About Aaron and The Unbroken Back
My name is Aaron Lipsey, I’m a physics -based back pain specialist.
More on that shortly.
You’re probably wondering who I am and how I got here. And perhaps even wondering if I’m the same as everyone else you’ve seen or heard.
And those thoughts are understandable — and justified.
My Cancer Experience
I had cancer as a child and spent a lot of time in hospitals where they did some pretty bad stuff to me (circa 1974-1979).
Someone in between the cries and the paralyzing fear, I vowed to never feel helpless like this again.
Fast forward to my teens and I’d find myself back in the hospital terrified of what was to come.
I remember then, praying to any higher power “please just get me out of this building…I’ll give you anything you want”.
I was just a kid, but medicine had already shaped the course of my life.
My only mission from then on was to never feel so powerless, scared and helpless again.
In my late teens I figured out a way to get a special library card (it cost $12 back then), and it gave me access to the University/Hospital medical library.
I’d go there for hours each day to study on my own so I knew what to do if ever I needed to help myself.
But it didn’t quite work. I’ve been in hospitals every decade (all involved surgeries) of my life. Many of which I was awake for.
And one, where the surgeon needed to do some cutting with no freezing to see if some tissue was still alive.
And most recently I had a 9 month stint with a PICC line (systemic IV).
That battle was lost, and they had to remove the greatest thing I ever got from this life (confidence wise).
It was a coral implant that allowed my eye to not only move, but look so real, even doctors couldn’t tell.
Just recently, that was taken away.
I go through things alone, not married and live inside my own head. I’m sharing this because all I ever do is read sciences, study and continue to hone skills, many believe are already up there.
Okay, I think now’s a good time to brighten the mood.
How I Got Here
I started my career deep in the trenches working with elite athletes. Not just any sport, a sport that relies heavily on physics — figure skating.
And I soaked up a ton. I worked with multiple Olympic and world coaches. Trying to gain trust in a sport I never participated in — until then.
Yep…I hit the ice, literally and felt what it was like to do what they do.
As time passed other athletes (volleyball, hockey, swimming, soccer) were being sent to me. The reason they came was due to my success in not only fixing their injuries while they enhanced their performance, but making sure any future injury became highly unlikely.
My athletes rarely got hurt and that was something you didn’t see, now or back then.
Since I was providing something that no one else could, I was kept a secret. And had a hard time surviving.
I remember parents and athletes who looked me dead in the eye and said…
“I’m sorry I can’t help you”.
And when you don’t know how to market or sell, you either starve or try to reach a larger audience.
So after spending 12 years training athletes I switched over to ‘fitness’.
Strangely enough former athletes landed at my gym door, along with high performers like lawyers, surgeons, executives and the like.
Person after person had so many injuries I was asked to help fix them during our time together.
This wasn’t physical therapy, I was training them WHILE fixing them
The Men Who Trained Me
A few years later I saw my first mentor (a world renowned spine expert) speak at a conference.
I was blown away!
After reaching out to him, I had the privilege of meeting with and learning from him.
He then introduced me to my primary coach. A man who sees backs (and the entire body) completely different from everyone else.
A man who also had a traumatic disc injury resulting in paralysis.
Which he went on to fix, undoing his own paralysis living life with no limitations.
I was the only coach he ever passed along his wisdom to. And what a 16 year lesson it was.
And as more years went by, with a mix of study and real world application, scientific patterns began to emerge.
I kept studying and added more armoury to my skillset. Leading me to soon realise our body, no matter the injury, uses physics to rebuild the injured/damaged area.
If no rebuild is applied, the new patch job is vulnerable.
Currently, only some athletes experience complete rebuilds (beyond just returning to play), as most still have weak points. Seen often post career or even with re-injury.
What I Do Today
Nowadays, I continue to work with high performers — surgeons, doctors, lawyers, athletes and those who has a desire to always better themselves.
I didn’t pick my clients. Since my approach is vastly different, not everyone will ‘get it’. And for some reason, many of those who do are in those circles.
Many of them had some pretty bad backs. One of which was a brutal injury I saw in a 14 year old ballet dancer. Another was a man who was dared to throw a sewer lid at 19 and had wrecked back until he was forty-eight.
According to them, either nothing worked or they were told their injuries were deemed unfixable. Many were told they had to live with and ‘manage’ the pain for the rest of their life.
The truth is, human tissue never stays stagnant. It’s moving in one direction or the other. Biology has no pause button.
And which direction it goes is a matter of physics.
My Passion For It All
Why is everything in my life about living fully unbroken? And feeling like you’re 20 well into your seventies.
If I’m being honest, it’s mostly fear. I’m afraid of hospitals, as the memories I feel when I’m in one terrify me.
If my head’s not messed up enough, it’s also where I feel safest if I need to be there. How bizarre is that?
I’ve done most things alone. My last surgery and recovery was me alone. But the truth is, that’s the worst way to go about things.
Every great musician, elite athlete and movie star all had someone behind the scenes who helped them realise their dream.
Some find that person by luck, some by accident and others by unexplainable timing that puts us in the right place at the right time.
Aaron Lipsey Founder - The Unbroken Back
Connect with Aaron
