Success Stories: A Relief From Pain After 33 Years of Constant Pain From Neck, Back, and Shoulder Injuries
Wayne Eisenhauer lived with constant pain for 33 years from multiple neck, back, and shoulder injuries. He came to see Aspen Creek Naturopathic Clinic in Laramie, Wyoming for one of Dr. Shawn Palmer N.D.’s holistic pain management treatments and that night he sat down after work and had the least amount of pain since he got hurt over three decades ago. Read more about Wayne’s journey with managing his pain from multiple injuries throughout his life below.
What pain issues were you having that made you come to Aspen Creek Naturopathic Clinic?
I got a fracture in my neck when I was playing football when I was 16 in High School, in maybe 1979. Im an exterior and interior painter. Eisenhower Painting. I’ve been working 29 years. I ended up hurting my back, T6 through T8, from heavy lifting on the job and that was 1988. I’ve lived with constant pain for almost 33 years. I went and saw a massage therapist and started seeing a lady about 17 years ago and that helped out a lot. She recommended a chiropractor, too, so I started seeing a chiropractor about four years into that. I came and saw Sean five years ago, maybe a little longer, I cant remember. I still see a massage therapist twice a month and a chiropractor once a month and all three seem to keep me going. I know if I didn't have them I probably couldn’t do what I could do anymore.
How did Aspen Creek Naturopathic Clinic’s holistic pain management treatments help you?
I was pretty knotted up with trigger points pretty much everywhere, mirrored on both sides of my body. The lady I go and see was pretty hard at the beginning, a lot of pain, still is pain, but it helped me a lot. I got into doing stretching exercises which helps out a lot. I’ve been seen seeing her coming close to 20 years on that, but it was pretty rough at the beginning. A lot of pain just from her working on me, the trigger points, but over the years, it’s gotten better. And then I had my chiropractor, and that seems to help put my back, my spine, back in, which I can feel after the treatment, especially on my stomach.
Then I came to see Shawn. The worst pain that I have is in my neck. It’s constant. Just as low buzz of pain. The first time I saw him and he did his treatment on me and I went home that night and sat down in my recliner and it was the least amount of pain that Ive had since I got hurt. Thats really helped me out. Now there’s a new procedure that Shawn’s been working on with me. It’s just low frequency electricity, I guess. That seems to help even more. I’ve been doing that for about 6 months. I think everybody should try that. It actually feels pretty good.
I have trouble with my left shoulder, my rotator cuff, and it got to the point where I couldn’t sleep on that side when I sleep. I either sleep on my left side or my right side and it’s kind of hard for me to sleep on my stomach, too much pain will come in from my back. So I was really struggling with my sleep and Shawn’s been working on this shoulder with that treatment and it’s slowly getting better and better. I’m actually able to sleep on that side now. The pain is still there and the stiffness but it would only take less than a minute before he started doing [the treatment] and I’d have to roll over on my right side. That was my favorite side to sleep on was my left side so it was really hard. Thats been going good.
The same thing with my neck, there was that low buzz of pain which was pretty hard on me. It’s still there, but it’s better. It’s manageable now. Then I had this some trouble with my right foot on my ankle and that seemed to help that too. Not that its a hundred percent, but it’s better. With my knee and my knee I’m pretty much a walking talking trigger point and that’s helped out a lot. Even last week I had some pain in my left back and he did his treatment on it and the laser point and few other things and it slowly got better. I don’t even feel it where it was spasming out on me, so yeah, it's been great. It’s been a good experience.
Did you have any Concerns before trying the holistic pain management therapy?
It took me awhile. My massage therapist, she always wanted me to see a chiropractor and it took me four years. I went and saw a physical therapist when I first hurt my back and it wasn't a great experience. It kind of hurt me more, so I had that in the back of my mind. It takes me a while sometimes to come around but so far so good. It’s been a good experience. Im glad I came.
What’s your favorite thing about your holistic pain treatments?
Everything about it. A relief from the pain. My body feels more more like one unit instead of a bunch of little tiny units that are hurting here and there. It’s more solid on both sides. I do have a lot of pain coming out of my my mid-back and then between between the fracture of my neck where I got hurt I always felt like I was being sandwiched between the two pains and that’s not so much like that anymore. Everything that he’s done for me has been good.
What do you like the most about working with Dr. Shawn Palmer N.D.?
He’s a terrific guy. Easy going. Very knowledgeable, he knows what he’s talking about. I'm diabetic and he helped me with my diet at the beginning. I came in and talked to him about my diet when I first was diagnosed with it, so that helped out a lot. He’s really knowledgeable over a lot of things.
He’s been there for me. I have my work and he’s willing to see me after after 5, which is really helpful for me so I can get it a full day. I appreciate that. He’s been really flexible when it comes the time.
