Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXV

1 6 2 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I L aura Coppèe is a practitioner of holistic physical therapies who over the course of her career has helped many people escape from pain many regular physicians told them was incurable. Laura, who runs her holistic wellbeing clinic out of West Palm Beach, Florida, explains the wonderful effects her treatments can have on those who had resigned themselves to a lifetime of pain. Once, a few years ago, I found myself at a dinner conference with many medical professionals from all across the field. At the start of the evening, we all stood up to introduce ourselves; when I stood up, I passed a postcard around which had written on it “I am free of pain”. At the end of the conference, one lady doctor came to me and told me that I should not spread lies, because one could not be truly free of pain. She explained that she had received all types of treatments and was currently receiving psychological help because she could not deal any more with her constant pain and headaches. She had even been forced to close her medical practice because she was simply in too much pain. I told her that I accepted the challenge to get her pain free, and that if there were no change in her symptoms by the sixth session, she would get her money back. This lady had suffered for 15 years from pain all over her body, and her legs differed in length by over an inch. She could not wear regular shoes and had been forced to wear custommade orthotic shoes for the past five years. Before I met her, she had received over 300 prolotherapy injections in her spine from the neck to the sacrum. She took all kinds of medication, all without results, and in fact her symptoms were getting worse as the years went by. By the second session of therapy withme, the changes started, but she could not believe it. By the third session she started to sleep better, and after six weeks she was able to go barefoot, something she hadn’t been able to do for many years, as her uneven right leg became shorter. She stopped wearing custom-made footwear and went shopping for cute shoes. The rest is history. She was treated for an entire year and suffered no headaches, no shoulder pain, back pain, knee pain or leg pain. She was able to wear all type of shoes including high heels. By the end of the year, her boyfriend proposed to her – because she could go to the beach and do outings without complaining of pain – then she got married and moved away. She still writes to tell me how well she is doing. Because my hands-on treatments are so gentle, they are often mistaken for simple massages, but the truth is I am a trained medical professional, specialising in manual therapy. I have an osteopathic background, and I use a blend of several approaches of manual therapy, giving it a unique quality. My treatment approaches have a scientific basis. Many times, people are led to believe that they cannot be out of pain. The truth is, simply, that some people are not always willing to do what it takes to get rid of the pain. To state it simply, I provide pain relief and restore movement. I help people who suffer from chronic and acute pain, headaches, difficulty walking, numbness in arms and legs, and stiff joints. When a client comes to me, I perform a thorough evaluation to identify the source of their problem. Then, I proceed to treat those affected structures with my hands. In my early days as a physical therapist, I felt that using modalities such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation or hot and cold packs, for example, placed some limitation or restriction on my treatments. I also noticed that when I treated a client using manual therapy, the results were astounding. It is uplifting to know that I am able to change my clients’ lives in so many ways, and that I am able to alleviate people’s pain. For the most part, some had no hope or were told that they will always be in pain. Though only a few can truly appreciate the fine touch relief that my sophisticated treatments can bring them, I am able to travel and bring that excellence to clients wherever they are in the world.