Still putting up with the pain? Skyport June 2004
What do we do? Some say that we should tolerate the aches and learn to live with the pains.

Not according to Dr.Rupert Simpson, Chiropractor and Acupuncturist, of The Thames Clinic in Staines.

“Many causes of pain stem from joints that do not move properly. So the question is why does a joint that doesn’t move properly cause pain? Probably the most important reason can be seen by looking at the way the nerves work in the body.

Normally each and every joint sends a mass of information through the nerves to our brain. In this way we know with remarkable accuracy the position of our head, trunk, legs and arms.

By contrast, when a joint is not working to its full range of movement there is clearly less nerve information travelling back to the brain. With less joint position information going back to the brain there is a marked increase in the firing of pain signals. The more normal the joint movement, the better your nervous system works, the less pain you have. The more movement there is the more life you have.

Therefore the art of a Chiropractor is the ability to identify the exact way in which a joint doesn’t move adequately and the skill to make a specific correction to that joint. There are many different ways of making a correction. The type of correction is painless and needs to be matched to the patient”

So does the theory work? Linsey Pavitt was recommended to consult a Chiropractor for her neck. She had severe neck pain which was worse at night. It would wake her several times and her head movement was limited.

Lindsay Pavitt, Headteacher Hawkedale Infant School Sunbury on Thames Lindsay reports.” Not knowing a great deal about Chiropractic I consulted Yellow Pages to find an accredited practitioner who was recognised by a professional association and someone who was also highly qualified. On my first visit, I was impressed by Dr Simpson’s manner.

He immediately put me at ease – essential when your spine is being corrected – and was extremely through with his examination.He devised a treatment plan – 3 visits a week initially, and was honest about the expected outcome and the amount of treatment needed. For me, it is not a ‘quick fix’ as my condition is the result of years of ‘front sleeping’.

After two weeks of treatment , I now get an undisturbed nights sleep and the range of movement in my neck is vastly improved.

Dr.Simpson is highly knowledgeable, enthusiastic about his profession and very competent – he genuinely cares about giving each of his patients a better quality of life”.

In the next article Dr Simpson will look at the link between pain, acidity and food.

The Thames Clinic
Goring’s Square Church
Street Staines
TW18 4EW Tel: 01784 456711


Tired all the time? Skyport July 2004
For many of us we drag ourselves through life with one major complaint – we are tired all the time.

Does the amount of protein that we eat, which has significantly increased over the last twenty years help make us feel tired all the time? Diets like Atkins or South Beach are examples of this trend towards eating more and more protein.

Do we need to look to the past? Dr Richard Lee, perhaps the world’s foremost anthropologist, considers that the idea that we were meat eating cavemen is something of a myth. He points out that women were responsible for supplying the calories in most hunter gatherer societies and those calories came from gathered plants, grasses, nuts, seeds, roots and tubers – not meats. There are few archaeological records to show that our remote ancestors evolved by gorging huge quantities of meat.

Do we need so much protein? A baby will double it’s birth weight in 6 months only drinking mother’s milk containing 1.5% protein Dr Rupert Simpson, Chiropractor and Acupuncturist, at the Thames Clinic in Staines says “the typical high protein diet, which is an acidic diet, makes a significant contribution towards being tired all the time.

I see many people who suffer with back problems. Those same patients typically complain of being tired all the time. Jane was typical in this respect, her life compromised low back pain and low energy all made worse by being overweight. Both Chiropractic and Acupuncture help with all three of these problems but the question was what Jane could do to support treatment and help herself. The alkaline approach to diet that we recommend not only increases energy levels it also has two important side effects – the reduction in pain and the loss of weight.”

So how do we get more energy? “We only need to look to the working of our cells, nerves and blood. The human body is alkaline by design. Your individual cells work more efficiently and your nerves are more excitable if they are in a slightly alkaline environment. When cells work more efficiently and the nerves are more alive we are bound to be more enthusiastic and vibrant.”

