15 years without pain

[Vegan-Johnny]

Johnny Eggleton
I live Great Horkesley near Colchester.

I have been riding a Cris Holme 36" unicycle for 15 years of I am 64 years young.

I have done somewhere around 100,000 miles on a racing bike, when I was 40 I started getting serious back pain & for 10 years lived on pain killers & ibuprofen, on the bike I was happy, working I was constantly in pain, the slightest wrong move & I would be in agony, spent 1000’s on osteopath treatment, which would help but not cure me, I loved running & could no longer do this.
One day I decided I had to find a way to fix myself, I Google searched & unicycling came up, I started with a 16", after a lot of hurting myself i ft finally masted it & could feel the benefit, pain just decreased day by day, my whole body feeling trued up, I progressed to a 24", addicted to unicycling, noticing that if your mind was elsewhere I would fall off, so could empty my thoughts & focus on riding, after a year, no pain at all, I was told I I should not run & definitely not jump, I had fixed myself & decided I would buy a 36", I could jump off this, riding everywhere, the feeling of wellness unbelievable.
Almost four years ago I was in my van waiting at road works traffic lights, when a car crashed into me at 60mph, I opened the door & fell on the floor, in shock & pain, my head feeling like it was going to explode, no ambulance came & after half an hour the police arrived & took me to hospital, four weeks off work, the lwb van a right off, a high frequency noise in my head, I tried to convince myself it would go away, tinnitus now for life & my balance has gone, no longer able to ride my unicycle, three years of assed just sitting on it holding on to rails helps.
My injury claim still not settled & now after four years I am accused of exajurating my claim, my medical records from years ago, state I am in permanent pain, I have not seen my GP for back pain in 15 years, how can I explain this,
I spoke with Roger at unicycle.com & he suggested I post my story.

Thanks

Johnny

[DrD]

Welcome to unicyclist.com… it is a shame you have not joined under happier circumstances.

It is interesting to hear how unicycling helped you overcome your pain in the past. I understand that you may not be able to ride any more because of your balance problems from the accident. If just sitting on the unicycle while stationary helps it suggests it is the posture that is helping – would you be able to get the same effect sitting on an exercise ball or a bike with a very upright riding position? Either may be a bit more practical than sitting on the unicycle at a rail. I’m sure you have thought of all this and myriad other options though and discussed with your GP.

With respect to your injury claim, do you have any photos or videos of you riding your unicycle which would show that you were previously able to do so and now cannot? These would not show that you were not in any pain at the time but may illustrate a you were able to partake in sporting activities which would be quite difficult if you were suffering from chronic pain.

Anyhow, for what it is worth, you have my sympathy and I hope things work out.

(I am not a medical doctor BTW… )