Here is a summary I what I learnt about the recovery process.

• It is bloody difficult.
• It is always a case of 2 steps forward, 1 step backwards.
• Old symptoms resurface.
• Good weeks and bad weeks - relapses will occur.
• If a treatment is not done properly it is a waste of time.
• Do most of the treatment yourself (i.e. proactive, not a passive receiver of treatment).

Keeping up the momentum over a long period of time is perhaps the most difficult part. In some ways the fact that I had suffered personally so much pain was a great motivator. It was worth any amount of hard work to avoid what I had already gone through. If I was ever lacking in motivation I had only to remember how I had felt in the past.

I did not realise originally how much work it would be. The distance I have come is enormous, I don't think I would probably have been able to face it if I had known. To begin with I told myself "if I can only deactivate my TPs I'll be back to normal", then "If I can only find a way to stop them reactivating, then I'll be right", and so on In many ways it is a comfort to me to know it was such hard work, I now feel I have put some real distance between me and what I was like. Distance that I am hoping cannot easily be overtaken again. I also found that whilst professional treatments were helpful, they no where near enough. It was up to me to put 90% of the work into curing myself. That said, regular visits to a supportive professional (I visited regularly a sports massage therapist and an acupuncturist) are great in keeping up the morale. The people I saw gave me lots of encouragement, kept tabs on my progress and gave me many useful suggestions for my personal recovery programme. Their objective opinion on my current condition and progress was invaluable feedback.

One notable fact I found was that during recovery old symptoms would resurface. This was scary to begin with, as I thought I was going back to the beginning again. However, they would always go away again upon continued recovery, although they would usually be replaced by another set of discomfort / aches and pains. Eventually I built up the confidence that, even though I didn't feel well now the symptoms I currently had would eventually go to. Although it has taken 5 years virtually all the lingering symptoms (weakness/numbness in index fingers, pains in wrists, headaches and neck TPs) have finally gone. If they pop back for a while I console myself with the knowledge that, doing things right they will go again.