· Stefan, male, 36 yrs old   · Kerryn, female, 44 yrs old   · Rachel, female, 31 yrs old   · James, male, 35 yrs old   · Elaine, female, 50 yrs old   · Doris, female, 45 yrs old   · M. Leung, female, 33 yrs old       Rachel, female, 31 years old   For most of my life I have been familiar with the family chiropractor. My father would complain of backache and my mother would book him in for an appointment. When I got older I too was a regular, if infrequent, client. I would go and see my chiropractor if I found myself to be in pain or discomfort, have one or two appointments and then forget all about him when the pain went away.   A couple of years ago, I started playing tennis very regularly. I had also moved into a desk job and was sitting at a computer all day. I kept having a stiff neck and my shoulders were constantly stiff. I called my local chiropractor for a treatment. At this time, the chiropractor recommended a full course of treatment but I didn't feel it was necessary so I declined. This went on for about a year during which I was taking ibuprofen to ease the pain. I would wait until the pain was unbearable and go for a further visit, then take more ibuprofen until the pain had built up again.   About two years later we decided to move to Hong Kong. Moving is a stressful business and it did nothing to ease the pain in my neck and shoulders. My ibuprofen intake increased and I started having constant dull headaches. I couldn't get comfortable to sleep and was having trouble getting any sort of proper rest because of this. I tried a variety of different methods to ease the pain--massage, which helped but didn't take the pain away; hot and cold packs; more ibuprofen, but nothing was working for longer than a few hours.   Finally one day I was fed up. I hadn't slept for almost two days. I couldn't watch TV or read because of the discomfort, I was crabby, irritable and unhappy. I had a constant headache. I checked the CDA HK chiropractic association to find someone who I felt I could trust and called some of the numbers to inquire further about the individual practices.    I went to Optimal Health Chiropractic for an initial consultation. Dr Ling examined me and took me through the entire process. He also recommended a course of treatment, explained why it needed to be so intensive and what the benefits were. Each step was explained and Dr Ling answered all my extensive questions with patience.   The treatment was very intensive and at times a little uncomfortable. For the first few visits the most intense pain was still present but slowly it began to ease off. Two months later I was playing tennis without getting a stiff shoulder and neck and sitting at a computer again without any sign of a headache! Now it is several months on from the initial treatment and I have had a secondary assessment where it was explained to me the progress we were making. It feels wonderful to think that I have control over the pain and I can get rid of it.   It is an understatement that this has made a great difference to my life. I feel better and am much less crabby and have headaches very infrequently now. Best of all, I can sleep for hours in comfort! Now if I could only get my complaining sister to visit a chiropractor back home!