“You’re wanted on the phone.”
I stood up from my desk to take the receiver to a nearby table and hit the floor unconscious. I had passed out in pain. My fifth lumbar disc had ruptured and had shot out of its housing like toothpaste out of a tube, making contact with a nearby nerve exiting the spinal column. And, like toothpaste, it could never be put back in. From that moment on my life changed. Forever. I woke in the ambulance taking me across the city to the hospital, siren ringing, flashing lights being reflected through the windows. I became aware of the mumbled conversation between the ambulance crew. “It’s not my heart. I mumbled, back”.
The day before the operation I decided not to have one, totally at variance with medical advice. The person in the bed beside me had returned from his back operation in more pain than previously. This was the greatest, wisest, decision I ever made, borne out by the huge failure rates with back operations.
For example, the University of Washington states “Operations are necessary in about 2% of cases”. The Mayo Clinic “surgery is rarely needed to treat back pain.” Walker Naddell FRCS in his book “Results in my opinion are not good.”
Back home the pain continued to be excruciating. The fact that I had refused medical help, allied to the thought that I might be in this condition forever, was deeply depressing, compounded by the fact that I sensed some people were criticising my decision. I knew nothing about back pain, its causes, and prevention. Mentally and physically I was at my lowest ebb ever; totally shocked. At this moment, believe it or not, I remembered what my lifelong friend Gay Byrne, used to say, ”After Synge Street life’s a doddle.” [We were in the same class in school.] He was right. This gave me the incentive to stop wallowing in my misfortune and rectify my situation. I decided to research the subject.
Back pain is the most common pain suffered by 80% of the world’s population at some time in their lives. At any moment over half a billion are suffering. Sitting in bad posture is the main cause. The medical profession recognises this and recommends always keeping the spine in perfect posture when disc pressure in the least possible. Try standing up from sitting, tying shoe laces, etcetera. It can’t be done. It is quite extraordinary that apart from operations nothing is being done to address the cause, only the symptoms. Apart from the nebulous advice just mentioned.
As a chartered engineer with a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering, I have spent the last 40 years researching back pain its causes and prevention, have published a book (The Engineering Solution To Suffering Back Pain) and was chosen to give the annual lecture to one of the largest pain clinics. The logic I applied is fundamental. Every problem has a cause. Removing the cause cures the problem. After over 40 years of applying this in the seated position some 30,000 ex-back sufferers are now sitting pain-free at home, office and car as a result of using my custom-made seating guaranteeing perfect posture. Success rate over 90 %. No cause, No pain. See www.back-shop.com
Success rate over 90%. No cause, No pain.
My latest Invention The Spinal Scaffold, is the ultimate solution to back pain as it completely removes the cause and guarantees perfect posture, not only when sitting but at all times. Made from lightweight thermoplastic material, 50 mm wide and 5 mm thick, it is individually moulded to the precise perfect posture shapes of spines throughout the world and delivered by post. My new photographic technique means they don’t even have to leave home, just supply certain physical information. Spinal Scaffolds are then individually made and posted worldwide. More details to follow / if urgent see the Brochure here on this website.
