Growing up in Somerset, Gemma always had a keen interest in health & wellbeing and sports, particularly skiing, racket sports and martial arts.  In order to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a children’s nurse, Gemma attended her local college to attain a GNVQ in Health & Social Care.  She did this whilst heavily committed to Kickboxing and Ju-jitsu and was training 3-5 times per week and working towards the British Championships as well as teaching a young class of kickboxers.  Gemma was loving life and so excited for the future.  However her life was to take a huge turn for the worse, at the age of 17 years of age, when she opened the dishwasher.  What on earth could have happened to have floored her with pain??? She suffered with an acute onset of lower back pain and sciatica which lasted for several months and she was advised to stop all sports and rest along with strong medication.

 

After the initial period of sadness at having to give up her beloved sport and after the pain began to subside, she became passionate about learning more about back injuries and rehabilitation.  With also being unsure as to whether her back was strong enough for a career in nursing, she decided to take a career change and study for a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Sports Therapy in London.  Unfortunately, she continued to suffer on and off with severe bouts of lower back pain and sciatica which saw her bedridden for weeks at a time and on strong medication.  She was advised by the GP that it must just be a severe muscle strain as she must have been too young for any spinal disc injuries so she continued to be prescribed strong pain killers, anti-inflammatories and rest.   Feeling helpless and determined to get rid of her back pain she saw physiotherapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, tried cupping and steroid injections but to no avail.  

 

She was advised by her senior lecturers on her course that it would be a good idea to get an MRI scan.  As the GP wouldn’t refer her, she paid privately.   After taking the scan to a specialist spinal consultant, the result was a major disc herniation of the disc between L4-L5, with the sciatic nerve being severely compromised, spinal stenosis and multi-level disc degeneration.  How could this be happening at such an age?  The recommended treatment was emergency surgery the following week at 20 years of age.  She was hopeful that this was it.  It was all going to end and she could move forward with her life at last.  After several months of rest and recovery, the pain had finally eased.  However, as she was told that she may need further surgery in the future, if the problem reoccurred, to remove the disc and fuse the spinal joints, she was told not to overdo it and avoid sports that would put too much pressure on the spine like running, weight training and racket sports.  This was a huge blow to a young girl who was so passionate about returning to sports.  After feeling rather deflated,  she continued to keep away from sports and concentrate on her studies and focused on obtaining as much experience and knowledge as possible to support her Sports Therapy degree.  There were periods of a few months here and there where her back did not affect her daily life or hold her back, however she suffered with a continuous underlying discomfort and she just had to manage the situation.  With no rehabilitation given post-surgery and along with the fear of overdoing it and having another reoccurrence of disc injury, the underlying issues didn’t get addressed.   However, along the way in her Sports Therapy Degree and research studies she started understanding the importance of addressing these weaknesses and imbalances and managed to keep her pain at bay for several years, although still didn’t have the confidence to return to competitive sport due to fear of reoccurrence of injury. 

 

However, after having two children by emergency c-section in her early 30’s, unfortunately she suffered another acute episode of lower back pain, which meant that she even struggled to hold her newborn baby at times.  An MRI scan showed another major Lumbar Disc Herniation of the disc between L5-S1, which is the disc below the previously injured disc.  Having previously undertaken a research project in her final year, comparing surgical vs non-surgical treatment of Lumbar Spine Disc Herniations and with having two very young children, she decided to put her knowledge and experience to the test and started an intense rehabilitation programme, which she followed every day for 6 months.  

 

10 years later and with continuing to work regularly on core strength and spinal mobility and another child and c-section later, she is no longer being held back in life by back pain.  Over the last 10 years she has finally managed to also overcome her fear of reoccurrence of injury and has returned to squash at a competitive level, completed a triathlon, joined a CrossFit gym, completed several 5km charity runs and The Wolf Run (a 5km run and assault course), skis annually and now plays netball weekly along with her new passion of sea swimming.  What a journey it has been and the future is looking bright.  

 

Now running CoreFit Health, a Sports & General Injuries Clinic, alongside raising her 3 wonderful children with her husband, she is extremely passionate about helping others who suffer with chronic back pain as she is fully aware of the impact it can have on a person’s health and mental wellbeing.  She also believes it is important to work with people on preventing back pain in both the young and the ageing population to allow people to continue playing sports and achieve their dreams.  Therefore, she has devised the all new Injury Prevention and Movement Programme.  

 

For more information or if you have been inspired by this story and you want to know how to kick start your back recovery journey, please call Gemma on 07815 086212 or email info@corefithealth.co.uk.