Dr Simpson continues “You can even carry more oxygen in the blood if the blood is slightly alkaline. If we can carry more oxygen we will have more energy. This can be seen if we look at the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise; aerobic means that the cells within us are producing energy with oxygen. Anaerobic is producing energy without oxygen. The amazing thing is that one unit of sugar combined with oxygen will produce 30 units of energy. By contrast, one unit of sugar without oxygen will only produce 3 units of energy. Since we can produce 10 times more energy with oxygen the most important thing is to maximise the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry. The maximum amount of oxygen that the blood can carry happens when the blood is slightly alkaline.

How the does acidity and pain link together? “Another patient, Chris, is a good example of the connection between acidity and pain. Chris suffered with two complaints, heartburn and gout. The heartburn was due to the acidic contents of his stomach coming up the wrong way. Chris deep down knew that his heartburn and gout was made worse by eating a lot of protein. The gout affected his big toe joint which became so painful he could hardly walk. He got little sympathy from his wife because it would always flare up when Chris indulged in eating and drinking. This created internal acidity and heightened levels of pain.”

“Over four months Jane is delighted with her shift over to an alkaline diet. She has increased her energy levels and she does not live with pain all the time. The extra bonus is that she has so far lost three stone.”

“Try it out. Eat as low down on the food chain as possible by eating fruits and vegetables. Follow the ¾ rule. Fill your plate with ¾ plant and ¼ animal food. Over–consumption of meats, grains, eggs and dairy products can lead to toxicity and eventually disease.”

In the next article Dr Simpson will look at the link between acidity and osteoporosis.

The Thames Clinic
Goring’s Square Church
Street Staines
TW18 4EW Tel: 01784 456711


Why not do the twist?
At some point in our lives, 80% of us living in the West will suffer with disabling low back pain.

More work days are lost from low back pain than any other form of disability in the UK. The number of working days lost has doubled every decade, currently standing at 60 million in the UK alone.

This places back pain as the number one cause of disability after cardiovascular disease.

We often talk about having slipped a disc. The disc itself does not slip anywhere. The disc is made up of a fibrous outside and a more fluid centre which softens the shock of spinal movement.



The disc with outer fibres angled at 30 degrees to the horizontal


Slack outer disc fibres

Twisting and turning to the left means that half the outer fibres of the disc go slack.

The fibres around the outside of the disc are angled at roughly 30 degrees. This means that if we do the twist in one direction only one set of the angled fibres tighten and the other set slacken.

The result of the twist then is to let roughly half of the outside fibres go slack and the other half go tight. This is the moment when any weakness in the tight fibres will let the cushiony centre of the disc protrude to the outside. This then presses on nerve roots, so called ‘trapping the nerves’.

So how do we end up doing the twist? One possibility is lifting and twisting at the same time. Lifting the baby out of the bath is a good example of almost unavoidable lifting and twisting.

Another possibility of twisting the low back is having an uneven pelvis. This means full time twisting for as long as we are on our feet. Have a friend lie you on your front and let them look at your heels whilst your feet are together. Are they even or is one leg apparently shorter than the other? This is like the tracking of the car being out of alignment so that the tyre wears out on one side.

An uneven pelvis puts a side bend in the spine which twists the disc making it liable to ‘slip’ or become arthritic.

Carole Band was suffering a lot of pain due to her spine being out of line. ‘About seven years ago I had a very nasty skiing accident which resulted in a broken coccyx. Whilst the bone healed itself, it had become very painful to sit for any length of time. However as my work was office based , I adapted my seating position that resulted, over a period of 18 months, in throwing my spine out of line leading to severe back pain.’

‘The situation had became so severe that I was in pain for about 95% of the time and was taking on average 5 days a month off work.’

Eventually on the recommendation of a colleague of my husband I tried chiropractic treatment. I went to The Thames Chiropractic Clinic in Staines . It took a period of 8 weeks to notice a significant difference in both the pain levels I was experiencing and the posture I was adopting. Gradually over a few months the pain went to 30% of the time and now I can honestly say that I am 97% pain free.’

Activities like yoga can help prevent disc damage and we will take a look at more preventative measures next month.

The Thames Chiropractic Clinic
10B Gorings Square
Church Street Staines
TW18 4EW 01784 456711
www.thethamesclinic.com


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