Back Pain Case Studies

The history of human kind is sprinkled with bad backs, many of them belonging to famous people. Elizabeth Taylor has one of the most publicised bad backs of the century. Prince Charles has a bad back; John F. Kennedy had a terrible back and so, too, did the actors Sir Laurence Olivier and Rex Harrison.

Almost weekly, there are reports of famous sportsmen succumbing to bad backs. The case of the Australian Test cricketer, Bruce Reid is a good example, along with Mick Dittmann, the jockey. Personally, I find it frustrating to read that some of these sportsmen are subjected to traumatic and sometimes unproductive surgery to cure their pain. I am almost certain none of them has even been told about Nesfield’s Treatment.
There are two notable exceptions, so far as I know. The American golfer, Lee Trevino, suffered a bad back during the 1970’s and was unable to play golf properly. He was cured after receiving facet rhizotomy (a variation of Nesfield’s Treatment) and went straight back on to the winning list.  The colourful Australian rugby footballer and broadcaster Rex Mossop, according to Dr Rees, was in a great deal of trouble with the pain before he was treated by Dr Rees at the age of 40 (nearly 26 years ago). Subsequent to the treatment he has been able to maintain an exercise and training regime which persisted until his recent passing.
But the silence about the procedure continues. Back pain sufferers learn about it mainly from patients who have received the treatment themselves. It is kind of bush telegraph in the wilderness of pain sufferers. Sadly, many learn about it after years of excruciating pain, and often after their lives have been irrevocably changed for the worse. Many, upon successfully undergoing the procedure, become justifiably angry that such vital information seems to have been deliberately withheld from them.

As I have stated, many back pain sufferers appear in my surgery, believing that Nesfield’s Treatment is a last option. Their optimism levels are low and their desperation high. They have been to a plethora of specialists and practitioners who have failed to alleviate their pain. I might even be a witch doctor to some, but by then they will try anything to get rid of their wretched pain.

A number of my patients have kindly assisted me in the course of writing this book by allowing details of their own cases to be revealed. For the following case histories, I have approached each patient and obtained permission to publish their file. I am grateful for their consent.
The following case studies represent a diverse number of ages and occupations and include both male and female patients living in various parts of Australia and their conditions as at March 1993.

Case 1 – Lower back and cervical pain in a male aged 59 years

Mr John Gardner
Tweed Heads South, NSW   

At the time of his motor accident (1968) John was a fit, 39 year old, high ranking Victoria Police officer. Following the accident he developed severe neck and back pain. Conventional back pain treatments made no difference. He subsequently had the following operations:
1973    Neck fusion
1974    Enzyme injection to lumbar disc
1974    laminectomy
1975    Lumbar fusion
It was thirteen years later when I first met John. During those thirteen years he had been in constant pain, with crippling head-aches and severe low back pain. John would usually take in excess of ten pain-relieving tables each day (more on a bad day). He was assessed as untreatable and pensioned out of the police force.
He had once been a serious contender for the Deputy Commissioner’s job.
In 1988 I performed five treatments on his neck and one in his lower back.

He describes the subsequent four years as the best over the last twenty years. His head-aches have gone, his lumbar pain has virtually vanished, he takes no pain-relieving tablets and he has resumed playing golf.
He remained pain free until his death from other causes, some 15 years later.

Mr Gardner comments:
I have achieved an 80 per cent reduction in pain and a 100 per cent reduction in analgesic intake. I believe that if I had been offered this treatment 16 or 20 years earlier, I would not have been forced to retire and may in fact still be working. Fifteen years of superannuation money could have been saved.

Case 2 – Neck pain in a male patient aged 59 years

Mr Don Allen
Mermaid Beach, QLD

Don had suffered neck pain for twenty years. The pain was at the base of the neck and fluctuated markedly. When very bad, he needed to wear a collar and when he was ‘good’ the neck felt stiff. Trigger points were easily located and the procedure was performed twice. In the 3 ½ years following this treatment he had no pain and minimal tenderness in his neck.

Mr Allen comments:
More than pleased. I now have no neck pain, take no tablets and do not wear the neck collar.