Doctor’s orders: dos and don’ts of caring for your back
- Choose the right pillow, meditate and exercise mindfully to avoid spinal injuries, experts say
- Smoking, being overweight and stress can also adversely affect the vertebral column
When Dr Mak Kin-cheung was still a student, he suffered a slipped disc while playing tennis.
A slipped or prolapsed disc involves the soft cushion of tissue between two bony segments of the spine bursting out of its proper position. In Dr Mak’s case, the incident limited his activity and impaired his lifestyle for a significant period of time.
It also gave the keen sportsman a personal insight into the importance of having a healthy spine and of having a good caregiver.
Yet becoming a spinal surgeon – and since last year, consultant in orthopaedics and traumatology at Hong Kong Adventist Hospital (Stubbs Road, on Hong Kong Island) – was not straightforward.
Mak actually started out studying pharmacology.
As a child, he loved reading the wuxia novels about martial arts and chivalry by Jin Yong – the pen name of the late Louis Cha Leung-yung – featuring magical tinctures that can cure terrible illnesses and even bring people back to life.
