Reviews

In 1994 I slipped a disc in my back and was in agony.  My doctor sent me for some physiotherapy treatment which did not help.  I then became pregnant and six weeks later I had a car accident.  After my son was born by emergency caesarean section I was in so much pain in my back, hips and neck, it was unbearable.

I had treatment with various people including four physiotherapists, three osteopaths and a healer, without any success.  Life became miserable, always in pain, sleepless nights, I could not swim any more or go for walks.  Working as a special needs teacher I was always irritable and sharp with the children.  I was even constantly shouting at my own two children as I was in constant pain.

Then, one day at work my friend Jane was telling me how her eighty year old mother, who had always suffered with her back, was a completely new woman thanks to a Chiropractor called Mark Yacoub.  So I took his number and made an appointment to see him.  When I went to the clinic I was nervous and did not have much faith that I could be cured but I told myself I had nothing to lose except money.

Mark examined me, took x rays and told me exactly what was wrong with my back and that it could be worked on.  What a relief after years of suffering.  I also attended a class taught by Mark which was very informative about the spine and nervous system.  So now I have regular treatments, massage, swim and walk regularly.  I have to remind myself every day to watch my posture.  The hardest thing to do is to re-educate your body on how to sit, stand, walk,

concentrate on your posture and drink lots of water.  Once you have made a start on these you are on your way to recovery.

Hence, I would like to say a big thank you to Mark and all his staff who are wonderful.

Best Wishes

Surinder Kainth

I have suffered with neck pain and stiffness for 43 years following a motorcycle accident. Courses in pain management, physiotherapy, pain killers, anti-inflammatory and sleeping pills have had no effect.
I booked an appointment at the clinic, had a through examination and X-rays were taken. I then had a comprehensive report which explained the X-rays and showed me exactly what was wrong. From my first adjustment I have had instant relief and have become much more mobile and pain free. My digestion has also improved and all the pills have been thrown away! I have recommended Chiropractic First to everyone and will continue to do so.

Many thanks to Mark and the staff for the excellent and effective treatment.

Anthony Norris

I am writing this testimonial as I feel it is important to let people know about the massive help that I have received from Mark Yacoub and the great improvements to my everyday life as a result.

I have a long term injury to my lower back (Spondylolisthesis) which has caused me daily pain and restricted my movement and activity for about 6 years. I have been to a full range of specialists including a surgeon, an osteopath, a Harley St. back practitioner and many others. The only improvements I had in my condition came from Pilates, but this entailed about an hour of stretching twice a day.

When I met Mark I was very sceptical about what he could do, but he convinced me to try chiropractic and I am so glad that I did. I have been a patient of his for about 3 months and his work literally changed my life. My back improved almost immediately and is now nearly as good as before the injury. I no longer need to do regular intense stretching and I am again able to take part in active sports, which is something that I never thought would be possible.

I would recommend chiropractic and Mark Yacoub to everyone who has a back problem.

James Casey​

I was diagnosed with M.E. about 6 years ago, my main symptoms being extreme fatigue, muscle and joint pain and stiffness, and headaches, along with several others. Over the years the severity of the illness has fluctuated, having been pretty mildly affected at first, to becoming bedbound and wheelchair dependant, to getting to a better place a year ago yet still fighting for good health.

I have tried so many treatments over the years, I literally feel like I have tried everything there is to try, from acupuncture to shiatsu, nutritional therapy to NLP, psychological therapies, kinesiology, pacing, you name it, I’ve tried it! Only a couple of these have actually had any good effect on me.

I decided to give Chiropractic a go after my mum started seeing Mark for migraines. She had suffered from these since she was 15 and since seeing Mark she’s not had any at all. She told me what Chiropractic involved and it suddenly made sense to me that this could be something to try, being that M.E. is an illness of the nervous system, and it is your spine that protects your spinal cord, which is linked to your nervous system. And hearing that chiropractic was about helping and focusing on your spine, I really felt strongly that this could help me.

