In 2006 I was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. I was referred to see an orthopedic surgeon. It was too late to use an external brace at 15 years of age. The surgeon felt that any surgical intervention at this stage would be more for ‘cosmetic reasons’. The surgery was a last resort, as it was an invasive procedure involving a metal rod inserted along my spine to support my posture, however this would restrict my movement for the rest of my life. I left his room feeling disheartened with no solution. As a result, the past 4 years has been a rollercoaster of a wide range of alternative therapies. Time, hope and expenses were invested into these therapies, however I saw no positive results. In recent years my back pain worsened to a point where it was greatly affecting my daily life. I was emotionally and physically exhausted from the pain and fearful of my future quality of life. Simply sitting, standing and exercising for long periods was very uncomfortable and I experienced severe muscle spasms in my back. By this point in time I was an independent 18 year old and decided to educate myself about my spinal disorder and started a pursuit to find a solution. At this point I knew I had to fix this problem otherwise it was going to affect my future quality of life. After a lot of research of alternative therapies, no one was confident that scoliosis could be cured. At the end of 2009 I was lucky enough to hear about Chek Australia, through a friend who highly recommended the organization for back rehabilitation. Walking through the doors of Chek Australia, was a turning point in my life. My first consult with Jan Carton was very informative and for the first time instilled hope that there was potential for a successful rehabilitation. Jan’s experience was amazing as she could just take once glance at my posture and tell me more about my body than I had even realized. I knew I was in capable hands. The chek approach was very comprehensive with a detailed physical, nutritional and emotional assessment. Jan gathered all of the pieces to try and put my puzzle together. The logic was to treat the root cause of the problem rather than the superficial symptoms. Jan worked very hard at examining all my aspects of my health to devise a highly specified, corrective stretching and strengthening training program. Her unconditional encouragement, support and guidance were invaluable throughout my rehabilitation. Over the past three months, I dedicated myself to the first stage of my rehabilitation program. A recent reassessment revealed that my scoliosis had significantly improved during phase one of my rehabilitation plan. My back pain has rapidly diminished and I am able to continue my recovery without that burden. I am now able to continue my life as a much happier and healthier person with a positive future. I strongly believe Chek Australia helps people to build the skills to help themselves. It is a process you must dedicate yourself to and take responsibility for but I can testify that all the hard work pays off. I cannot express the gratitude that I have for Jan, Brodie and the Chek Australia team for all of the help they have given me. If living a happy and pain free life is what you would like to achieve then Chek Australia is the place for you. Results speak for themselves, so I hope other people can see that it has worked for me and give it a go for themselves.

Isabelle Rajendran

My time at CHEK has been a huge learning curve for me. I first went in as rehab patient after tearing my hamstring from the bone. The team brought me back from my injury in 7 months where the predicted time span was usually 2-3 years fro this type of injury, to where I could compete on the ASP world tour where I placed 3rd in the world the first year back. Jan has taught me so much about how my body health and mind works. The team at CHEK Australia is extremely knowledgableand passionate about all they do and put 100% in to everything. Without CHEK I wouldn"t have recovered from the injury and continued my surfing career and now achieved my dream as World Champion on the WCT tour 2007. Mick F

I came to CHEK Australia after suffering from ruptured and bulging discs in my lower back for 9 ˝ years. Over the years, I was treated by chiropractors, naturopaths, physiotherapists, rehab clinics and tried acupuncture. I even purchased an invert machine to relieve the pain, spending thousands of dollars and getting no where. I was not seeing any improvement at all and at times was unable to even walk. I was strongly advised to see one of the best neurologists in Sydney and contemplated surgery. The neurologist told me I had 3 options; 1. Continue with physiotherapy style treatment and hope for some improvement 2. Receive a quarterzone injection into my spine which can have complications and is only temporary. 3. Have surgery, again with no guarantee. I was also advised that a bulging disc does not repair itself and that this is something I will need to live with for the rest of my life. Being a very active person this was something I could not adjust to. During this time, I also developed incredible foot pain, suffered from bad knee joints and a shoulder injury. I managed to get by with plenty of restrictions in my lifestyle. After contacting CHEK Australia for the first time I went to my local GP to get a referral for some updated scans and x-rays. On seeing the doctor he insisted I was doing the wrong thing and that I continue resting, take an anti-inflammatory and Panadine Forte. This was not exactly the advice I wanted to hear after suffering with this pain for years. When I commenced at CHEK Australia I met Jan Carton and was put through the most thorough assessment yet and at that point I knew I had made the right decision. After 3 days of treatment I was virtually pain free and now 18 months on I have packed up my house, changed my job, moved my family from Sydney and started studying to become a CHEK Coach. I am stronger and more agile than I have ever been. I will never forget a question I was asked in the early stages at CHEK and that was, - what age would you like to live to. My response was, well I am 37 now I would hate to think of what I will be like at 50. CHEK has not just changed my life but it has benefited my wife and will no doubt shape my children’s lives. Not only do I deeply appreciate what Jan and the team at CHEK Australia have done for me, but I will be forever thankful as it has given me my life back and I now have a future to look forward to. CHEK Australia is not only professional at what they do, but they care.

