Almost 8 weeks ago I had a snowboarding accident during President’s Week vacation. It was the perfect fall, on the first day of break. On a lot of levels I was lucky, it was a Grade 2 AC joint separation in my right shoulder. It could have been a Grade 6. It could have been fractured. I could have needed surgery. There was a lot to be grateful for during a challenging and uncomfortable time. The accident called upon me to use all of my wellness wisdom, as well as my team of trusted practitioners to create a multi-tiered, multi-modality approach to healing from the inside out and here I am two months later feeling so much better because of it.
Here is what I did.
Once I knew the extent of the injury - my husband and I immediately started to research local acupuncturists who were available Monday (actual President's Day). And thankfully (and with gratitude) I was on the acupuncture table the next morning at 11:30 am, less than 24 hrs after the accident.
Lesson 1 – the sooner you intervene with healing modalities, the quicker your pain + recovery will be.
Dr. Lester at Alpine Holistic Clinic was seriously a gift from the universe. He was a brilliant practitioner + gave so much of his time to me. I had two sessions with him during my week in Utah. He did a lot of bodywork and then with acupuncture helped with inflammation, pain, and physical/emotional trauma.
With any trauma-based fall or accident sometimes you can kinda bifurcate from yourself. And these early intervention sessions allowed me to come back into my body safely while relieving so much pain. We also did some creative visualizations of the fall - so I could create new neural memories - versus seeing or feeling the fall over and over again in my mind’s eye. The emotional trauma can get stuck in the facia and you can feel that pain for years even after you think you have processed the actual physical injury.
Lesson 2 – your tissues remember the issues far after your mind has processed the experience. Addressing the emotional component is as important as the physical pain part.
When I was finally at home, I used a Celluma red light therapy on my shoulder every day to help manage pain, heal tissue, reduce inflammation, and circulate energy. I also continued my 2x-a-week acupuncture with the incredible practitioners at Be Well Katonah. Additionally, I saw Dr. Zev who has been on my “healing team” for well over 15 years. Other therapies I used were a month of PT, peptide shots (BCP157) into the shoulder for 30 days, and lots of stretching and showing using it. I also made some nutritional changes to help heal tissues and tendons.
Lesson 3 – Slow is the fast way (a favorite saying from my mentor Thomas Droge)
After two weeks of no driving and lots of rest, I returned to work. I saw a full schedule of patients and decided to try a peloton spinning class in a splint. While it felt good and didn’t hurt at the moment - I was imbalanced and asked too much of my right side and my lower back went out. Truly, I experienced more pain than the initial injury when this happened. I could not breathe without being in pain and walking and rotating was nauseating. And I had to keep treating patients.
While I was indeed feeling really good and my healing was accelerating- our body and tissue still has its OWN timeline that can not be truly known. And for a doer for me, that timeline is often much slower than your mind and patience level. That disconnect can potentially stagnate your progress.
Healing is not linear. I have good days and harder days. But consistency is key. Every week I get stronger and every week I have some type of work done on my shoulder - acupuncture or chiropractic. I still follow my PT stretches and try to meet myself where I am that day without judgment. Falls happen. And like any challenging moment, there are real opportunities for growth, resilience, change, and self-awareness.
