LA's, 40, story about dealing with anxiety and reducing pain flare ups
“I had been in pain for so long and was only getting relief for a few days after seeing an osteopath. It was the osteopath who suggested that I see Caroline to find longer term ways of reducing the pain. In our first session Caroline listened and asked loads of questions about when pain was at its worst and when it wasn't so bad. I was convinced there was no pattern to it, but it was like Caroline held a big data base of everything I told her in her head and we began to see that there were some patterns to it. I'd been anxious for a long time and realised that the more anxious I was the more pain I was in. Caroline gave me ways to bring the anxiety down and she also gave me a wee programme of 5 exercises to do to help my alignment. The exercises also felt really nice and soothing to do. The exercises haven't changed much and I'm working on how I feel doing them and relaxing a bit more with them. I understand my pain flare ups more now and am better able to deal with them. I 'm going for long walks which I couldn't do before and have just got on a bike for the first time in years. I'm feeling really positive about what I can do, and will be able to do going forward. Life is looking a lot better than it used to "