I broke my shoulder last New Year’s Eve (2007) through a series of unfortunate events. At around 2:00 AM, while out with my friends celebrating in Manhattan, my good friend Ann decided to run over from across the bar and hug me. She lost her balance due to very high stiletto heals, and pushed me backwards proceeding to fall on top of me. This resulted in both of lying on the ground; Ann still intact, and my shoulder somehow in pieces. Not knowing for sure if this fluke accident had caused an actual break, or just a sprain, we decided to take a cab back to Staten Island instead of calling an ambulance to take me to a Manhattan hospital. I ended up at St. Vincent’s Hospital, which at the time was apparently going bankrupt (unbeknownst to me), at close to 4:00 in the morning. After waiting for what felt like hours, I finally had x-rays taken, and was given some sport of insight as to what the problem was. The x-ray technician was the only person that told me my shoulder was broken, and that I’d probably have to have surgery. After enduring the nightmare of St. Vincent’s, I was strapped into an immobilizer, given a prescription for Percocet, and sent home to wait for 2 days before able to see a specialist.
Two days after New Year’s Eve, my parents took me to a specialist in Staten Island where I had x-rays retaken to be looked at by the doctor. It turned out that I had snapped my humoral neck in half, and going to have to take off from school for the entire spring semester in order to endure a very long healing process. My doctor decided to take a conservative approach to the situation by not sending me straight to surgery. At the time I was almost pushing to have the surgery, because I had been told that the healing time would be shorter– which really was the only thing on my mind: getting back to my regular daily life. Like I said though, I didn’t have the surgery, and am now thankful for it.
I was laid up for at least 2 months before I was able to walk around outside semi-comfortably, without any help from my family. I was visiting my doctor every 2 weeks, and every 2 weeks it seemed like 4 more weeks were added onto my sentence. Come the end of May I was finally out of my immobilizer, and not on painkillers anymore. I was still in some pain, but I was told that it was common and that it would probably continue to bother me for a while. I was also told that physical therapy wasn’t necessary. By June I was back to business, taking classes and finding a job and whatnot. I had absolutely no strength in my right arm, and a good amount of back pain causing some problems with my schoolwork. Because I go to art school, I’m on my feet a lot, standing for long periods of time with my arms raised for painting or drawing purposes.
By the time the fall rolled around, and I was still in pain, I took matters into my own hands and decided to come see what you had to say about my situation. My shoulder injury didn’t only effect my right arm, but my entire back and neck area as well. I was constantly begging my parents and friends for back rubs, which was only resulting in immediate relief. It only made sense to come see a chiropractor so that I would have long term relief. The weekly adjustments were definitely helping, but a few days before I was supposed to come see you again, my back and neck would flare up and start to hurt. However, after you introduced the Graston Technique to me, I’ve been feeling better and better everyday. At the start of the treatment I felt immediate relief. The instruments were working placed in my shoulders and neck that I wasn’t feeling with just your hands. I told myself to just keep up with it, and slowly but surely I’d begin to regain strength, and lose the pain. What I wasn’t expecting was how quickly I would start to feel improvements. After going through an incredibly slow and arduous healing process, my visits with you feel like a piece of cake. Minimal effort and time on my part, with maximum results.
I just wanted to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for helping me through this really tough time in my life. When the accident had initially occurred, I felt like my life was over, and that I’d never go back to feeling the way I felt before the break. You’ve given me hope, and physically shown me that I can and will get back to where I was. I would 100% recommend going for Graston treatment to anyone thats gone through a traumatic break. Again, thank you so much!