Chiropractic put an end to my back agony...

Although he'd had a recuring back problem for several years. Nick Johnson had never sought proper
help. “Then in the summer of 1990, my girl friend Sally and I were doing up our bathroom and I foolishly helped to carry a cast-iron bath up the stairs," recalls Nick, a 35-year old computer consultant
from London. "My back seemed to stand up to the strain at the time but two weeks later, after a game of football, it felt really sore. By the time I'd driven home, I could hardly get out of the car. And by the evening, I was flat out on the bed unable to move - I was in agony."

Nick immediately called out his GP who told him that he had torn some of his back muscle and that his joints had completely stiffened up. "He prescribed me pain killers, but they just made my condition worse." says Nick. "because my back didn't hurt so much I began to move around when I shouldn't, doing even more damage."

Nick decided to look for alternative help and chose chiropractic, a system that treats various disorders by manipulating the spine. "At my first appointment the Chiropractor told me that I had the back of an old man, not a 35-year old!” says Nick.

"He immediately put me oil a special programme of treatment and exercises. The back massage - machine is sheer luxury" he says. "But another treatment requires a lot of good faith. The chiropractor stands behind me, puts his arms around my chest and literally, lifts me off the ground – he’s a man in his 50s and I’m 5'11'' and 13 stone!

There is another treatment where he seems 10 put the whole of his body weight on one point of my spine. The aim is to release nerves so they function normally," Nick explains, "he knows exactly what he's doing, and the pressure lie applies is carefully measured.”

Amazingly, it only took a couple of sessions for Nick to notice the difference. "At first I would go to the chiropractor once a week, but after a month or so I only went once a fortnight Now I still see him, but only once every six months," he says.

Now Nick says his back is doing so well, he is rarely aware of any problems, "Before I saw the chiropractor barely a day went by, that I wasn't in some pain," he says. "I used to be very wary of alternative medicines. Now, I have to admit I've become more sceptical about conventional medicine than the natural variety!" Karen Evennett

What is chiropractic?
• This alternative therapy specialises in the manipulation of the joints to correct various disorders.

• It is the largest healing profession after medicine and dentistry

• Recent studies have shown it to be more effective than hospital treatment for back pain.