When I arrived for my first appointment, I was pleasantly surprised at the warm welcome the receptionists gave me, I think there were about three of them there that day, not quite sure why! They were very friendly to me and I instantly felt at ease. Mum had told me just how lovely Mark himself was, and she wasn’t wrong. I felt like he was really interested in helping me, and completely trusted him instantly, unlike so many other treatments I’ve tried

where I’ve often felt like they just brainwash you. He took some x-rays of my spine and did a few other tests, and when I got the results it was a relief to see that there was actually something visibly not right with my body, and I had reason to have these symptoms I had had for so long. Mark was confident he could help me and I believed him because it just completely makes sense to me, that if my spine is out of line it will be affecting how my body functions.

I have been seeing Mark for about 6 months now, and have had very significant results. I’ve been feeling so much better and brighter, with lots more energy. The first thing I noticed after a few sessions was that I could walk much further with much less pain. I’ve been able to do some walking which I’ve not done in years, and can stand up for much, much longer. My whole body feels stronger, and my symptoms are much less severe than they used to be.

I have recommended Chiropractic to several of my M.E. contacts and friends, as I really believe it’s helped me on my way to recovery. I hope they decide to give it a go. I would also recommend it to anyone who feels there is nothing left to try, or if you are scared to try “yet another therapy”, as Mark really is brilliant.

I am so glad I gave Chiropractic a go, and am extremely grateful to Mark for all he is doing for me. It is so nice to meet someone as well that is non-judgemental, and understanding of the condition, and someone that wants to know if I’ve had any more crazy nights out lately! Mark has made me feel like I am becoming a normal 21 year old now, as I am just beginning to enjoy a life that I haven’t been able to live since I was 15. Thank you Mark!

R.B.

I have suffered from a variety of problems since 2004 including Osteochondritis of the knee, suspected Costochondritis of the ribs and juvenile Fibromyalgia / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which developed after having two bouts of surgery in a very short space of time.

With inconclusive tests and MRI results that showed very little, I was passed from doctor to doctor being told that nothing was wrong. This proved increasingly hard to hear to the point where I began to think doctors thought I was making it up.
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Having these problems was affecting my school work and my social life as I didn’t have the ability to do things my friends were doing. As a sports person it was particularly difficult to sit and watch as my team mates competed without me. By 2008 I had just about given up when I spoke to my history teacher Mrs Yacoub and she told me about Chiropractic. My mum and I booked an appointment with Mark that very same day.

From my first appointment with Mark I felt like someone was finally listening to me and understanding what I had been going through for years. At first I was very nervous that there would be a lot of clicking of bones which I really didn’t want but I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case and that the myth that this is all chiropractors did was not in fact true.

I started seeing Mark twice a week. To begin with progress was slow as the nerve endings in my body had become so sensitive that it was almost impossible for Mark to treat me. However eventually progress was made, firstly by curing my frozen shoulder and from then on I began to see improvement with my fatigue, headaches and joint pains.

The treatment eventually became so beneficial that I now no longer have to go and see Mark regularly as I can lead a completely normal life with next to no pain.

Mark for me was the best medical practitioner I have ever seen as he listened to me, believed me and helped me. If I have any problem Mark is always the first person I go to and he is always very helpful. I’m not religious but I always say to people that in the health world Mark, for me, is a God!

I would recommend Mark and Chiropractic to anyone with any sort of problem and I am so grateful to Mark for what he has done for me and to his wife Mrs. Yacoub for recommending me to go and see him in the first place.

Amy Chapman

I was fit, active and fairly flexible before the operation, but after things went downhill fast.

I found that I was having a hard time sleeping, every night I went to sleep quickly but woke up about two hours later and couldn’t get back to sleep. I would then doze for the rest of the night. I was living on approximately four hours per night, I needed eight. I suffered continual pain in my hips and lower back area and for the first half an hour or so of getting up in the mornings I couldn’t walk properly only “shuffle” along, going downstairs was a nightmare, the only way I could manage was by going down backwards on all fours. Slowly.

I visited my Doctor and was told as I was getting older I should expect these things. If the pain got too bad I could have pain killers.

I wasn’t convinced he was right so I then tried various Osteopaths and Chiropractors, none really satisfactory. I was told that my hip was”fragile” and had a tendency to twist, not to worry they could help. It did help for a few weeks at a time then I would have to return and be”clicked” into place. This went on for about 1 2years, and it was getting very expensive. I began to think that the Doctor was right, as you got older things got worse and you lived in pain.

