By June Cheong

Members from three generations of a family who faced back problems opted for chiropractic care to ease their pain.

Madam Lo Lai Heng, 70, who had chronic back pain, found relief when her daughter, Shyan Teo, 35, took her to a chiropractor, Dr Matt Kan Wai Ming, in 2004.

Mrs Teo, an educational therapist, said: 'She had problems sitting upright for even 10 minutes. She had to lie down every 15 minutes because of her back pain and was very depressed then.'

Madam Lo said: 'I felt something was eating away at the sides of my back. I was very scared.

'I was so uncomfortable and in so much pain that I couldn't smile or laugh at all.'

She was also drowsy and giddy all the time.

After three months of thrice-weekly sessions, during which Dr Kan manipulated and corrected the misalignment of her spine, Madam Lo's pain subsided and she became more active.

Mrs Teo said: 'Now she can walk and even run after my baby. She eats and sleeps very well and has put on weight.'

Mrs Teo herself had been living with a dull ache in her shoulder blades for a long time as 'she thought there was no treatment available'.

Chiropractic sessions helped her to get better but, six weeks before she was due to give birth 11/2 years ago, she twisted her back.

She said: 'I just sneezed and my upper back suddenly hurt a lot. I couldn't sleep all night and my husband took me to Dr Kan in the morning.'

Later, her two children, Reggie, 11, and Kayle Jad, who is 17 months old, also benefited from Dr Kan's chiropractic sessions.

When Kayle Jad was two months old, Madam Lo noticed that he had trouble turning his head to the right. Mrs Teo took the infant to Dr Kan who adjusted the alignment of the baby's spine and shoulders. The treatment enabled him to turn his neck with ease again.

Meanwhile, Reggie was suffering from involuntary facial twitches and would keep shrugging his shoulders. The shrugs and twitching stopped after Dr Kan fixed the misalignment of his neck and corrected the 'muscle imbalance and nerve interference' in his neck and shoulders.

This story was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times, on Oct 9, 2008.

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