My B2R story......Samantha Ogilvie
I was first interested in chiropractic when I had a persistent knee pain during school.
I had been to the Doctor a few times and the advice they gave at the time didn’t help. I knew they were doing their best but there was never enough time to talk about my worries and it was put down to ‘growing pains’. The pain was stopping me doing sport at school which was really frustrating. I eventually found out about a chiropractor and went to see him. The chiropractor took time to assess my problem and reassure me that there was no structural injury to my knee. I had a few treatments and some home exercises/stretches to do and I got loads better! I was inspired to go and train as a chiropractor myself.
“I had a few treatments and exercises and started to get loads better! I was inspired to become a Chiropractor”
I studied at the University of South Wales. During university, I had a thirst for learning and knowledge. I studied hard every year of the Master of Chiropractic degree and was awarded the Best Academic Student award four times. Upon graduation I started working in a chiropractic clinic. I wanted to help every patient I saw get better, but I found I didn’t have enough time to work with someone to really truly get to the bottom of their problem. I felt like I was just cracking backs and giving a bit of a massage and my patients weren’t really getting better for the long term. It was during this time I remembered my encounters with Luke and Paul from B2R who had lectured at the University about self-management and exercise rehabilitation. I found their lectures interesting and engaging and their approaches to rehabilitation looked more fun than most types of rehab!
“I wanted to help every patient get better, but i consistently found I didn’t have enough time”
I wanted to practice in a way that didn’t necessarily help masses of people but really helped them more in depth than what I was doing. I was lucky enough to be accepted into a mentorship programme with Luke Davies so that I could learn more about practising in an evidence based way and include more exercise rehabilitation. One of the main parts of this mentorship was exercise myself. I was suffering with a chronic shoulder problem and every time I went to do certain movements or exercises, I experienced a sharp pain. I’d seen massage therapists and chiropractors who’d told me that it was my supraspinatus tendon, or that it was subacromial impingment, or a rotator cuff tear…I was confused and a bit worried it might get worse. I tried lots of different treatments before seeking out Luke’s help – massage, dry needing, chiropractic adjustments, ultrasound, Graston technique – none of which gave me more than a few days of pain relief.
“One of the main parts of mentorship was learning to exercise myself”
I didn’t know how to help myself either as I’d tried some rehabilitation exercises but didn’t feel confident with what I was doing. After a thorough assessment from Luke, he explained to me that my particular issue was related to load tolerance of my shoulder muscles and tendons so we started an exercise based programme. I was confident that he’d be able to help me because of his own history with shoulder rehabilitation and surgery. This process for me was part client/part mentorship so I learned about pain alongside the exercise approach and learned about structuring exercise programmes too. I am a great believer in the notion of experiential learning – I needed to learn how to exercise so I could explain it to my future clients. This still rings true today: I will never give a client an exercise that I haven’t done myself in an exercise programme format so I do truly understand the process.
“I will never give a client an exercise I haven’t at least immersed in myself first ”
Just after starting the mentorship, the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK and I was not able to continue my work at the clinic as everything closed for three months. I spent this time exercising, reading, learning about pain and exercise so that I could be as prepared as possible once lockdown eased to apply the new knowledge. I thought that not having access to a gym would hinder my training massively, but it’s just led me to become more creative with how I train. I use tree branches as pull up bars, I find big rocks and tree stumps to pick up off the floor and I bought a pair of rings and attach them to my gate at home.
“I thought not having access to a gym would hinder my training, which was quite the opposite, it made me resourceful and creative”
I would say that I’ve gone from being someone who wasn’t that motivated to stick at an exercise regime to someone who actively looks forward to the next session and achieving my next goals. Along the way, a few months into my exercise programme, I noticed that my shoulder pain was hardly there any more! I was really excited about this because it meant that a) I could do more things than I used to (including a chin-up!), b) exercise worked for me when nothing else had, and c) I didn’t need to be in the same room as my clinician to be able to have these results (Telehealth also works!).
I decided to move ‘Back to Roots’ which for me was in Romsey, near Southampton. I had friends and family there and wanted to help my local community dealing with aches and pains. The more I have learned about pain, the more I understand about why people experience aches and pains, the impact of stress physiology and why passive fixes don’t work in the long term. I am armed with this knowledge and I want to help my community who may be suffering with persistent pain. I continue to exercise almost daily, you’ll often see my social media (@samo_b2r) filled with weight-lifting, gymnastic rings training, bodyweight training, handstands and more. This doesn’t mean my clients do all of these things...unless they want to!
“Work now involves assessing your aches and pains, providing a diagnosis and help to achieve your important goals”
My work now involves assessing individuals with aches and pains, giving them a diagnosis and getting a plan to get them to their goals – whether they be to bend down without back pain, lift up their grandchildren or start running, I help and guide them towards those goals! My mission is to help people understand more about their aches and pains and find exercise formats that are both enjoyable and part of their lifestyle. I offer programmes that aim to address all aspects of a person and their pain problem, so we can play around more and be in charge of any aches and pains we experience.
