Vital Force Naturals

So here’s a question – do our physical bodies (joints, muscles etc) hold on to trauma and emotion?

When we go through a tough time – illness, abuse, accident, grief or any very emotional period in our lives – leaving home, losing a job, divorce etc do our bodies ‘take’ that emotion and ‘store’ it somewhere?

As we all know the body and mind are inextricably linked and we know the emotional can manifest in the physical and the physical can manifest in the emotional, so why not ‘take’ that emotion, experience, memory and store it somewhere ‘safe’, especially if the issue hasn’t been resolved?

I’ve suffered from plantar fasciitis for 4 years now, on and off (more on than off) and after trying almost everything I can think of – supplements, diet, tapping, exercise, rest, cold, hot, compression, elevation, massage etc etc I’ve realised that this has become so chronic to resolve it I need outside help. I’ve embarked on a course of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) with a podiatrist to try to ‘shock’ my fascia into resolving the chronic inflammation.

ESWT is a non invasive treatment using acoustic waves to promote healing. It’s pretty painful at first, but eases off during the treatment. Inflammation is a natural response by the body characterised by heat, swelling, pain and change of function. Under normal circumstances this should be enough for the body to resolve whatever is happening and the inflammation response will subside. But in chronic conditions for one reason or another the response doesn’t resolve and we’re left in a constant inflammation cycle that becomes more painful and appears to be stuck.

As with a lot of healing we often feel worse before we feel better (the ‘healing crisis’ in complementary therapy circles) and this is no different. Immediately after my first treatment my foot was quite tender for the rest of the day. The next day however it felt great! No pain, no stiffness, it felt much more like my normal foot! However as the day went on the pain gradually came back and once again my mobility was reduced.

But the really interesting thing is the day after that first treatment I woke with a headache, fairly mild at first but got steadily worse through the day, so much so I spent much of the day in bed with a cold wet flannel on my forehead. It finally eased around 8pm when I could eat something. The next day no headache but I was very emotional. My foot was starting to get painful again and I was crying at the slightest thing.

My thought is that the ESWT released some unresolved trauma that I had been holding in my foot, resulting in headache and emotion. I did my best to go with it and not supress it, the aim is for it to resolve and leave me healed and pain free. It’s important to remember in these situations not to take any painkillers as this will stop the inflammation process and you’ll be back to square one. Ride the pain, support your body and rest. Trust the process. There often needs to be some discomfort to get through to the other side and really heal.

I’ve another session of ESWT this week (4 in total) and I’m looking forward to what this treatment brings up…