Ouch

I am now back (almost) in the land of the living. According to the surgeon, all went well and there were a few extra tasks he had to perform as it was so grotty! I arrived home late last Thursday evening after a nine hour taxi ride from Newcastle and I am now just letting everything heal - the eleven suture clips are being removed on Friday and I should feel better after that! It is every bit as sore as I had been warned it would be and I am being very spoiled by Andrea who insists I do nothing - just rest. Many thanks to everyone who have sent messages of support. As I am not working clinically until the middle of January at least, I shall have plenty of time to finish off a couple of articles and carry on with writing my latest book on The Holistic Spine.

Surgery

This will be my last blog for a few days as I am off to Newcastle for surgery on my neck. I am looking forward to it in a sort of masochistic kind of way and hope that it does the trick. I am not usually an advocate of surgery and always consider it should be a last resort (unless performed by persuasive scalpel happy bods). I know that initially it will create a different kind of pain, but the pain of surgery wears off after a few days and it is then that you know if the original pain has gone.. I hope to be back in blog land on Friday.

Treat the patient - not the condition

The type of therapy that I have pioneered over many years is very effective. That is not just me being big headed - it comes from scores of my patients and my workshop delegates. I try to make it crystal clear to everyone, though, that this therapy is NOT a cure all and that it is the patient/client who is treated not necessarily the disease or condition.

None of us can cure the uncurable!! If the dis-ease process within the patient has already reached the point of organic or neural irreversible anatomical or physiological change, then all we can do, as caring practitioners is to help support the patient by attempting to make their life easier. We cannot play God. Also, a minor percentage of people actually do not want to improve - for whatever deep seated reason, they need their dis-ease.

This train of though takes me back about thirty five years when Andrea and I started to attend Wrekin Trust meetings and mingle with people who, shall I say, had both their heads and feet in the clouds! When we approached people to ask what they did, the reply was often 'I am a healer'. Yuk!! Many of these people were genuine caring souls, but did not have a clue when it came to the many boundaries that therapy is based upon. All practitioners have an obligation to their clients and patients not to attempt any form of treatment, be it physical therapy or something more esoteric until they have a sound knowledge and expertise of their chosen therapy. The first law of natural medicine that was coined by Hahnemann, based upon Hippocrates is 'Firstly do no harm'. Sadly, due to ignorance of medicine, this basic premise is often compromised.

Biomagnets

I continue to receive emails from practitioners all over the world asking me about acupuncture with the chakra energy system that includes the use of copper and zinc needles. I have just replied to someone in Italy extolling the virtues of biomagnets (also an Appendix in the orange book). I first met this approach to healing in the late 1970's whilst training with the British Biomagnetic Association. They are perfect in most hormonal imbalances by using the key points of the extraordinary meridians of TCM. I now use them with the chakras - perfect for treating children and those people who are needle phobic. They are extremely small and have a small guass strength (similar to the body's own magnetic force) and need to be placed on the acupoint and secured with micropore. The only snag is that they are very difficult to get hold of now, but they obviously last a lifetime. For those practitioners who want to try them and cannot get the exact ones, I suggest you buy the lowest guass strength you can. I have a few spare ones for sale if you get stuck. Let me know how you get on with them - full details on how to use them in the orange book.

That photo!

I have a confession to make! The photograph that accompanies this blog and my web site is not a recent one - it was actually take about 10 years ago when I was Director of Therapies at Tyringham Naturopathic Clinic. Apart from ghastly passport and driving license photos I haven't had one taken since - never had the need. So I am sorry to disappoint all of those who meet me for the first time who are actually thinking who this ancient codger is! The photo will stay until another one comes along - just call it vanity on my part.

Further to the traumas of the no go Newcastle trip last week, I have just been told that there is now a cancellation at a hospital in Washington (Tyne and Wear not DC) on 24 November. The jungle drums have been working overtime here and word got round that I was working next week (starting tomorrow). The extra money will come in handy towards my trip. Clinical stuff next time.

