The patient: “Yusuf” had been suffering from a bum back, which developed from the rigor of displaying rugs in his shop.

Why I came to see him: On a recent trip to Istanbul, we visited one of our favorite markets, The Grand Bazaar, always looking for a deal on Turkish rugs. One merchant, Yusuf, was very generous with his time. I noticed that he was limping around complaining of a pain in the hip. True to my nature, I couldn’t help but ask him about it.

How I evaluated him: I explained that I treated this problem in the US and would be happy to evaluate him and fix it if I could. When I had him lift one leg at a time standing in front of me facing away, I felt a fixation, or point of no movement, along the joint between his hip and sacrum.

How we addressed his problem: I knew that Yusuf’s problem could be relieved with a chiropractic adjustment. (Different types of body manipulation, similar to chiropractic, are included in the curriculum at naturopathic medical schools.) Yusuf laid down a few of his finer rugs and slowly stretched out on his belly. I was able to identify the spot on his hip bone that had moved a bit too far backwards. While positioning myself over him, I placed my right knee into the joint. I had him take a deep breath in and out to relax, and then thrust my knee down with most of my weight, whereupon a distinct, and healing, “crack” could be heard.

The patient’s progress: Thankfully, Yusuf got up singing my praises, and I told him that I too was relieved—in that I was sure if I had hurt him, I would have been whisked away to the central prison in Istanbul which we agreed would not have been a welcomed addition to my travels.

For more with Andrew Rubman, ND, check out his video series, Nature Doc’s Natural Cures and podcast.

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