The painful back and leg that they all thought could only be solved by back surgery

Five years ago, Chester, a gentleman from a town far away from here, came to our clinic with serious and severe back pain and leg pain. He had already seen several orthopedic doctors who advised him that the only solution to his problem was “back surgery,” but Chester refused to listen to this and looked for other alternatives. He spoke with one of his friends who was a former patient, and the friend recommended that he try acupuncture and physical therapy at our facility. When I first saw Chester, I was very concerned about his pain, since it was ten on the scale of ten. I was able to get him in a comfortable position for his treatments and he responded very well. Within approximately ten visits, his pain subsided and Chester returned to work pain free both in the back and in the leg. Shortly after this, I received a phone call from Chester asking me if he could bring some friends from his town to our facility and I said OK thinking it would be maybe two friends. I remember it was an evening in the summer, and I was treating some patients. I looked out the window and saw a line of maybe seven people and Chester all walking to our office for treatments. I was happy but overwhelmed.


Chester was pain free for five years. About a week ago, Chester called our office again. He needed to speak with me urgently; apparently his back and leg area were hurting again. He visited several doctors and once again he was told the only solution to his problem is back surgery. Chester was pain free for five years after the last treatment he received at our facility. He is a machinist and he works with heavy duty equipment I am very happy he was pain free all this time. But now we are talking about a new incident. So Chester arrives at our office with severe pain. He stated “my wife remind me that last time I had this pain five years ago you fixed it; that is why I am back again.” After a thorough assessment, I realized that this was a new problem, because five years ago it was the opposite leg that was involved. Chester was treated and felt better after only one treatment, which consisted of combined acupuncture and physical therapy.

Yesterday, I saw Chester again. He said his pain level was one or none. He went back to speak with his doctors regarding his full recovery, but apparently no one is acknowledging the fact that he is now pain free -- so I told him that I would include him in the list of successes. “You are my angel; you have saved my life,” Chester told me. “What will I do if you retire? It would probably be better for me to spend the money to fly down to South America to find you than to waste my time going around in circles here again.”