“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” ( World Health Organisation ) Nevertheless during the Covid pandemic it would appear, the WHO took the view that health was the absence of covid symptoms and the only way to protect oneself was to get vaccinated. Every person who seeks help from Spinal Joint has a unique finger print. One size does not fit all, although those selling pharmaceuticals and promoting their use would have you believe everyone responds in the same, they are wrong.
Spinal Joint was first established by Richard Lanigan DC MSc at Kingsmeadow Football Stadium in 1993. Moving to Kings Road, North Kingston in 1998 (Family Chiropractic) and then to 157 Park Road in 2003 (Spinal Joint). Richard semi retired on April 1, 2023, but continues to see some Kingston patients in “Park Bella” at 161 Park road. The Thames Ditton clinic opened in 2011, where Richard prefers to see new patients for “first visits” and observe their gait on a tread mill.
For many years the Spinal Joint offered a whole range of services with many different practitioners chiropractors, physiotherapists and osteopaths, specialising in conditions related to the musculoskeletal system. The Covid pandemic of 2020, highlighted the lack of consensus in health science, however one thing is certain; people who take care of their health fared better than those who do not. Richard learned this the hard recovering from a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2013 ,he decided to broaden the focus of the practice to the health of clients and the effect sedentary posture is having on wellbeing, as well as resolving those aches and pains which brings people to the practice initially.
Please note, Richard no longer uses the title “Chiropractor”, having resigned from the chiropractic Register of his own violation in 2008 . He chose to take this controversial action, because the General Chiropractic Register (GCC) was including “Chiropractors” on the register who did not come up to the international standards of Chiropractic education: (five years full time). Richard informed the GCC of his reasons for resigning in a letter (See Bio)
The GCC has now raised their educational requirements for Registration and in 2018 invited Richard to return to the register, however he felt the GCC “Code of Practice” (COP) was no longer congruent with the practice of traditional chiropractic. The GCC has medicalised the practice of Chiropractic, is open to prescribing pills and drifting towards what might be termed; “manual medicine”, which is available for free on the NHS, in the form of Physiotherapy. Richard’s indemnity insurance defines him as a “manipulative therapist”, he prefers patients to call him “Richard”.
“The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”.
Thomas Edison 1903
This quote from early 1900s is attributed to Thomas Edison (inventor of the light bulb) and forms the basis of Spinal Joint’s philosophy on health and wellbeing. That is not to say we are at odds with medical treatment, which works well when pathology is present, or when emergency intervention is necessary. However wellbeing is determined by lifestyle, not the latest product produced by the pharmaceutical industry. A healthy lifestyle should start young, with a good diet and much more time spent running than sat at a computer, fortunatly it’s never too late to start.
Reduced funding to the NHS, means “primary care” is in crisis, its difficult to get an appointment when you need it and GPs have less time to adequately asses patients and now many consultations are conducted online. Rather than becoming Edisons “doctor of the future”, GPs are even more reliant on their prescription pad, which has already led to a massive increase in “iatrogenic” illness in recent years, estimated in some studies to be the third largest cause of death in US , after cancer and heart disease. Should we be surprised when you consider Americans spend more on medical care, than any other country. What would you do if you had a stone in your shoe causing foot pain. Treat the pain with pills or have someone examine your foot and remove the cause of the pain.
For many years antibiotics were the panacea for every patient with a temperature and over prescribing them is a major health problem. Patients in pain who could have been offered conservative interventions were prescribed opioids, because political decisions means, GPs no longer have the time to take a good history and perform a thorough examination, to find out what is causing the problem. Worse still when a patient report the opioids are not effective, the solution is often to increase the dose, before referring for secondary care. Then a manageable acute problem has become chronic, something we regularly see at Spinal Joint. “Chronic pain”, is pain which has been there for a long time because it was not managed properly early on. Giving people pills for mechanical joint problems, is not very different from advising them to drink vodka to take pain away. Continued use of pain meds increases the likelihood of chronicity and osteoarthritis later in life. Pain is there to help you, telling you something is wrong or that you are doing something that is making things worse. Richard takes the time to find out what is causing the problem with an examination and on those occasions he is not sure, imaging may be required.
Most people who attend Spinal Joint for the first time, present with aches and pain which may be debilitating or just preventing them from performing normal daily activities. Many don’t understand why they are continuing to experience discomfort, when they have reduced daily activities; not realising, resting or sitting for long periods, alters spinal posture, reduces joint range of movement, causing more stiffness and pain. Joint movement is the key to a good recovery, something that the medical profession only began to understand in the 90s. In 2000 they were still advising; bedrest and pills, until even medical research showed, patient satisfaction was greater for those who had chiropractic care for low back pain.
It is generally accepted that restoring and maintaining spinal joint motion with chiropractic care, inhibits nerve pain transmission, relaxes tight muscles and improves movement co-ordination and posture. Exercise and movement has an inhibitory affect on pain and explains why joint pain is often worse first thing in morning, after a long drive or time sitting at a computer.
For people in pain, returning to physical activity may not be easy and early intervention is key to restoring normal function and breaking the self perpetuating cycle of pain inflammation and muscle spasm before it becomes chronic. Spinal manipulation is a skill, and is best performed by a “experienced practitioner”, helping people return to normal activity faster, after their spine and pelvic joints have seized up.
We don’t do discounts, promotions, contracts or pre payment schemes. We offer a top quality service to suit the variety of physical types.
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