One of the most rewarding aspects of my practice is witnessing the profound transformations that can occur when we address complex injuries with precision and expertise. The following story, of one of my patients, perfectly illustrates why I'm so passionate about sports medicine acupuncture and its ability to restore function when conventional treatments fall short.
This remarkable recovery demonstrates how targeted acupuncture techniques—specifically the obturator internus motor point treatment—can unlock healing pathways that seemed permanently damaged. For athletes and active individuals facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, stories like this remind us that hope and healing are always possible.
The story was originally published on sportsmedicineacupuncture.com.
“I Am Back!” A Remarkable Injury Recovery Story
This is a remarkable injury recovery story shared by one of our students, April Johnson, L.Ac.
I just completed the Module II Assessment and Treatment of Low Back, Hip and Groin seminar taught by Matt Callison. I had a remarkable event occur and wanted to share my story.
My two favorite activities that I am passionate about are swimming and dressage/equestrian sports! Four years ago, I had an accident on my horse that resulted in a complete transverse fracture of the S2 section from left to right. This was my second spinal fracture from a riding accident; the first affected L1/L2 in the 1990s.
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After the second injury, I was unable to feel most of my posterior and lateral left leg and foot. I have had an extremely difficult time moving my leg laterally, maintaining balance and stability, and becoming prone to tripping. I have fallen downstairs, tripped frequently while hiking, even while walking my dog and doing yoga despite going through numerous nerve testing exams, physical therapy appointments and strength training. My best description of my leg has been like that of a mannequin, where I could feel the surface skin but nothing inside the leg.
I resumed riding about a year after the second injury and for the last three years have greatly struggled with bilateral evenness in cuing my horse (Obi) with my seat and affected leg. This is critical for correct riding in dressage. My coach and I even resorted to putting rocks in my left riding boot so I could try to sense where my foot and lower leg were while I was riding to cue my horse correctly. Even with this attempt, the weakness in my lower leg and heel of the foot were clearly ineffective.
In swimming, I have been frustrated by having to work diligently to not always pull to the right since my left leg kick wasn’t as strong and quick as my normal right leg. Unfortunately, I settled on and accepted my new “slower” self, and just worked on becoming the best middle-distance swimmer I could be with my leg issues.
In the recent Module II training, we learned to assess many different injuries and postural imbalances. We needled many different myofascial tissues and the channel points that connected to these tissues. My class partner needled many points on me, but I believe that the obturator internus (OI) motor points in combination with the other points changed my life. (Check out the video below!) When the side-lying OI needle technique was practiced on me, I felt a deqi sensation radiate through the medial pelvic floor, in addition to waking up the UB, KID, SP, and LV channels of the leg. There was a new sensation of fullness and heaviness. By the next day, I noticed the sole of my left foot was able to feel the bottom of my shoe. Four days later, I was back home, riding my horse, and I felt like I had a left leg!!! I could sense that I could maintain an isometric contraction against Obi’s left ribcage! I was able to perform some equestrian gymnastics smoothly using my left leg as the driving force! I was ecstatic!
Then the next morning, I swam what felt like a normal swim, but then my swim watch told me my 100 yd average was the fastest it had been in over 10 months, without me even really trying! In the last two days of writing this article, I rode and swam under my two coaches- when I got off my horse my riding coach walked up and hugged me because she could see the difference! My swim coach, a man of few words, gave me a big smile and knuckles.
I am back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so grateful for this amazing training and guidance. The muscle that needed to be stimulated is definitely not in the standard acupuncture protocols I typically use. Now my mind is spinning with possibilities for my largely veteran patient population that have a lot of extreme orthopedic injuries.
Thank you, AcuSport Education. I am so grateful and look forward to the rest of this journey.