My Pain In The Neck!
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I want to share my experience with neck pain, not just to talk about my pain but also to reflect on a broader issue of valuing expertise. Bear with me as I tell you this story.
About three weeks ago, during a Jiu-Jitsu session, my neck got placed in a funny position, and I felt a crunch. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but over the next few days, I began to experience increasing pain. It started as a knot in my neck and shoulder and eventually developed into sharp, shooting pain down my arm, a condition known as radiculopathy.
For those who haven’t experienced it, radiculopathy is nerve pain. It feels like a mix of toothache, shooting pain, burning, and tingling. It’s relentless and invisible, meaning you don’t get much sympathy, and it grinds you down 24/7. I was struggling to sleep, waking up with severe pins and needles and experiencing fasciculations (painful twitches) in my arm and hand. I was miserable!
Being an orthopaedic surgeon, I diagnosed myself with a C7 disc prolapse. This means the disc between the C6 and C7 vertebrae in my neck had bulged or herniated, pressing on the nerve as they exited the spinal column. The symptoms included neck pain, a burning sensation down my arm, numbness, tingling, weakness in my grip, and restricted neck movement. Turning my neck felt like something was catching, and the pain was excruciating.
I knew that, in many cases, the body heals with rest, physical therapy, and medication. It can take a couple of months at least. But in some cases, injections or surgery are required. That possibility loomed in my mind, as I’d experienced spinal emergencies before, paralysis and incontinence in my late 20s and early 30s, which required emergency surgery. So naturally, I started to worry: “Is this going to be me again? Am I heading for surgery?”
Last Friday, I reached out to Simon King, a previous guest on my podcast (listen to the fantastic conversation here). Simon is no longer a chiropractor, but his expertise is exceptional. He could tell I was concerned and made room for me to be seen the same day. I couldn’t believe how responsive and accommodating he was. Within minutes of examining me, without an MRI or X-ray, he diagnosed my C7 disc prolapse. His skill made it look effortless. He found weakness in various muscles and instantly identified the problem's source. He performed some manipulations on my neck, clunks and clicks that realigned things, and within seconds, my radiculopathy was gone. I have to admit I was nervous about having the manipulations, but Simon soon put me at ease, and there was nothing to be scared about. My pain disappeared, my neck movement improved, and I walked out feeling like a different person.
I was struck by the contrast between Simon’s work and the conventional path I could have taken. A spinal surgeon might have ordered an MRI, recommended an injection with a 50/50 chance of success, and, failing that, suggested spinal fusion surgery. Surgery can leave you permanently changed. Simon’s expertise spared me all that time, money and risk in just 25 minutes at a fraction of the cost.
But here’s the thing: not everyone appreciates this kind of skill. Because Simon worked so quickly and efficiently, some might think, “Was that really worth the fee?” They’d overlook the immense value of being saved from unnecessary procedures, costs, and suffering.
It reminded me of a hand surgeon I once worked with (and many other surgeons to be honest). This individual had an incredible knack for making a mountain from a molehill. He would turn a simple carpal tunnel release, something most skilled surgeons could complete in ten minutes (I used to do it in 5 minutes as a trainee!), into a drawn-out, hour-long ordeal. He’d theatrically outline every step of the procedure as if it were a grand, groundbreaking operation. The junior doctors assisting him would be impressed, and he developed a reputation for being a great surgeon and teacher. His process was slow, inefficient, and entirely unnecessary. What’s worse is that he’d often go out of his way to overly complicate surgeries that didn’t require it, leaving the impression that he was more competent than he was. But the truth was obvious to those who knew better: his inefficiency, coated in flowery theatrics, masked a lack of true skill.
The unfortunate reality is that many laypeople (and junior doctors who know no better) are easily deceived by individuals like this hand surgeon. Without the expertise to discern skill from showmanship, they’re often misled into admiring such professionals, mistaking their theatrics and self-promotion for genuine excellence. This isn’t limited to surgeons. It’s a pervasive issue across countless trades and professions. Far too often, people inflate problems and overstate their expertise, all to command respect, justify delays, and charge more for their services. In stark contrast, those who are truly skilled and ethical, approach their work with quiet efficiency. They solve complex problems swiftly and competently, yet their very proficiency often leads to them being undervalued or overlooked.
