How far can you go with chiropractic?
BACK IN 2003, Alexander McLeod, a 64-year-old Scottish man, realised he was losing his quality of life to severe lower back pain. “I couldn’t get off the sofa, I couldn’t stand in the shower to wash myself, I couldn’t shave properly! I was dragging myself,” he says.
Hoping to resolve his debilitating condition, he tried physiotherapy, acupuncture, reflexology – everything! After seeing a neurosurgeon, who disappointed him by telling him “I can’t do anything for you”, he was sent back to the physiotherapist, who “couldn’t do anything, but gave me leaflets explaining how to live with pain – and that was it!”
Like many others, Alexander McLeod remembers asking “what future had I left?” Constant pain and despair changes one’s points of view: “Once you get to the level of pain I had, you’ll try anything; you are not afraid.”Ironically, it was desperation that led him to the solution of his torment: chiropractic – a natural therapy that was being advertised in a local newspaper. Thinking he didn’t have anything to lose, he decided to give it a try. With the use of her hands and other appropriate instruments, the chiropractor was the first health professional, out of many, who was able to finally deliver the painfully long awaited good news – that she could help him.
After the first 15 chiropractic adjustments, Alexander McLeod noticed significant improvements. Unable to continue his therapy in Scotland, Alexander came to Portugal in September 2004, where he continued with Tracy Bown, a doctor of chiropractic practising in her clinic in Lagoa.
As Alexander continued to improve, he started to dream again of going to the Great Wall of China. “That’s one of those things you want to do before you die”. Alexander not only chased his dreams, but he made it come true. He gratefully recalls: “Without Kirsten McLeod in Glasgow and Tracy Bown in Lagoa, I would be on the sofa, depressed or maybe even at the hospital. That’s how bad it was! But now I have my life back! It worked and I couldn’t’ be more grateful. Look at what you made me achieve!”
Today, pain-free and looking forward to the future, Alexander says: “I just can’t believe it! At my age, I am back again. I’m walking a lot, swimming a lot, losing weight and feeling good. I look forward to each day.” Alexander McLeod is a prime example of what can be achieved by chiropractic care. Chiropractors are skilled health professionals who do not use surgical practices or chemical substances to relieve pain.
