Dave Johnstone

About 16 years ago I had a vehicle accident, where my car veered off the road and into a drainage ditch. The car bounced and bumped around and my head hit the roof 3 or 4 times. When I got out of the vehicle I collapsed and couldn’t support my weight. I had damaged my spine. I didn’t go to the doctor. I had no faith in doctors and it was expensive. I just got some bed rest and started taking painkillers, self medicating.

About a year later my family and I were having a get together and I put my son in law and daughter on my shoulders at the same time, I was showing off, and lifted them. There was a loud crack and I collapsed to the floor. After enduring much pain I decided to go to the doctor who referred me to a neurosurgeon. I was sent for various scans and x-rays etc and they diagnosed osteoporosis. The osteoporosis had been brought on by all the alcohol and tobacco I had been taking over the years. A large contributor to the osteoporosis was also the fact that I was self-medicating with prednisolone, a steroid, to get rid of my skin disorders at the time.

I was put onto osteophos 70 to help strengthen the bones or at least curb the degeneration. The scans shows that I damaged numerous vertebrae in my upper, middle and lower spine, and I was told by the neurosurgeon that I would have to have an operation on my spine eventually, to correct the deformities. He said that there was a chance I might be paralyzed by the operation but that the likelihood was minimal. That was enough to put me off further visits to any doctors.

In the meantime, the muscles that protect and support the spine had been working overtime trying to prevent further damage, as well as trying to perform their everyday duties. As a result, they were growing weaker and I was growing more disabled. I couldn’t bend and twist or do things that I could do before. Over a period of 13 or so years my lower back, legs and hips grew weaker, not only because of a lack of proper exercise, but also because, mentally, I was becoming less confident and more depressed that I was unable to do things that were easy. Lifting anything heavy was a mission and frustrating, because I knew I was taking a chance every time I did it and was constantly living on edge, waiting for the next time my spine clicked and pinched a nerve.

It got so bad that there were times I had to use crutches to support my own weight – and I’m not overweight for my height. My left knee and both hips were now unbearably painful and I had constant backache. I have been taking painkillers, painstop, adcodol and diclofenac for more than 10 years now. I was growing tired of taking painkillers because I felt that I had become addicted to them, relying on them to remove the aches and pains whenever I had to do physical work, rather than visiting a doctor, which I hated doing anyway. The painkillers were making me so lethargic and tired and I had conditioned my poor body to taking 10 codeine tablets a day over that 10 plus year period. NOT GOOD FOR MY BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT.

Eventually my knees and hips became so painful I couldn’t take it any more. I couldn’t even drive a vehicle without stopping every half hour to get out and painfully get the blood circulation going again, by hobbling around the vehicle and taking more painkillers. About 3 or 4 years ago I was wearing a back brace and using crutches on and off whenever I had to do anything that was too strenuous or taxing on my body. At this stage I was walking lopsided because of the deformities in my spinal vertebrae.

I had had enough. I went to the doctor and told him everything. He referred me to a orthopaedic surgeon who did bone density tests, scans and microsurgery to my left knee and hips, to see the extent of damage to the bones. I was told I need the left knee and both hips replaced. Well that put the wind up my sails again and I balked at the possibility of me being stuck in a wheelchair for life. Back to the painkillers and depressing thoughts of how I can fix this. I then decided that maybe I needed to correct the spine before any other operations could be done so I went to see another neurosurgeon, as the gentleman I originally saw had passed away. She did a whole new set of scans and x-rays and came to a conclusion that corrective surgery to the most damaged vertebrae was doable and that there was a possibility that the pain in my legs and hips would subside after the surgery and physiotherapy was completed. That gave me some hope and kind of lifted a huge weight of depression off my shoulders, but there was still the fear of there being a chance of me being disabled. I do not want to become my children’s or someone else’s responsibility. I would rather die.