Donovan Powell

In January 1996 my wife Lynne suffered a catastrophic head injury after being bucked off a young horse at our property near Hall, ACT. She suffered a fractured base skull, extra dural haemorrhage and widespread bleeding throughout the brain. She was operated on three times and spent five weeks in a coma on a life-support machine at Canberra Hospital. In March the hospital staff stated that she was moderately severely brain injured and should not undertake any form of exercise or rehabilitation apart from waiting for the injuries to stabilize over several years. Lynne was considered to be unemployable due to her injuries. I referred Lynne to Jan Carton for rehabilitation given that Lynne had lost 17kg during her coma period and was now only 35kg, weak and had lost postural control of her neck and upper and lower back. For a women who was an athletic dressage rider, swimmer, runner, cyclist and triathlete this was a devastating combination of events. Jan Carton began a long, progressive program of body and mind rehabilitation commencing in March 1996. It soon became apparent that the women written off as a severe brain injured person was starting to respond to Jan’s persistent and enthusiastic management style. A combination of weights, stretches, stationary cycle, treadmill and finally running transformed Lynne back to a strong aerobically fit athlete who, by August had run the arduous 14m City to Surf race in a creditable 78 minutes. It is now 12 months since the accident, Lynne is running, mountain biking and has returned to fulltime work as a medical practice manager. She still continues to train with Jan Carton. The contribution of Jan Carton to Lynne’s recovery from near-fatal head injury has been enormous. Her skills, enthusiasm and support have literally cut years off a long and frustrating passive rehabilitation phase from such a severe injury. I can only recommend Jan Carton in the highest manner after her brilliant work with my wife.

In 2004 my body was slowly becoming crippled with pain and wracked with immobility with lower back pain. Having a background of surfing, triathlon, golf and anything else going it was becoming quite frustrating. In 2005 it got to the point where the head surgeon of Spinal Services at a leading Sydney Hospital wanted to operate and insert metallic disks in my spine to replace my worn out, bulging discs. My body was racked with spasms and pain; it got to the point where I could not even get to my feet surfing. It was a very sad state of affairs from what I used to be like. My friend Andy King told me about Jan and the gains he had made with his return to normality following an incident which almost took his life. Andy said it would help me and I took it from there. Seeing Jan in Spring 2005 changed my life. I thought I had the perfect diet, how wrong I was with that. I thought I had a strong body, how wrong I was with that. Apart from my back issue I thought I was in good shape, how wrong I was with that…. Jan completely changed my diet, changed the stretches and began to rebuild my body. Within 6 months I dropped 5 kilos, started to feel good and then started to surf again. After some more direction and guidance I then started to think I could do a triathlon again With her help and guidance I built my training up slowly and in the 2006/2007 season I raced in my first triathlon in a long time. This season 2007/2008 I completed 6 triathlon and multi distance events lasting up to 6 hours each. If it was not for Jan and her guidance and knowledge I would not be as active as I am now and would hate to think how I would have ended up. If you want to get the best out of your mind and body and not let your body degenerate then make the leap, you will not regret it. You’ll never know if you don’t have a go
Steve Brown

Hi I am Jock Barnes. I came to CHEK Australia about 18 months ago after a life threatening injury in May 2008. I broke 3 vertebrae C6 C7 and T1. My history as a Professional surfer gave me a bit of an insight to what CHEK Australia was all about and I had heard of CHEK Australia through friends like Mick Fanning. After seeing for myself just how holistic the approach is for any kind of training whether it is for injury rehabilitation or improving as a professional athlete or just looking a bit better, I knew it was for me. It goes through the whole spectrum; mental, physical and whole anatomy. There is nothing overlooked and nothing missed. As such I managed to get out of a neck brace in 3 months and was surfing in 5 months. The injury could have killed me or at least made me a quadriplegic so I can't say enough for what I have found here at CHEK Australia.

Jock Barnes

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