Today I want to share with you how Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine helped me and assisted me with healing after a traumatic event I experienced.
When I was 19, I was involved in a serious car accident. I was with a friend and we driving to a friend’s 21st birthday party. It was night, but the sky was clear and the roads were dry. We missed the road that we needed to turn into so continued driving and began a U-turn down the bottom of the road. It was a brand-new road and quiet.
However, as we were halfway through the u-turn – we were T boned by a van coming down the hill – the Toyota corolla that we were in (my friend was driving) was completely totaled and a write-off. The whole back of the car was pushed in and the driver’s car seat came off its hinges and hit me in my ride hand side hip. Her elbow connected with my right jaw and luckily, I passed out before the car hit when I heard the screech of tires.
I was told over and repeatedly that I was very lucky to be here. I remember waking up on the ground. Waking up in absolute agony we people telling me I was in shock. I was thinking yes, I know but it hurts.
My friend and I were taken to the nearest hospital – I remember being wheeled in and seeing pipes with stuffing and other stuff coming out of the ceiling. I was having trouble breathing as with the broken jaw – the blood kept pooling in my mouth and needed to be suctioned out. My clothes were cut off me – my favourite top was cut in half. I was in and out of consciousness and it was all a bit of blur. I was wheeled to x-ray for x-rays, blood was taken, and I was given heavy pain killers.
I ended up being transferred to another hospital which was closer to my parents’ house at 1am in the morning and then sat in the hallway until about 3am when a bed was found. The next day was more and more x-rays and ultrasounds.
I had broken my jaw in 5 places, my right-hand side collarbone was broken, and my hip was dented. I was meant to have surgery that morning however didn’t get in until 4pm in the afternoon. After the surgery – they had to wake me up as I wasn’t coming out of the anesthetic and once they finally woke me up – I wasn’t allowed to go back to sleep as they worried that I wouldn’t wake up again.
Although it sounds ok – 5 broken bones in the jaw and a broken collarbone, having your jaw wired together for 2 months and only being able to eat through a straw is not ideal. I was pumped full of antibiotics as my jaw had been broken and they didn’t want an infection to set in.
I was in hospital for 3 days and had broken jawbones, a broken collarbone and I was black and blue all over my right side from my shoulder to my right ankle.
My spine was pushed 5cam to the left side. I began chiropractic treatment every day.
I was on heavy medication and I was determined to get back to uni.
This is just talking about the physical trauma that occurred to my body.
From this car accident, I have to say that the physical and emotional and mental trauma that I went through changed my perspective on life.
One friend after the accident stopped talking to me – to this day I have no idea why – other than it is her stuff to deal with. Yet when you are 19 and your friendship group suddenly shifts and people who you thought you could count on disappear, even though you realize who your real friends are and who you can rely on it still hurts at the time.
Physically, I lost 25 kgs with my jaw being broken and not being able to eat correctly. After having the jaw unwired, my bite was incorrect, and this led to ulcers on the left-hand side of my teeth. I ended up having to have braces for 4 years at the age of 21.
They had wanted to break my jaw again – but I wasn’t going through that again, so I choose braces.
Physically my body was healing. However, with the antibiotics that I was still on, I was sick every week with any cold or virus that came through as the antibiotics damaged my immune system so much.
Emotionally – I was closing. There was a rift in my friendship group, after the accident my friend the driver was charged with dangerous driving and my other friends blamed myself.
At 19 I couldn’t put into perspective what was happening. I was trying to be strong mentally and emotionally yet failing big time. While going back to work and uni helped in some regards. I was feeling numb and depressed and I was not coping.
My chiropractor was terrific. I was seeing him daily and he could see that I was healing physically yet still dealing with a lot of other stuff. I had been referred to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with PTSD – put on antidepressants and told they would help. Every session was talking about the accident friends etc, yet that made it worse not better. The antidepressants weren’t helping – they were just making me feel numb and I wasn’t feeling. So, I took myself off them.
My chiropractor recommended that I see a friend of his – a Chinese Medicine practitioner.
Here was someone who didn’t judge who listened and then explained what was going on. He listened and I felt heard and understood.
I had a fear of needles – I used to kick the nurse when they wanted to take my blood – ironically, I became one of those vampire ladies at the age of 21!
Chinese medicine assisted me to put back the pieces of myself. But the person that I reassembled was a different person. I now understood emotional, physical and mental trauma, yet I hadn’t quite processed it all.
My Chinese Medicine Practitioner assisted me to heal my shen and reconnect it. He also helped me to build up my immune system, assist with my digestion, my pain, and begin to process everything that happened.
This was a long journey – over 2 years. Yet because of him – I have now ended up as a TCM practitioner because he was able to hep me in a way that no one else could.
This is also one of the reasons that I became a Chinese Medicine Practitioner because I want to assist people the same way that he was able to help me put Julia back together again – broken but stronger.
People look at my x-rays and the first they say is “trauma:
Trauma encompasses so many things – physical, mentally and emotionally.
Many people can have emotional trauma but as they don’t have physical symptoms people tell them to buck up.
Trauma affects many people and in different ways. So before judging ask yourself – is this person ok.
The fact is with trauma – TCM was really solution for me, nothing else really worked. For myself, I feel this was because he addressed my mind, body and spirit not just the symptoms of physical issues and this was the pivotal point of treatment.
How I assist with trauma – again it depends on my client and what they need. Sometimes it might be to talk, of for me to provide a safe space for them to relax or just some time out from other professional appointments.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing my story.
If you are experiencing trauma, please feel free to reach out if you need support because I am here to help you and support you on your journey of healing. You can book a consultation here where we can discuss a personalised treatment plan for you and immediately put steps in place to help you feel better.
