MBST experience of David

For as long as I can remember I had been blessed with a good pair (even if a bit bandy!) of legs, appropriate to a devoted amateur sportsman. Over the years they have paddled in the sea at Whitby, pounded the fields and roads in search of athletics and cross-country excellence, pedalled the bicycle essential for the paper round, accelerated and braked, twisted and turned in delivering a ball to the right place in cricket and football, assisted me negotiate an assortment of golf courses, carried me up and down umpteen ladders in the daily checking of scaffolding, and crucially assisted in several other activities currently protected by the watershed.

The bus pass and the knee pain seemed to arrive at about the same time. Doctor at the drop-in centre said it was all due to age, + VAT. Not in this case tax, but the German Doctor's acknowledgement of "vare and tear". So now I join the queues as a non-urgent NHS patient with my increasing pain, my reducing mobility and a sense of humour to match. With knees not yet sufficiently deteriorated to justify surgery, my lifestyle from now on will be in proportion to the amount of pain killers I wish to consume.

My brain too has served me well over the years, and I have always been reluctant to "puddle" it with painkillers, until as an absolute last resort. Surely there are other things which can be done. The old Post Office ad about "use it or lose it" was coming home to roost on my knees. Trouble is, of course, the pain and the muscle wastage just make it all the more difficult to use it…. A chicken and egg situation if ever. The golf course, the vegetable plot, the DIY projects and even the stairs are destined to become just memories…………..unless ???!!!

Suddenly ads in magazines which would not hitherto have justified a second glance, start to jump off the page and I become aware of food supplements, Australian outback remedies, metallic bracelets and straps, acupuncture and hypnosis. All offer solutions, all are considered but none of them are convincing, so the search goes on.

A one-line website ad in a free paper at a Spanish holiday resort started me on an electronic journey from Malaga to Baston. Ironic that Malaga is allegedly a haven for people on the run, and I could hardly walk, whilst Baston might have had Rip Van Winkle as a former Mayor.

Prompted from the Malaga website, I became aware of a process called MBST which had been developed by German scientists. There were lots of testimonials and published research papers supporting the immense improvements where injuries and joints had been treated by this process.

Most of the scientific justifications were outside my comprehension, but the principles were of real appeal. The process is based on the stimulation and re-focussing of the body’s own energies and using them to encourage repair and regeneration from within. It appealed more than any others thus far.

So well established is this treatment in Germany that there are some 250+ places where it is available. In the UK there are SIX. The reason for this apparently is that UK Doctors are notoriously slow on the uptake of new technology. The fact that the treatment is not available via the NHS is then not surprising. It may well be expensive, but how do you put a price on the quality of your life?

The internet advises that the nearest place for treatment is Baston, near Peterborough. My phone call gives me the chance to speak, not with a telephonist or a secretary, but with the lady physio herself !! Such a friendly and caring lady who speaks so positively of her experiences using MBST and so optimistically about the likely outcomes. The costs could come out of my recently acquired pension pot lump sum. Actually, considering all the years which I spent contributing to this pension pot, it is indeed sad that the "lump" sum has turned into barely a "pimple" sum when it becomes payable. Here’s hoping that the osteoarthritis disappears similarly into a black hole.

The hour long treatments need an 8 hour gap between them and, since five treatments are probably needed. I contact the village inn and arrange my accommodation. A friendly place with comfortable rooms, good food, another element of the feel-good factor which is surely part of any healing process. No one from the Teesside area has yet undergone this treatment, family and friends are duly sceptical, any side effects would be minimal, so I’m off to Baston.

So keen was I not to be late for my appointment that I arrived at Ann’s residence before the cleaner had finished her morning duties. Undeterred, Ann soon had the situation assessed and my treatment was underway. The pads were in place, the machine fired up and the essential pint of fluid at hand. The fluid was presented in an immaculately clean glass with a Magners label on the front. Sadly, the label belied the contents.

