energy work and so on. The real life altering insight was to come later.
It was when he saw dancers at the arts campus at music school, that was like a flashbulb moment for him. At this point, he took up Pilates in a very regimented manner. He realized that it was important to commit to this in terms of regularity as well as getting the necessary support from teachers. Then there was a weekend osteopathic workshop that was another Aha moment. This is when he started to make progress with increasing the range of motion of his limbs. Teachers also noticed his progress. His joints opened further along a neurological pathway, and he found that these interventions were able to release some forms of tension that were holding him out of alignment. This formed the core of the Hundred Year Plan Jacob later created.
The importance of good form.
It is interesting how many things we do unconsciously, which could be having negative impacts on our wellbeing gradually, even imperceptibly. This is something that Jacob has become very proficient in noticing. He gives an example of someone who lifts weights in the gym. Even if they aren’t lifting very heavy, if they are using poor form, this could end up creating problems later. People trying to build muscle could be compressing discs or causing other detrimental musculoskeletal impacts, he says.
Another interesting example of the importance of using the right technique is rock climbing. According to Jacob, women tend to be better rock climbers because they have to use good technique right from the get go. Men on the other hand tend to power through but ultimately they do have to learn the right techniques as well. Much of the damage may not be noticed because a person is young and strong and otherwise healthy. However, the problems can appear somewhere down the line, he says.
Jacob explains why supervised training is so important, and why learning from the net or a DVD is not a good idea. Proper supervision from a trained professional helps us do exercises with the body correctly positioned and the limbs properly aligned. The right form not only gives us optimal benefits, but also helps avoid injury and strain. Learn more about Jacob’s story and his work that helps people overcome pain and heal in this episode of The Adiel Gorel Show.
