“I’d been following the Fibro Guy for a while on social media and was really interested in the work he was doing with clients. However, as I was based in Scotland working with Adam wasn’t an option for me, so I forgot about it. I’d been in varying degrees of pain since primary school, but as I got older unsurprisingly the pain continued to get worse. I’d spent a fortune over the previous 25 years on physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors who provided immediate relief for whatever bit had flare up, however they couldn’t address the underlying cause. It was a real challenge when my body often didn’t respond as expected to the treatment.
I’d always managed to stay relatively active despite the pain, and the conventional medical advice which was often to stop doing anything that hurt (this would pretty much have been everything at one point).
By the time I was nearing my mid 50’s the pain was becoming difficult to cope with, and I felt my body had completely ‘seized up’, while other joints were still unstable. My shoulder/arm was so bad that I could barely pick up a cup never mind a full kettle. I went back to look at the Fibro Guy and saw that there was now a studio in Scotland. I had an initial call with Jonny who was very honest about what to expect, the commitment needed and some of the challenges if I went ahead. I was a bit sceptical but I felt it really was my last option.
I’m so glad I went ahead. For me it is no exaggeration to say that working with Jonny has given me the tools to transform my life. I don’t need to go up and down stairs sideways anymore, I can crouch down and more importantly get back up again! I am back working part time as a retail merchandiser which involves being on my feet for hours at a time and lots of manual handling and apart from a few niggles I’m generally fine. I’m also back enjoying all my dancing again.
Jonny has supported me throughout this process tailoring things to suit my body and its limitations. It’s not easy, there are some exercises that I hated and still do. I underestimated how mentally exhausting it would be in the early days. It’s fair to say there have been some other health challenges along the way that have impacted but Jonny has worked round these and encouraged me and kept me on track when I got frustrated. We’ve also had a lot of laughs along the way.
At the start of working with Jonny, it was made clear that there is no cure (for hypermobility) but I have found this an amazing way to manage the condition. I know that I will need to continue with the exercises regularly to maintain the stability and strength in my joints to keep the pain under control but that is a small price to pay for the huge changes this has made to me. I can’t thank Jonny enough”.