So I decided to take a chance and go ahead with the spine operation. Well, living in a corrupt country and society soon put an end to that endeavour. The medical aid society we were members with for 9 years, decided that they would only cover less than one fifth of the total cost of the operation. Bottom line, we couldn’t afford it. For 2 years we tried to find a way of doing the operation, without success. I started looking at all sorts of ways of getting the op done, even offering myself as a lab rat to possible experimental surgeries. By the end of 2020 the pain was so bad that having the operation seemed the only way forward and we would just have to find the money one way or the other.

Then quite unexpectedly, one of our friends asked my wife and I if we had heard of or tried MYOREFORMATION. Neither of us knew anything about it and it definitely sounded like it was worth a try. I was so depressed and weak at this point, I was desperate to get my body, mind and spirit back on track. My wife started the ball rolling, as she had her own set of problems she needed to iron out. The treatment targets the triggering of the bodies nervous system by encouraging the body to heal itself. All the right muscles, tendons and lymph nodes are strenuously worked on by hand until you physically feel the blood circulating and the tingling of all the nerve endings throughout your body.

After her 3rd treatment, I noticed a dramatic change in my wife’s whole demeanour. Her posture… She isn’t so hunched up. Her attitude….. She was more positive, approachable and happier. She is a lot more active than before. Her health has improved. She’s walking and keeping her weight at a manageable level. Her migraines have been reduced to periodic and in general she seems to have a new lease on life. Straight away, I thought, I’ll have some of that please.

I found the first treatment quite painful, because its not a glorious sensual body massage. The intention is to get your body healing itself as quickly as possible and getting used to the way it’s being done. Every muscle, tendon and lymph node is worked on from head to toe, back and front. I found that each treatment became less painful and now I actually look forward to my treatments.

I was scheduled to go in for corrective surgery to my spine 3 weeks after I started the Myoreformation therapy. The idea for the surgery was to rebuild the compressed and collapsed vertebrae in the spine to prevent blockages and or damage to the spinal cord. There was numerous intermittent compression damage from the neck to the base of the spine. If I remember correctly the damaged vertebrae are Cervical spine C 4, C 5 and C 6. The Thoracic spine are T 7, T8, T 9 and T12. The Lumbar spine are L2, L3, L4, L5 and S1 The reason I chose to do the Myoreformation therapy before the surgery is because firstly, I was sceptical about the outcome of the surgery and secondly, I was physically unfit, which created concern and doubt in my mind as to the ability of and how long it would take for my body to recover post op, including physiotherapy.

I was advised by my Myotherapist, Jane Beunk, that the treatment I received from her may not necessarily prevent me from having surgery because of the amount of damage that there was in my spinal vertebrae, but it would definitely help me become stronger to be able to handle the trauma that an operation of this sort would cause to my body, physically, mentally and spiritually. She also said that there was a possibility that my body may recover enough on its own, with the correct exercise and diet, to be able to avoid any operation all together. That includes the weaning off of the addictive pain killers and nicotine, which are also hindering the body’s natural ability to recover.

The positives gained from this form of treatment so far have been phenomenal. I am walking upright, the pain in my lower regions, the spine, both hips and the left knee, has been drastically reduced. I have a lot more energy and feel stronger than I have been for years. I am able to carry out normal everyday duties without worrying too much about putting my back or something out. I am able to lift objects up to 10kgs without too much discomfort. My flexibility is returning gradually. I have become more sexually active. I am no longer depressed. I have a renewed spiritual awareness and feel more alert to all that’s going on around me and within me. I’ve become more confident and more trusting of the way I deal with situations and people in general. I have starting weaning myself off the painkillers and tobacco with the intention of quitting soon. Most importantly, I realize that I don’t have to rely only on doctors and specialists, when I can’t afford the ridiculous fees that are charged, for operations that the body, mind and soul can heal by itself. All of which will contribute towards becoming a naturally healthier and happier human being.

Thank you Jane for a fantastic job.