I have always seemed to have a problem regarding physical flexibility. I was never able to touch my toes. I could not swim on my front, crawl or breast stroke, because I was unable to lift my head out of the water or turn to the side to take a breath – so I swam with mask and snorkel and had no trouble at all. I injured by lower back as a result of a parachute jump on my 50th birthday, (a present from my ex-wife). I also did some damage falling off or being thrown off horses in my early sixties.
Advised that yoga would help improve my flexibility, I attended classes with my second wife. Most of the exercises were beyond my physical capability, so the teacher, on explaining the next exercise would say, “and Tony, do what you can”. So I did and gave up yoga. I have, over the years, had treatments from several chiropractors, osteopaths and masseuses etc, but finally began to see Hanne K-N in 2005. Since then Hanne has sorted out all my aches and pains, strains and self-inflicted damage and I have learned to value her skills and easy manner, but also to trust her ‘health coaching’, easy suggestions which have resulted in significant improvements to my general health. I no longer eat wheat, bread, or those lovely cakes, which were so important to me. I’ve also given up sugar, after a lifetime of two spoonfuls per cup of tea. A few years ago on holiday in Dubai I took a ride on a speedboat, in quite a choppy sea. One wave resulted in my leaving my seat and coming back down with a crash. The pain in my neck was excruciating. I saw a local chiropractor that carried out a careful examination and gave me two treatments, passing electrical currents through my back muscles. So, on return from holiday, I was off to see Hanne. I was able to show her the X-rays, on DVD’s from Dubai, which she examined and suggested that I had D.I.S.H. I wondered if that meant – dish-gusting?, dish-figuring? Or even dish-abilitating? She soon clarified it for me:- Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis. Clarification of the vertebrae, which occurs over many years and can lead to limitations in motion.
So after all those experts over many years, Hanne gives a diagnosis. On her advice I saw a spinal consultant who confirmed her observation. Hanne is more than a very skilled and empathetic chiropractor, she thinks deeply about her work and I am indebted to her, not only for the very effective treatments but also for her thoughtful advice regarding ways in which I can improve my health. As a psychotherapist I have long recognised the importance of the connection between physical and mental/emotional health – ‘Homeostasis’, which I think, sums up her work.
Tony Warren, Psychotherapist, Burgess Hill, West Sussex