Copyright © 2004-2026
David Allen
THE FUTURE OF SPINAL THERAPY SHOULD NOT NEED TO INVOLVE ME!
Turn Therapy as a back care therapy system has been a success both in my own clinic and also in the hands of a small number of independent therapists locally who have learned the principles from me. It is a transferable skill and is clearly able to be learned by other therapists.
Common questions from patients are:
“Why doesn’t everyone do this?” and “Why isn’t this treatment available on the NHS?”
My answer is that I believe this sort of treatment should be generally available as one of a number of standard approaches at a National level. This would run alongside other forms of physical therapy, exercise based therapy, drug therapy and surgical interventions. Every physiotherapist in the country already has the skill sets required to do this treatment but they have not learned the logical steps necessary to put it into practice. I believe it would be for the good of back pain sufferers in general and the budget of the NHS in particular if this style of treatment were to be more widely available.
My view is that Turn Therapy should not threaten or replace any other existing form of therapy. I view it instead as a tool that can be used alongside pre-existing back care techniques to enhance the effectiveness of those treatments.
I believe, however, that the public at large could benefit immensely from improved treatment if it were to be delivered within the NHS. Further I would also claim that improved diagnosis and treatment could both slash the prescription and referral costs of NHS Pain Clinics, and also reduce the Social Service and Benefit costs from work days lost due to back pain.
To expand the use of this as a new technique would require a new way of training therapists. My view is that artificial intelligence could allow students to learn Turn Therapy on a “back” simulator much as a trainee pilot may use a flight simulator.
From 2014 to 2019, I, with my colleague Paul Gregory designed and built just such device. We created a new computer controlled Spinal Training Simulator called Baxym. It was intended to simulate a number of the most common spinal dysfunctions so that they could easily be treated. The idea was that Therapists could safely train and refine their techniques on what is basically a computerised mannequin with a bad back,- before moving on to human patients in their professional practice. Unfortunately, at that time we were unable to interest the medical authorities in its use. Perhaps its time will come again?
In the future I hope to help get the work that I have done out into the public arena for the benefit of society at large. As I have stated previously, my goal is to save others from having to face the same trauma of back pain that I had to suffer myself.
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