13 April 2026
The Stories That Remind Us Why We Care – Celebrating Chiropractic Awareness Week 2026
By Edward Barker, Chiropractor and member of the British Chiropractic Association.
In every chiropractor’s career, there are patient stories that stay with you.
It might be someone who came into the clinic worried that ongoing pain could force them out of a physically demanding job. It might be a patient recovering from injury who has started to avoid movement altogether, unsure what their body can handle. Sometimes the difference is felt in small but meaningful ways. Walking the dog again, getting back to the activities they enjoy, or lifting a grandchild for the first time in months.
These moments tend to stay with practitioners throughout their careers. They remind us why many of us chose to work in healthcare in the first place.
This year’s Chiropractic Awareness Week (Monday 13th April – Sunday 19th April) focuses on those memories. Our theme, “The patient I’ll never forget”, invited chiropractors and BCA members across the UK to reflect on the individuals whose journeys have stayed with them and shaped their professional lives.
For me, that patient was my first patient whom I saw after graduating. This patient attended the clinic having suffered from low back pain for several months, which had a negative effect on their quality of life. Stopped working, stopped going to the gym and walking, which was really impacting his mood. After several sessions with this patient, they attended the clinic, saying they had really taken a turn for the better and singing all my praises. They explained how they are walking a lot more now, hitting PB’s in the gym and lost loads of weight and overall are in a much better mindset. This really hit home and made me realise that the work we do as chiropractors gets overshadowed by the fact that we see it as part of our jobs, but to patients, it’s life-changing. This has made me look at what we do differently and recognise that the person in front of us during an initial consultation is putting all their trust in us to help with their pain and improve their quality of life so they can get back to doing what they love.
Looking Beyond the Symptoms
So why do stories matter? Musculoskeletal (MSK) problems are often described in clinical terms: pain levels, mobility, and diagnostic findings. For patients, however, the experience is much broader than that.
Pain can affect someone’s ability to work, care for family members, exercise or take part in social activities. It can influence confidence and routine just as much as physical movement. Understanding that wider context helps care o be tailored to the person in front of you. Two patients with similar symptoms, yet their priorities can be entirely different.
One patient may be focuses on returning to work safety. Another may want to stay active in retirement. A runner may be working towards getting back to training, while a parent may simply want to get down on the floor to play with their child.
Conversations about those goals from the very first meeting help shape treatment plans that reflects what matters most to the patient.
Listening as Part of Good Care
Across healthcare, there is growing recognition that communication and empathy are central to effective car. Patients want to feel that their concerns have been properly heard and understood, not just assessed.
For many people living with MSK pain, the impact isn’t always easy to describe in a short appointment. They may have been managing discomfort for months or adjusting their daily routines without realising how much those changes have affected their quality of life. Taking the time to listen helps bring those experiences into the conversation. Patients often describe how pain has started to shape the way they move, work or spend time with family, avoiding certain activities, turning down invitations, or approaching everyday tasks with caution.
When patients feel listened to, it often changes the tone of the consultation. They are more likely to feel comfortable asking questions, sharing concerns and understanding the advice they receive. For clinicians, these conversations offer valuable insight into how a condition is affecting someone’s day-to-day life.
In musculoskeletal health, particularly recovery is rarely instant. It often involved gradual improvement, adjustments to activity and rebuilding confidence in movement.Open communication between practitioner and patient helps support that process, allowing care to adapt as people regain strength, mobility and confidence.
A Reminder of the Difference We Can Make
Across the UK healthcare system, demand for MSK care continues to gore. The BCA’s Health Economics Report, in partnership with York Health Economic Consortium, showed that MSK conditions lead to over 30 million lost workdays per year. This is estimated to be responsible for more than £100 billion of lost productivity in the UK every year.
At the same time, clinicians are often working within tight appointment times and currently, patient are waiting up to 24 weeks for treatment. That can make it harder to fully understand the person behind the condition.
If we want to deliver the best possible care for patient, our healthcare system needs to create space for those conversations to happen, wherever people choose to seek support, whether that’s within the NHS or in community settings such as chiropractic clinics.
Taking the time t understand someone’s experience of pain, their daily responsibilities and what recovery means for them is not separate for good clinical care. It is often what allows the right care to happen in the first place.
For more information about this year’s Chiropractic Awareness Week, please visit: https://chiropractic-uk.co.uk/caw
Answers From Edward
Why Did You Become a Chiropractor? – I’ve always had an interest in the human body and how it works which initially sparked my interest as well as also having back issues myself, so I wanted to find the answer. After doing some research at careers I would like to do after I left school, chiropractic was the one that stood out to me the most.
What Chiropractic Story Inspired You? – What inspires me is ready and listening to patient feedback from our reviews and actually seeing how much of a change we are making to each individuals lives and even those around them, who say how much of a difference treatment has made and how much better their partner or family member is for having treatment.
Why Do You Continue Being a Chiropractor? – To help people. I love looking at each patient that comes through the door as a challenge to my clinical skills as each individual is different. Then seeing the benefits as treatment progresses and patients visibly becoming happier due to better quality of life is what keeps me going.
What Is Your Favourite Part of a Working Day? – Seeing a busy clinic shift. Because it tells me that what i’m doing is working and people are seeing the benefits as they are coming back ans also recommending their friends and family who are suffering with similar conditions to when they first came in.
Who Inspires You? – Angus Haack who is a chiropractor I follow on social media who’s view on chiropractor is very simplistic and has a similar outlook on the profession to myself and Dr. Aaron Horschig who is a rehab specialist. His videos are really helpful and informative and I’ve taken a lot of the information he’s said on board and implemented it a lot into my practice when it comes to exercises which has worked really well with patients.
