Disturbing letters

Disturbing letters are received daily at the help line at chiropractic help. All is rotten in the state of Denmark, quipped one of the protagonists in Hamlet, by Shakespeare, of course.

Medical, and chiropractic greed is a large part of the problem; gross incompetence lies right alongside.

In juxtaposition, most doctors are doing their level best, but the toxic effects of many drugs, superbugs in hospitals, and yes many patients who are unwilling to alter their lifestyles add to the mess. They would rather die, or be seriously disabled than ring in the changes they know are necessary.

This page was last updated by Dr Barrie Lewis on 10th March, 2022.

But, no, all is not rotten; there's much goodwill, and hard working doctors and wise patients who are ready and willing to consider advice, hard though it may be, and to use their God given common sense.

Add to that the questionable decision to spend vast amounts on yet another operation, or more cancer treatment, means that basic healthcare eludes many poorer people.

Perhaps the hardest is chiropractors who might not recognise a heart attack in progress if they fell over one, or medical doctors who have never heard that commonly the talus bone is subluxated in a sprained ankle, causing on going severe stabbing pain, and eventually arthritis if it's not reduced.

These disturbing letters bring it all out in the open.

Disturbing letters

I wish I could answer more of your disturbing letters, but at half an hour apiece, for many of them, it's just not physically possible.

Those who write using cellphone spelling should not expect a reply; Google downgrades my whole site and I have no desire to correct your grammar. Write in English, or don't bother, because you won't get an answer to your conundrums.

What follows is ten interesting letters; each week I'll add a couple more, and delete those at the bottom.

This is a non profit site; in fact running it costs money. If each person who found my reply to their disturbing letters helpful, bought one of my Bernard Preston books, at three dollars apiece, this site would be well supported.

Described by a reader as gems, funny and healthful, from the life and work or a chiropractor, I think you'll find them worth every cent.

So here are your ten most disturbing letters. This is a new page, making interesting reading, so to begin with there will only be a few.

Chiropractic help

Chiropractic help is a site dedicated to enabling you to help yourself, so you won't have to write me disturbing letters. Somethings you cannot do, but others are certainly within your grasp. Change of lifestyle, what you eat and how much you exercise is certainly part of the deal.

Couch potatoes, smokers and those who eat crap have only pain and bucket loads of pills to look forward to; sorry to be so blunt, and, yes, there are exceptions that prove the rule.

Often these folk mentioned in disturbing letters have needlessly suffered years of pain.

• Various numbness following Cam FAI surgery
• Left side pectoralis, latissimus and triceps weakness with tingling in the hand.
• Upper back pain down my left arm sometimes right, pins needles after surgery.
• Lower back pain plus sharp stabs on the right side of my rib cage
• Pain in left groin going around back to my hip and buttocks, down my leg.
• Supra pubic, groin and muscle pain after prostectomy
• left hip and sacral pain after L4/5 fusion
• Coccyx broke in 2004, now sore for four years with involved issues
• Severe pain after "fill in" chiro adjustment

• Go from Disturbing letters to Chiropractic Coalface
• Consulting a locum - pros and cons.
  

Trauma of one sort or another can affect us all; that might be on the sports field, or a whiplash when hit by a drunk driver, for example.

Once bones have knitted it's always wise to consult a chiropractor for an examination; trauma often also tears ligaments and muscles and subluxates bones. That could be in your spine, but also in your ankle, knee or shoulder.

Many of your disturbing letters concern tingling in arms and hands. If it includes the pinkie, then it's definitely not carpal tunnel syndrome. CTS is a very tricky condition as there are usually multiple sites of irritation of the median nerve; unless the lower neck and forearm issues are also addressed, the surgery to the wrists most likely won't succeed.

Many of these chronic conditions are not going to be cured completely. Would you be prepared to go for an occasional, but regular, chiropractic treatment to relieve the symptoms by say 80 percent?

A true cure is elusive if you've allowed it to become chronic.

Healthy living tips

Healthy living tips are a series of simple suggestions as to how you can significantly improve your health and decrease your pain; look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves; they swings the odds in your favour so you're less likely to be writing one of these disturbing letters.

These healthy living tips are from the hard core experience gained at the coalface. Follow them and you're less likely to be mentioned in dispatches at disturbing letters.

Are you an older person? At some stage, perhaps soon, you'll be facing difficult questions about elective surgery in the elderly; it takes considerable wisdom deciding whether to go for that knee replacement, or not.