The treatment was without any physical sensation except for a slight warmness at the joints as the hour approached. Pleasant, sympathetic and caring conversation with Ann, and a couple of Sudokos soon passed the time. Rest of the day at leisure until time for the next treatment. The second treatment was followed by the best night's sleep that I had had for weeks (nothing to do with the imaginary Magners) and with a massive reduction in the amount of niggling "background" pain in the joint.

Next morning the stairs down to the dining area were coped with better than I dared have hoped and I was sufficiently confident, and still almost pain free, to walk from hotel (called Baskerville) to Clare House. Ann, in her wisdom, had insisted that I have a lend of a walking stick…purely in the interests of my own health and safety…..but the thought that I needed it was horrific. Nevertheless, it came in handy for taking one or two imaginary potshots at the crows that escorted me down the street. I was happy to return it from whence it came.

Two more treatments on the second day and Ann introduced the essential element of exercise and put me through a routine devised specifically by her for my condition. Ann emphasised the importance of maintaining exercise routines as an essential important part of ongoing recovery. We are also contemplating sourcing some Magner shares. By the end of treatments 3 and 4, the improvement in flexibility, mobility and pain reduction was really beyond my wildest dreams. That day I had walked round the town, and visited a garden centre. Pre treatment I would have been seated beside newspaper and TV back home, with a heatpack on the knee, and in pain.

If there had been a slight doubt as to whether MBST would work for me, there isn’t any more! I am a believer, convinced, grateful for Ann's dedication and grateful to the German scientists...though I am still happy to remind them that we stuffed them 5-1 in Munich. It is understood that the treatment programme is just triggering the body's own systems, and that although the 5th treatment will be the last one for now, the recovery process has only just begun and is ongoing, supported by muscle recovery resulting from the exercise programme.

The last treatment, the last "pint", pay the bill, make the appointment for a 6-weeks review, collect the exercise programme and then its like saying goodbye to old friends. Ann is convinced that the only remaining sore spot in one knee (probably the seat of some previous cartilage problem) WILL eventually clear up, and I have no reason to disbelieve the lady. I am determined to carry out the exercise programme in order to ensure maximum recovery.

On my return home, relatives and friends were as amazed as myself at the transformation. The knees even looked more normal. During the next six weeks, the improvements in flexibility and strength continued and allayed my fears that the improvement might only be temporary and might relapse. As my confidence grew, so I was returning to "normal" in my sporting, (played three rounds of golf) leisure, ( rotovated garden and planted vegetable crops) and domestic (ascending and descending stairs) activities. This occasionally put demands on the joints which resulted in brief twinges of manageable pain, every day different, and every day making a little more progress back towards complete normality.

At my six weeks check, I was able to confirm my progress to Ann, and with measurements and observations she was able to declare my knees well on the way to complete recovery. That is nothing less than Ann had expected from day 1. A I hour "top-up" treatment was aimed specifically at boosting the healing of the one lingering occasional pain hotspot. A pleasure to meet Ann again, and some of her newer clients, and happy smiles all round.

Back home again and I have been given a mountain bike and am finding that this is an excellent way of putting the knees under a controlled "load" as part of my daily exercise. By the time my 6-months check up is due, my target is to be able to do some gentle jogging.

These notes are just meant to record what it is like to receive MBST treatment. My benefits from, and indebtedness to my physio and her MBST machine are clear to see. Six months ago I was headed for the knackers' yard, today I have got my life back.

It is a great shame that there will for a long time be many people who either can't afford or haven't heard of this revolutionary treatment. I know that Ann has plans afoot to try to spread the Gospel of MBST,(she is indeed already its Patron Saint) and hopefully the NHS might wake up to the benefits of the treatment as opposed to their perpetual painkiller policy seen by them as the answer for people in my age group.

To anyone with similar problems who is contemplating MBST as a possible treatment, I would say give Ann a call, listen to her assessment, then go to Baston and get your life back. David.

To contact Ann regarding possible treatment please fill in the form below. Please note that we can only reply to people who would be able to travel to our practice for treatment.