By contrast, truly great practitioners like Simon and TJ Salih, a physiotherapist I saw later this week, make complex problems seem simple. I visited TJ on Thursday to address the lingering symptoms, shooting pain down my arm. He spent an hour performing hands-on mobilisations, targeted exercises, and manipulative work. He appreciated the work Simon had already done. His efforts opened up my facet joints, relieved nerve compression, and restored full mobility to my neck. By the time I left, my neck was completely normal. Simon had removed the awful knot in my neck and 80% of my nerve pain, and by the time TJ had finished with me, the pain was completely gone, my range of motion fully restored, and my confidence in my recovery was sky-high.
What’s truly disheartening is that practitioners like Simon and TJ are not only rare, but also undervalued. Their profound hands-on expertise, the art of accurate diagnosis and transformative treatment, is increasingly absent from mainstream training. Medical schools, physiotherapy programs, and even chiropractic institutions seldom emphasise these skills. When I asked TJ if the next generation of physiotherapists were being trained in these methods, he simply laughed and said no. Instead, they’re taught to prescribe generic exercises, leaving behind the nuanced, manipulative techniques that had such a remarkable impact on me.
Simon’s journey is equally frustrating. Despite his extraordinary abilities, he has faced challenges within the chiropractic community to the point where he had to leave the profession altogether. How desperately sad it is to see such talent and expertise neither celebrated nor supported.
This de-skilling isn’t confined to medicine. It’s symptomatic of a larger societal issue. We used to be a nation of makers, innovators, and mavericks. We thrived on creativity, craftsmanship, and pushing boundaries. Now, bureaucracy reigns. We excel in superficial diversity, endless meetings, management jargon, committees, paperwork, and blind adherence to guidelines. The art of science, medicine, and individual ingenuity is being eroded and replaced by mediocrity and compliance. I genuinely despair for future generations.
So, here’s what I’ve learned:
Never underestimate pain and its effect on your mood and well-being.
Appreciate a pain-free life every day, it’s a gift.
Value skilled practitioners, especially those who make things look simple. Behind that simplicity lies years of training, hard work, and experience.
I hope my story resonates with you, and I wish you all a pain-free year ahead!
Thank you.
Much love, as always.
From a pain free and much happier Ahmad x
If you interested here is a little video of my visit.
Please note this isn’t an advertisement. I paid for my consultation with both Simon and TJ, and I get no kickback. Just saying! I highly recommend both!
You can book to see Simon by ringing - 01442 503400
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Just a slight correction to "Despite his extraordinary abilities, he has faced challenges within the chiropractic community to the point where he had to leave the profession altogether."
I've never had a problem with the chiropractic community that I couldn't handle, and I continue to teach chiropractors and osteopaths Afferentology, which is the skill to locate bad sensory information and nerve interference (which creates abnormal muscle tone, weakness or tightness). The reason I am no longer able to call myself a chiropractor (even though I have practiced chiropractic for 38 years) is because I prefer not to be subjected to the whims, dictates, bullying and possible persecution of the regulatory body who do nothing about many unethical practices like overservicing and incompetence, yet they deregistered a chiropractor for his facebook posts. Fortuately in the UK, we still have enough freedom that I am able to practice as long as I do not use the C word ( the word Chiropractor is protected by law to apply only to practitioners who are registered with the GCC).
I appreciate Doc Malik for sharing his experience. The disc lesion he had creates a weakness in the muscles innervated by the C7 nerve root, mainly the extensor carpi ulnaris, supinator and triceps. These are easy to test if you know how. Then repositioning his neck bought back the strength to all three muscles. The tough part is the adjustment. A standard chiropractic rotary adjustment won't fix this issue. The adjustment that does fix it isn't easy but it is amazingly effective once mastered, in that it doesn't need to be repeated. Disc lesions can be anything from an annular tear to a disc bulge. Annular tears are not visible on MRI.
I'll relay the true story of my neighbour, and my friend the plumber. My neighbour calls my plumber friend to replace a malfunctioning toilet. The plumber is in and done in ten minutes. That will be 90 pounds he says. (I'm translating currency units.) The neighbour argues. Should the bill not be 90/6=15 pounds? Why no, replies the plumber. You're not paying me for the 10 minutes it took to do the job. You're paying me for the 30 years it took me to learn how to do it efficiently. Don't penalize me for being good.
Besides, you only called me because you tried to fix it yourself, and broke it.