In this series GP Dr Martin
Hughes examines common medical complaints and follows patients as they seek treatment. "The more we can get people to understand these common ailments," he says,
"the quicker they are likely to get better."
This week he focuses on back pain. The story began with what could have been a trivial accident, just an awkward fall against a chair at work. But the result for Gill Bailey has been months of agonising back pain. She has been given contradictory advice, has been made to feel a malingerer, and has seen her pain cause serious tensions within the family. After such conventional treatments as traction and painkillers have proved ineffective, and in the month that a Private Member's Bill proposes official recognition for osteopaths, she turns to an "alternative" form of therapy. Producer Nicola Glucksmann
Series editor Michael Latham