Name: Joris Merks, Age: 35
Former competitive Judo player
Currently Research Manager for Google based in the Netherlands
Me and my girlfriend walked in the ACC clinic during our holiday in Vietnam. On the third day of the holiday I woke up with a terrible pain in my hip. I could not walk any more. Each wrong movement caused a flame of pain through my hip and spine. We found ACC on the internet and saw they got good reviews, so decided to go there.
Dr. Wade welcomed us in his clinic and quickly diagnosed the problem together with Dr. Ed. A problem with my hip was discovered, that I most likely carried around for years without immediate need for help. The right hip joint was completely stuck. Along with the diagnosis Dr. Wade could describe very precisely the discomforts I should have had over past years. I recognized this description immediately. I felt complaints around it earlier and tried to explain to various therapists over the years what was wrong. No one however found the right diagnoses resulting in this terrible acute pain right now.
Over the following days I have been treated on a daily basis. The hip became flexible again, however my body was not used to a ‘normal’ hip, so they helped stabilizing the spine/hip area so I could gradually walk again. Without this great care I would for sure have had a miserable holiday. Instead, now I had an opportunity to fix a very old problem in my body that had caused injuries and pains for years.
Since the diagnosis was so sharp and treatment paid off, I asked to also diagnose by shoulder neck area. Due to 20 years of Judo competition, my body has a lot of injuries. The one causing most trouble is my shoulder neck. The shoulder is partly paralyzed, continuously hurts and pulls my neck so that starts hurting too. It feels like nerves are stuck everywhere. I have been in continuous treatment for this over past 12 years by at least 15 different doctors of various disciplines like manual therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractors, shiatsu, acupuncture etcetera. Again no one has successfully diagnosed or treated this complaint.
After describing my pains and doing some small tests, Dr. Wade described his diagnosis and the discomforts he expects me to feel based on that. The shoulder was damaged in three places (I was thrown very hard on it at the age of twelve) and each element of the description exactly matched what I had been feeling and trying to explain to other doctors earlier. While I am writing this, the shoulder is still being treated and already feels much more relaxed.
The key thing I notice in the approach of Dr. Wade and the people in his clinic, is that they are not there to give or sell treatments. Instead they want to solve your problem no matter what is needed. You can see that in everything they do. If you have three different pains, they will treat all of them and not charge you separate. In my case I needed multiple times treatment each day and could just continuously stay at the clinic and get all treatment I needed. I have experienced, that the complexity of my injuries is very high due to the strength of my body and to the many years that I carry my injuries around. These types of complex problems often need a combination of techniques to solve them. Dr. Wade is very well rounded in many disciplines of treatment. His will to solve people’s problems makes him continuously look for more and better knowledge from various fields and he generously shares his skills and knowledge with those that need it.
Last but not least, the staff of the clinic is extremely friendly. You can imagine spending almost a full holiday in a clinic is not your ideal holiday. The people in the clinic were so supportive and friendly that being there was a big pleasure and the holiday wasn’t so bad after all.
We will have a few more days of therapy before flying to Holland back again. Dr. Wade and Dr. Ed create as much time as possible in the schedule to get me as fresh as possible in the plain. When I am at home I will have an accurate description of my two big physical problems, that I can take to a local doctor for further treatment and I even have a referral to a good local chiropractor that should be able to finish the job.
I can’t express in words how much the people from ACC have helped me and know fur sure they will keep helping a lot of other people with their dedicated minds and hands.
