An Interview With John Gorman

Chiropractor and Engineer

(Reprinted from Yateley Town Crier)

 

 


Editor.What do chiropractors do?

John Gorman.  We solve aches and pains round the body including backache, headaches, knee and shoulder problems .

Editor.  How do you do that?

John.  We use various techniques depending on the problem but the spine is a very important part of our treatment whatever the problem.

Editor.  Why?

John.  Because the nerves of the body connect via the spine and local problems in the spine will also affect these nerves.

Editor.  So you solve joint problems -- give me some examples -- some case histories.

John.  Well, let's start with low back pain which is the most common reason why people visit a chiropractor.

            Low back pain is my specialist area.  My first career before chiropractic was engineering and I spent 10 years researching low back pain before I became a chiropractor.

            If an episode of low back pain has started recently and is bad, it will be characterised by "paralysing" spasms when you move. In this case I start by restoring the lordosis or hollowness right at the base of the spine below waist level.  This is almost invariably reduced or lost.  The patient corrects this with an exercise and some help from me.  Often this gives so much immediate improvement that I don't do anything more that day and the patient can repeat the exercise at home as needed.

If the low back pain has been there for a long time then it has usually resulted in locking of the pelvis.  This can persist for years but will usually be released by a few chiropractic treatments.

Editor.  What is the next most common problems that you see?

John.  Headaches.

Editor.  But that includes such different things as tension headaches and migraines.

John.  In common with many therapists, and some medics, I believe that all forms of headache are caused by tightness in the muscles at the top of the neck just under the skull.  I have found gentle chiropractic treatment very effective in solving headache problems of all types.  It is interesting to note that the same problem in the neck can cause headaches in one person, balance problems in another and maybe just a neck ache in a third.  In some cases I use fairly firm massage to soften and loosen these muscles.

Editor.  What about shoulders?

John.  For shoulder problems and most arm problems I use stretching exercises, sometimes alone and sometimes in conjunction with treatment.  These stretching exercises are one of my own important developments.  I include them in the stretching and posture classes, which I give in Eversley and in Crowthorne.  Most of them are also on my web site www.naturaljointmobility.info

Editor I heard you say earlier that chiropractic can also solve digestive problems.  Is this really true?

John Gorman, Oaklands, New Mill Lane, Eversley 01189 735224

&@ The Natural Health Consultancy Crowthorne  01344 771212

&@ gormans@waitrose.com

&@ www.naturaljointmobility.info

& For one day only!!(Sunday24th April)@ The Natural Health Show @ The Eversley Village Hall (10-5)

 

John.  Obviously it depends what the problem is.  It is however a natural conclusion from what I said earlier.  A local problem in the spine affects the nerves coming out of the spine at that point.  These nerves don't only control the muscles, they also control organs in the body.  I have personal experience of this.  A heavy fall skiing in 1975 left me with severe internal muscle spasms.  No amount of barium or other drugs gave me either explanation or relief.  It was only during my chiropractic training fifteen years later that treatment, by other trainees, identified the problem in the lower thoracic spine and solved it completely.  Maybe because of this I seem to have had lot of success with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and hiatus hernia.  Chiropractors believe and find that many internal problems, which are really functional rather than being true disease, are helped by chiropractic treatment.

Editor.  That's all very interesting.  How do people contact you?

John.  They can either phone me on the number in the ad in this magazine or phone the Natural Health Consultancy in Crowthorne on 01344 77 1212.  Incidentally I and several other therapists from Eversley are having a Natural Health Show at the Eversley Village Hall on Sunday the 24th of April from 10 till five.  Come along and meet me there