A Journey of Healing with My Knee, Using Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)

by Patsy Anthony-Green

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In 1973 I took a bad tumble while skiing and wrenched my left knee. Since then I have experienced minor pain, swelling, clicking, and a general feeling of disjointedness in this knee from time to time.
 
Approximately in 1986, a year or two after my diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease, my left knee swelled considerably for no apparent reason. My doctor thought it could be due to a part of the Crohn’s or an unrelated arthritis. I spent a few days in bed and then had to walk with crutches for a week or so.

Throughout the years I have noticed the symptoms in my knee come and go.  I began avoiding activities involving knee bends and running. At times my knee seemed to feel almost  “out of joint” and heavy. Looking back, I realize now that my personal feelings of disjointedness and heaviness may have been reflected by those symptoms in my knee. Often our bodies give us messages of which we are unaware, unless we learn and choose to recognize them.

This feeling of disjointedness in my knee is an interesting metaphor, the significance of which I only became aware of once I began learning EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques, a self-treatment in which one taps on acupressure points while reciting an affirmation), developed by Gary Craig. to resolve both physical and emotional issues (See Craig, Web reference). I didn’t pay much attention to how stress affected my knee before learning EFT. Therefore, I don’t remember specific times when my knee acted up and so any correlation to knee flare-ups and my life feeling disjointed or unbalanced is unreliable.

In January 2007, I began learning about Emotional Freedom Techniques and how it could help me uncover and heal the layers of my Crohn’s Disease (Anthony-Green, 2009). In March, I began to tap on issues surrounding my mother’s death from cancer. I had lost my mom three years prior to this time and I had yet to cry about my loss. I knew that this issue was an important aspect of my healing, but I resisted addressing this issue with EFT because I didn’t want to open the floodgates of emotion. I remember thinking one day that I would begin tapping on my grief after I went grocery shopping.
 
Interestingly, one day in March 2007, soon after I began using EFT for my Crohn's and exploring issues surrounding my mother, my knee went completely out of joint when I got into my car. I hadn’t twisted it and there seemed to be no physical lead up or cause. Looking back, perhaps it was my resistance to moving forward with my healing – after all, our knees do carry us forward in life.

I couldn’t sleep that night as the pain was so severe, and I didn’t take pain killers because I have become somewhat of a purist regarding how I care for myself. There is no recognized medical cure for Crohn’s Disease, but after reading Jini Patel Thompson’s excellent book, entitled 'Listen to Your Gut,' I have been motivated to heal my Crohn’s through natural supplements, foods, probiotics, oil of oregano and alternative therapies such as EFT. I have not taken any pharmaceutical drugs for over four years now. My pain, however, was at a level of 9 on a scale of 10 whenever I put weight on it. So I saw a doctor, who referred me for an MRI . I wore a tensor bandage for some time because I spend most of my days on my feet while I teach.

A few days later, I had an EFT session with my therapist, Andy Bryce, regarding my knee. During that session we primarily tapped on the physical symptoms and the pain in my knee. My pain decreased from a 7 to a 2 by just tapping as I focused my mind on my symptoms. I felt elated that I could walk up and down my stairs normally instead of hopping for the first time since it went out of joint.  I remember that I felt so great I went outside to garden for a few hours.

I continued to use EFT for a variety of issues and persisted in tapping on my own about my knee. In looking for emotional aspects I remember tapping on my hesitancy in moving forward with EFT as it still felt a little too "out there" for me at that time. The tapping seemed to help quite a bit, especially tapping while I held the awareness, “It is safe to move forward.” During this time I also used EFT to enable me to completely resolve the issues around my mother, which I had buried so deeply.  My knee continued to heal. The clicking and pain subsided and the feeling of disjointedness disappeared. 
In July 2007 I had an MRI. Afterwards, my GP told me that the results basically indicate that I have no cartilage in my left knee and he remarked that the surgeon will just tell me I will have to wait it out until I am old enough to have a knee replacement. (I am 51.)

I decided to tap seriously for the next three months while I waited to see the surgeon. During that time, I visualized the Tin Man’s oilcan from the Wizard of Oz, and tapped while I pictured infusing cartilage into my knee and making my knee flexible. My dad has had two knee replacements so I tapped on the two following limiting beliefs:

“Even though my dad has had two knee replacements and I may be genetically predisposed to sharing his fate, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”  and “Even though the doctor said I have no cartilage in my left knee and I will eventually have to have a knee replacement I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

Then I continued to tap on the fact that doctors are not always right, that I have had evidence in my past to prove this is so. I also was acquiring evidence to prove that I could heal myself through tapping. After all, I was effectively overcoming most of my symptoms of Crohn's Disease with EFT.

In October 2007 I visited the knee surgeon with my MRI report and he was baffled. He asked about my symptoms, which were 0 or 1 out of 10 at the time. Then he manipulated and felt my knee. He said, “I don’t understand this. You and your knee don’t match up at all. From that report I expected to see someone in considerable pain with significant swelling, and instead I see you. I would like to see that MRI technician.”  (See the MRI report at the end of this article.)

I told him about EFT but he seemed politely disinterested. This is something I am used to now with some people in the medical system. I left the office hoping that the MRI technician who had written my report was not going to suffer any consequences as a result of my healing methods.

Now, whenever I notice my knee, whenever it grumbles or clicks or feels heavy or out of joint, I tap while visualizing that oil (cartilage) can from the Wizard of Oz. I am able to go to the gym regularly and use a variety of equipment such as the elliptical and cycling machines, walk my dog, kayak, swim, ski, garden and do yoga. The tapping always works and I am able to do any activity I wish to do. Life is great!

References:
Anthony-Green, Patsy. Emotional Freedom Techniques: A Journey of Healing from Crohn’s Disease, International J. of Healing and Caring 2009, 9(2), 1-8.

Craig, Gary http://www.emofree.com

Appendix A: MRI report on Patricia Anthony-Green

Details of the attending physician and hospital have been removed by IJHC at the request of the physician.

 
Notes: See editorial notes on this remarkable recovery from pain.

Contact:
Patsy Anthony-Green
p.anthony@live.com 

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