LOWER BACK TROUBLES

by C. Leslie Thomson

Reports that a medical group has recently been formed to study the “commonest cause of inability to work -­‐ back trouble” prompts me to express a few thoughts on the subject. Having been trained—like all graduates of the Edinburgh School of Natural Therapeutics -­‐ to recognise signs of derangement in lower-­‐back structure, and having fairly diligently applied that knowledge for forty years, I feel less-­‐than-­‐usually inhibited by modesty.

Many hundreds of persons have come to us -­‐ usually ‘as a last resort’ -­‐ with histories of months, years and even decades of persistent and disabling aches in the lower back. Mostly we have been able, by simple manipulation, to give prompt relief. However, the duration of benefit from a single, initial treatment varies tremendously with the individual. In some cases it may be for only a day or so; more often for at least several weeks; in favourable instances, a solitary adjustment maybe regarded as ‘complete’, in the sense that there is no recurrence of distress (unless further violent injury is sustained). Even if the first application has only a transient effect, subsequent sessions usually have progressively more lasting influence.