After a particularly bad period of my “back going out” a friend suggested I give her Chiropractor Dr. Mark Yacoub a chance.

After the initial consultation and x ray (the first I have ever been offered) all was explained. It wasn’t my hip that was “twisted” my problem was the base of my neck (due to a car accident I had had a whiplash injury some 20 odd years previously). And to compensate the whole of my back had “adjusted” itself accordingly.

Within 3 months I felt great and free of pain, can move easily and stairs are no problem whatever time of day.

There are still some minor adjustments needed but I feel better now that I did 15years ago and have real hope I can live an active life with no continual pain.

All I can say is a heartfelt THANK YOU.

Carol Broadbent

I first visited a chiropractor when I was 10 years old after my Mum insisted on getting my sister and myself checked out after her own miraculous improvement after years of back pain. When she told us we were going I thought “What the ….was a chiropractor? Long story short, I had suffered chronic stomach pains all my life which many doctors called psychosomatic and to get on with my life. I just so happened to mention it and after just one examination and adjustment,they discovered I had a pinched nerve in my back and was cured the same day. That was the day I fell in love with chiropractic and have been a loyal patient ever since for regular checkups and advice.

Roundabout when I was 14, I developed M.E (Myalgic Encephalopathy) – around the same time my usual chiropractor left and was replaced by Dr. Mark. Soon after he relocated to his Hove practice which was a lot nearer for us than Mid Sussex so I was able to attend more regularly. With all the time spent bed-ridden and the lack of mobility and regular exercise, I felt this was something I now needed more than ever especially given the fact that I am quite tall.

All I can say now is that I trust Mark more than any doctor I have met before and often go to him for advice rather than my G.P who, lets just say, has been as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike. Sent me to school when I could hardly walk saying I was “a perfectly healthy young man – and to get a job” . Six months of battling welfare officers and my school, with prison threats to my mother, it wasn’t until I was referred to a childrens hospital that I was diagnosed. Overall my G.P has made less effort to help me than Mark has in one adjustment which is why I am very reluctant to visit my doctor.

Over the years I went for regular adjustments and then I was pleasantly surprised that Mark had been doing research into M.E/Chronic Fatigue (not surprising really asI know of quite a few patients with the same condition who visit him). Anyone who believes a Chiropractor is only for backs, doesn’t know Dr Mark Yacoub!.

I had tried various therapies and medicines including Reverse therapy to try and help me but nothing seemed to do the trick. But after seeing Mark he has cured everything from restoring my balance to regaining my energy levels. He has been there for me and many others in the same boat as I was. They refer to him as a “God” in the M.E mums” meetings and quite rightly so.

It was only around June 2008 when my condition was getting a bit worse that I attended a meeting Dr. Mark had organised where he gave a very good informal lecture on his research into M.E which was attended by the majority of us sufferers and quite a few curious patients of his. He explained his theory on “Fight or Flight mode” which he believed was the cause of ME / CFS and had devised a few exercises to try and help. Not only was I very impressed by this, I thought it was a very kind and decent thing to do, going to all the trouble for us.

Not only did these exercises make a difference, his lecture really opened my eyes and eventually lead to my recovery from the illness that had plagued me for over 5 years. I heard of a new hope for M.E sufferers in the form of “The Lightning Process” which I realised was based on the same theory that Mark had given us. This was all the proof I needed to try it and I am so glad I did. I consulted Mark before signing up for it and he encouraged me to try it, which I did the next month.

So here I am, almost a year on, finally writing this long overdue testimonial not only to the wonderful world of Chiropractic, but to Mark himself. I will forever be in debt to him and will remain a loyal patient of his for years to come. Every time I see a person hunched over in the street holding their back I think ‘chiropractor’ – having handed out a few cards along the way. I have recently also referred my girlfriend Natasha there for treatment for her M.E/Migraines which, after only 6-7 weeks, has made a vast improvement to her quality of life.

Thank you to Mark and the lovely staff at the clinic who have made it a wonderful experience.

Ricky Gartner