Chronic Pain
It started a long time ago, during my studies. I got severe pain in my right arm while writing. The pain lasted for a long time and I had to activate my arm after writing for longer periods of time, for example after taking notes at lectures or at exams. Eventually the problem became chronic. The pain wasn´t the main issue. My arm didn´t work the way it should and I couldn´t write at all with my right hand. I had to learn writing with my left hand. It started out quite well but after some time I got the same kind of problem in my left arm. I accepted I had problems writing with a pen but after a while it started to get problematic writing on a keyboard. The fingers on my right hand hit the wrong keys, and only using the forefinger makes you crazy. For many years I had the ability to typewrite with good fingering. If you loose that ability you don´t get any flow in your typing. I learned to control the computer mouse with my left hand because of the pain I had in my right arm, and I still use my left hand controlling the mouse.
Tried Different Methods
I tried different methods to get rid of my problem. I visited the doctor but I didn´t get any sensible answers, there were nothing that could be done. A midwife with a weeklong course in acupuncture gave me a few acupuncture treatments but it didn´t give any results. Neither could the naprapath help me, but the massage he gave was comfortable. By coincidence someone at my work talked about qigong. I barely had heard about it, only seen the concept but not taking any notice. I thought it was ridiculous. At that time I was a little desperate so a colleague and I joined our first course in February 2001. The same year I participated on my first summer course and I have participated on almost all summer courses since then and practised regularly at home. It took a couple of years before my arm was ok. Possibly because I was fixated on my arm so I might have locked myself. Meanwhile other problems disappeared without me thinking about it.
Intestinal Cramp
I used to have problems with my stomach. Flatulence and cramps. I´m not quite shure when those problems disappeared. It probably happened in an early stage. I didn´t even notice it because I was so focused on my arm.
Lumbago
In the eighties I hurt my back while helping a friend carrying furniture. I became a cripple for a couple of days. Thereafter I suffered from lumbago for nothing. Once I got lumbago when I was laying down in my bed watching TV. After practicing qigong for a while it occurred to me I hadn´t had lumbago for some time. Now I can note that I haven´t had lumbago since I started practise qigong.
Burning Pain
An occupational injury I no longer have is a burning pain on the back of my thigh while sitting down. I had to sit on a blanket folded as a bike seat when I drove my car to avoid pain in my thighs touching the seat. At work they gave me a height adjustable desk because I couldn´t sit down anymore. I recovered completely from this problem. I probably got more improvements that I haven´t noticed. If you are nearly sixty years old you are supposed to have problems. I feel healthier compared to when I started to practise qigong fourteen years ago. I can´t imagine not practising qigong, it simply becomes a part of your life. It´s a great way to stay healthy and prevent injuries.
Åke Buskas