Copper and Zinc needles

In my book 'Acupuncture and the Chakra Energy System', I mention in the Appendices the use of copper and zinc needles as an alternative to stainless steel needles. I enumerate all the pros and cons of these wonderful non invasive needles. I have been asked on numerous occasions where they may be purchased. The only outlet I have in the U.K. is Harmony Medical - they will ship worldwide. The copper needles are called MP Needle P type and the zinc ones are MP Needle L type. There are 10 in each packet and seem rather expensive at £15 each packet, but they are reuseable and should last many years. They can be used in many different ways apart from the chakra energy system. The copper ones are magnificent in treating localized inflammation such as wounds and shingles (place the needles around the area) and the zinc ones are brilliant in the treatment of scar tissue. I couldn't do without them - likewise biomagnets, which I will mention another time.

If anyone has further queries about these needles - please ask.

Science - Part 2

I was just about to write this blog when I saw a letter in Frontline by Gillian Akkermans in reply to someone who castigated the appearance of homoeopathic courses in the Journal and, indeed, everything else that wasn't researched based. Part of her reply is " Just because we don't yet have proof does not mean that proof does not exist. It just means that our knowledge is limited. Thank heavens for those who push the boundaries to try and find answers. Rigidly following evidence-based practice is the death knell to innovation and I hope that there are members of my profession who will continue to push these boundaries so that physiotherapy will advance rather than stagnate."

Great stuff Gillian - could not have put it better myself

Best laid plans......

I should have been on my way down to Newcastle today for surgery on my neck tomorrow. However, I was told last night there there are no beds available due to many road traffic accidents in the area - hey ho. I now have to wait another month to go down again and this time, as it will be a change of hospitals have to pay quite a lot more for the privilege. So I shall pick myself up and carry on. I am a great believer in fate and, for whatever reason, I wasn't meant to travel this weekend. More on science and therapy tomorrow.

Science - Part One

I have lost count the number of times I've been told that touch therapy has no scientific basis and that it is an affront on my part to practice it under the guise of physiotherapy - WOW! Arrogant or what! I try and keep my cool and answer in the only way I know how, with tact and decorum . There are, of course, many ways to answer these accusations and below is a precis :-

1. Yes, of course its nice to have everything research based and scientifically proven, if that is what you want, but do you seriously think that everything that is practiced in therapy and medicine is researched based - of course it isn't.

2. You cannot scientifically prove that which is, by definition, not scientifically based. It is only because we are living in a scientific age that it is assumed that everything should be.

3. All medicine, traditional and modern is empirical and the roots of original thought and pioneering were handed down from father to son. Each generation practiced with subtle changes with traditional trial and error until the whole of a particular philosophy made sense because it was demonstrably proved to work. [by working with humans - not animals!!!]

4. Quite frankly, I would rather be part of the traditional values of naturopathic medicine that puts emphasis on self healing using natural means and obeys the laws of cure rather than a system of medicine that suppresses symptoms with toxic drugs and other methodology.

5. Medicine has become far too hung up on cellular activity and has lost the wholeness of treating mind, body and spirit. Part two next time. Be well.

Last Clinical Day

Sorry about time between the last blog and this one - I have been really busy and the past two days has seen the Server down! My last clinical day is on Tuesday prior to going down to Newcastle for my operation - no lifting etc (including washing up?) for 6 weeks which will take us nicely to Christmas and Hogmanay.

I continue to receive many emails (and phone calls) each day from therapists all over the world asking practical questions on some of the touch therapy methods I've devised. It continues to be one of the greatest joys of my life in giving advice to other therapists either at a distance or in a workshop. I have stated now for very many years that acupressure is NOT a watered down version of acupuncture and that it can be much more powerful when used effectively. Why then don't more people practice it? I personally think acupressure and other touch therapies are natural extensions of one of our core modalities in physical therapy, namely massage. When I trained in the late 1960's, massage was one of the most important disciplines in physiotherapy - now it is almost forgotten as an undergraduate study and has to be learned at post graduate level - how crazy. Physiotherapists generally do not know how to use touch and tend to treat their patients at a distance with exercise or electro therapy. There are many reasons for this - lack of time, too many patients or lack of scientific approval (NEXT BLOG!!) to name just three. I intend to carry on these themes over the next few weeks - interlinking with more light hearted stuff.