Bidwell Park in Chico, California, has always been one of my favourite places. It has more than 3,600 acres of protected terrain and is teeming with trails through forested and open field areas for hikers, joggers, nature lovers and mountain-bikers like myself.
On a Saturday afternoon in December 2008, I was mountain-biking along one of the many trails in Upper Bidwell Park and hurrying to return home as it got dark at about 5.30pm at that time of year. I was fully geared up, but was on my own.
Looking back I know it was a mistake to be mountain-biking on my own, but that solo mountain-biking trip led me to discover a new healing technology and led me down a completely different career path.
In my haste to get back home that night, my front tyre collided with a lava rock, throwing me over the handlebars. I crossed my arms and hands in front of my face as I was going to land head first.
My arms hit the ground and my right hip hit off a large boulder and stopped my momentum, but the quick stop was not a good thing. I thought at first that I had broken my hip and wrists but adrenalin got me up and over to my bike, which luckily was okay to ride.
It was now 5pm, getting dark and I was 8½ miles from the end of the trail. I had my phone with me but there was no coverage so I had no option but to cycle home, even though I was in severe pain.
Bloody and bruised
I arrived home bloody and bruised and had a shower. When I went to dry my right leg I couldn’t feel it; there was no pain. I just couldn’t feel it, it was completely numb. I went to bed and when I gingerly got out the next morning I took one step and fell flat on my face. The pain was so severe I couldn’t even stand.
I went for an MRI scan, my hip was just badly bruised, but a further scan on my spine showed I was in trouble. I had multiple herniated discs, with one large herniation with disc material extending 18mm up the spinal canal and compressing two nerves which was why I had no feeling in my leg. Within five days, my foot started to drop and I could not lift it.
Over the next few weeks I went for further tests and saw four different doctors. I was still in severe pain and taking lots of anti-inflammatories and painkillers. I had another pinched nerve, a herniated disc in my neck, numbness in my right arm, weakness in my right thigh and lower leg. I was a mess.
One doctor was wary of doing surgery. He warned the outcome could be worse. Another neurosurgeon I saw wanted to operate immediately. The conflicting opinions really worried me and I set up yet another appointment with a doctor in the San Francisco Spine Institute.
I had to wait four weeks and, in the meantime, started researching the effects of different treatments, ultrasound, infra-red technology, and so on. I have always been really interested in chemistry and I figured out that I needed to find something to act as a semi-conductor.
I had heard about germanium and I studied the Japanese who had been using it orally to improve circulation for years. I experimented with the combination of carbon and germanium and made myself a back brace, lined with both chemical properties embedded in the fibres.
When I finally got to see the next doctor, he told me that the nerve damage was done and there was little that could help it. I started wearing my homemade back brace and when I saw him again three weeks later, he was amazed I could walk better and my foot drop was improving.
I kept wearing the brace and improving, but the nerve damage was permanent. That was the impetus for me to try to come up with new products.
My sister has diabetes so I made her some socks and it sorted out her cold feet. My friend suffered with arthritis in his knee so I made a brace for him and he said the pain improved immediately. I couldn’t believe it and started making things for other people over the next year.
Launch of brand
I decided there was a real future in what I had come up with and the Incrediwear brand was launched. It took time, I was still recovering from the fall throughout 2009, but in January 2010 Incrediwear socks were launched and in the autumn of that year the first braces made it to market.
The motto for the Incrediwear brand has since become “life without limits” and focuses on helping people live active, healthy and happy lives. All the products are infused with circulation-enhancing elements, specifically carbon (derived from bamboo charcoal) and germanium.
Both are semiconductors activated by body heat, creating cellular vibrations that dramatically increase blood flow. The increased blood flow delivers more oxygen to the affected area, promoting acceleration in healing, while reducing pain, inflammation and fatigue.
While supported by medical professionals, it has been gratifying for me that professional athletes have started to use Incrediwear. Basketball players, golfers, snowboarders, mountain bikers, Olympians, road cyclists, polo players and football players find that wearing the products significantly helps with their recovery rate. For a sports enthusiast like me, it has been hugely gratifying to see.
Even though I had worked as a chiropractor before, it was still a shock to me to realise how many people live with pain on a continual basis. It is debilitating and has a huge impact on their lives.
The Incrediwear range is distributed in more than 20 countries and is continuing to grow, so now it’s time to develop more products. Little did I think as I lay at the bottom of that ravine that this is what I would be doing now.
See incrediwear.ie or call 01-214 3674