Health Blog

Our Physiotherapist Angel Lopez is trained in Sports Physiotherapy and Clinical  Psychoneuroimmunology (cPNI) He uses both scientific pathways to treat patients. 

What does PNI actually mean? 

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is a holistic approach to treating patients. PNI looks at the patients’ diet, physical exercise, psychology, anatomy, etc. with the aim of boosting the patients’ immune system and making them more resistant to chronic diseases and pains. 

“I often see patients with long term conditions such as, low back pain, sore knees or tendon pains in our clinic. Most of these patients have already seen a previous health professional before they arrive in my care”

Angel thinks that the main issue with the “traditional medicine” approach is that each discipline just looks at its own treatment area, focusing on treating symptoms instead of looking at the cause of the problem. It is rare to see a doctor asking the patient about his nutrition, we rarely see a nutritionist asking about physical activity or even see a physiotherapist asking about a patients psycho-emotional state.

“They just see a snapshot of the problem and we need to understand the whole story to give effective treatment. PNI helps me see the bigger picture of the problem”.

Here is an example to help you understand what I mean: I often use this example as I think it is a really good one.

“A Patient consulted me complaining about his Achilles tendon (behind the ankle) pain.  He had been suffering with it for more than 8 months. He had previously seen two physiotherapists, two Sports Medicine consultants and he had an Ultra Sound and an MRI Scan. Nobody could see anything wrong with his tendon on the images.  The medication and exercises given by the previous physiotherapists and Consultants did not result in any progress. 

When he came to see me he was visibly depressed and desperate to recover. At that time, he was studying for his A Level exams and training at a National standard Intensity, all at the same time. That gave me a clue. The amount of energy he was using for his exams and his training sessions was too high, with the result that he had no spare energy to assist with his tendon problem. After asking about his nutrition, amongst other things, I realised that he was eating too many times per day (up to seven meals per day) and the food he was eating was particularly inflammatory. Three weeks after changing the patient’s diet and eating pattern the pain went away.”

In countries like Germany, Spain, France and Netherland PNI is already established, could the UK be next?    Angel thinks PNI will be the future of medicine and his views support the holistic approach of the other practitioners at Springbank Clinic. Each practitioner works together offering their own strengths to ensure that every patient consults the most appropriate therapist or therapists to achieve optimum outcomes.

If you wish to book an appointment with Angel, please contact us on 01732 453956 or book an appointment online at https://springbankclinic.co.uk/.

Springbank Clinic

Angel Lopez Caceres MCSP MA

Physiotherapist