Q & A with Gloucester Chiropractors | Gloucester Chiropractors

We asked our chiropractors some questions, to find out what motivates them, how they approach chiropractic and who they are away from clinic.

Let us know if there are any other questions you think we should have asked them!

I have always loved sport and exercise, and I always knew that I wanted to help people. After a series of injuries throughout my teenage years I got more and more interested in the medical world and pain. This led me to Chiropractic and I have never looked back.

The best part about being a Chiropractor is working with a wide range of people and finding ways to help them as individuals.
As chiropractors, we have the autonomy, knowledge and skills to tailor what we do to everyone.
I get to help people get out of pain and stay out of pain, living life to the fullest. Helping and seeing people go from in pain and often hopeless, to feeling and moving better, is a really great feeling.

I wish healthcare in the UK worked more to treat and prevent musculoskeletal issues through lifestyle change and other non-invasive treatments to prevent, as well as cure. Medication and surgery can be useful but there are often many useful steps to take before this. The first step towards this is better education and information.

The most important thing that would make my job easier is patients being proactive and inquisitive with their care. This helps you to understand how you got into your situation, how to fix it and more importantly, how to stop it coming back!

My favourite pass-time is sport. If it involves competition with myself or others then I’ll be there! My latest obsession is long distance running.

From the age of about 14, kids at school were calling me “The Doctor”, but I didn’t like the prospect of being a medic. The narrowness and rigidity looked too limiting.
I had an awareness of the chiropractic profession from having treatment for a sports-injury as a teenager. On closer inspection, it looked like a good balance of professionalism and responsibility, combined with a very varied role and some flexibility.

There’s a kinaesthetic element to being a chiro. It’s a manual skill that feels great when you get it absolutely right. Seeing the effect of that on people is awesome too. I find it’s most dramatic with people under extreme stress and people with disc problems. You can just see the pain and tension evaporate.

I wish healthcare were more preventative. This is a big soap-box I could jump on, but changes needed are relatively simple and the gains are enormous.

Strength train
Eat as wide a variety of plants as possible
Have mindful time. Mindful time could be learning a language, playing sport, practicing an instrument, meditating etc. It just gives your brain a break from day-to-day stresses and patterns.

If people took a more preventative approach, rather than putting up with niggles for years.

I go through slightly obsessive phases with different sports. Right now, I would say my passion is mountain biking. I just love the feel of zipping along over natural surfaces and working the bike to get the most from it.

I injured myself trampolining as a teenager and Chiropractic got me back on my feet, and, more importantly for 15-year-old me, back horse riding! I already knew I wanted to do something medical, but wasn’t convinced about becoming a doctor, and Chiropractic ticked all the boxes!

Getting people back to doing what they love! I really enjoy forming great rapport and working relationships with my patients to work towards their goals, and seeing those results unfold from their hard work and dedication to their plan of care.

Making it more proactive and preventative rather than reactive. If the system was more geared towards keeping our bodies and minds healthy, with regular check ups and screening, rather than just fixing them when they go wrong, I think we’d all be in a much better place! We are so lucky to have the NHS in this country, and I really feel this would remove some of the current strain on it, particularly in the future as our population continues to grow.

Move your body daily, even if its just a walk or some gentle stretches, stay hydrated and eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and other plants such as beans and pulses.

I aim to have a treatment every 4-6 weeks – this helps combat any build up of tension from leaning over a bench treating all day, as well as picking up on any issues I might have from the gym or horse riding.

I love spending time up on Cleeve Hill, either with my dog, Zim, or on Wendy, the horse I share! I’m also an avid reader and can usually be found curled up with a book in the evenings.