Meet Bernard Preston

Meet Bernard Preston D.C. who has practised for over 40-years, initially in one of South Africa’s smaller cities, and then for seven years in the Netherlands.

In mid 2010 he went into semi-retirement in the small village of Hilton in South Africa, practising for just a few hours most days with his daughter, Dr Jane Ackerman, DC.

• CHIROPRACTOR HILTON STREETVIEW ...

This page was last updated on 9th September, 2023 by Dr Bernard Preston.

About

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RETIREMENT SENTIMENTS

Bernard Preston writes a few thoughts on a successful, happy and zestful retirement. Some planning is necessary.

Copy and paste "retirement sentiments" into Site Search for more information.

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Known by widely differing patients from small children to famous artists, musicians and athletes in pain, he is well-equipped to give us some fascinating insights into the world of a DC and the things that drive people; no holds barred.

• DC HILTON STREETVIEW^[1]
  

Covid-19 update

If one thing really irritates me, it is that all the emphasis has been about putting off to next week the visit that the C-19 virus will surely make eventually in all our lives. There has been so little to say about what positive steps we should be taking to ensure that we don't suffer the cytokine storm that kills so many.

Three things have been coming out consistently in the literature.

1. Get plenty of sunshine. Those who are deficient in vitamin-D have double the risk of dying. That is perhaps why it is more dangerous in winter.
2. Ensure that your blood-glucose remains within the normal limits. That is best done by taking a short walk after a starchy meal; and strictly limiting refined carbohydrates. That alas means cakes, cookies and commercial bread especially.
3. Certain blood-pressure medications give an uptick to the threshold that allows the virus in. Talk to your pharmacist.
   

Preston is the son of two DCs, both long deceased. He is married with 2 sons and a daughter who is a third generation doctor specialising in spinal-care; and three grandchildren.

He is a person who believes in the fullness of life both in a generally, as seen in his wide interests in nature, mountains and soaring; keeping bees, carpentry and as a layminister in the Anglican church in a religious sense too.

Dr Preston practised for seven-years in Holland where he lived with his wife in a small town just south of Rotterdam. His glider was supplanted by a humble bicycle which he says was just as much fun, but a lot more dangerous.

200 people per year die in Holland in cycling accidents, nearly one-third of total road deaths.

His boast is that, in Holland, for a year and half, he was the only DC in the whole wide world without a vehicle. Says he, "I didn't miss my car, but my motorcycle, oh, that left a hole as big as a barn-door." Several of his stories contain snippets about his hobbies, and the Dream Machine.

A summer's day in the beautiful city of Maastricht is best enjoyed on the bike. Then you can take time to smell the poppies and pick wild cherries; and enjoy a slice of vlaai and cup of coffee at one of the little roadside-cafes.

Years later, in 2021, he is looking for an electric-powered motorcycle that he can charge with his solar generator. It's all part of what he calls the green journey that has revolutionised his life.

Instead we turned over a Blue Leaf in January. Alas both bikes and motorcycles have become far too dangerous in the new South Africa; common-sense on the roads is completely ignored and potholes abound.

Meet Bernard Preston

Meet Bernard Preston answers in part who the man is and what he stands for. Amongst other things he believes that we should treat Brother-Ass kindly lest he turn around and bite us.

Author Bernard Preston has written six books.

• A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BERNARD PRESTON ...
• Leg pain sciatica
• Pubic bone pain
  

Meet Bernard Preston, together with "She who must be obeyed" crossing the river on the way to an Andre Rieu concert on the Vrijtag, or central city-square in Maastricht.

On their way home they cycle via the village of Nuth; one of the many very old windmills of the Netherlands.

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An Aside: Does your DC go the extra mile for you? Really care, try hard, you know s/he is doing his very best to help maintain a nuggety problem? How about a small gift? A bottle of wine, or better still a Bernard-Preston book would be appropriate!

Said wife of one New Jersey DC: I can't predict how fast Tom will read Bats in my Belfry , but he read Frog in my Throat non-stop. He has not tackled anything like that for pleasure, cover to finish, as long as I have known him.

- Linda R, New Jersey.

And of course, if you buy a Frog or Bat, or STONES IN MY CLOG, stories from Holland, you could read them first!

Frog in my throat

Frog in my throat is the first book where you will meet Bernard Preston; it relates to the struggles of the young DC, practising illegally when the register was closed to new graduate doctors, with the intention of closing down the profession.

Meet Bernard Preston and you'll find that we are a lot more resilient than medicine first thought; today there are two colleges at South African universities, aided and abetted by government, and a thriving profession.

Bats in my belfry

Bats in my belfry describes the middle stressed-years of leading the profession, whilst providing for a family and keeping body and soul together; meeting Bernard Preston you'll find that all doctors of every ilk must be wary of burn out.

Whilst some hard copies remain, these are mainly books to be read on your Kindle and tablet, and even smart-phone.

Stones in my clog

In Stones in my Clog he relates seven very fruitful years practising in the Netherlands; when meeting Bernard Preston you'll find the benefits of learning a new language, and discovering a quite different-culture.

Heb je zin een stuk in nederlands te lezen? Geraakt door vrienden doet me steeds veel pijn.

Now semi-retired he returned until 2016 to the polders to do locums for a colleague; a wonderful people with for some unknown reason a very large group suffering from the ravages of hip-pain; caught early it responds well to joint mobilisation and exercise in his experience. Ignored until late in the pathogenesis it's a misery.

Read more about upper leg, thigh and groin pain.

MIXED METAPHORS

Mixed metaphors may be frowned upon for writers, but this photo does make an interesting-mix of Preston's first two books.

Stones in my Clog

Meet Bernard Preston in his third book; Stones in my Clog is complete. At only $3.30 it's dirt cheap! Download and read it on your computer, kindle or tablet.

A Family Affair

His fourth-book, A Family Affair, is controversial and of a quite different genre. Written as trilogy, the first is available for free. Jan Jansen is the villain of the piece. Meet Bernard Preston and you'll realise he is a man of many parts, struggling with numerous issues that some would sweep under the carpet; it is easier not to think about these things.

The second and third are dirt cheap as all eBooks should be.

Don't pay a fortune for Ebooks for download.

Book Two, Peter's Children, starts out with Mission Unaccomplished, which sets the scene for the rest of the trilogy.
If you are still unsure, dip into Meeting Daddy. Today's world is full of broken and twisted families; meeting your father for the first time could be intimidating, particularly when he has no idea he has an adult daughter.

La Traviata

One of the great finds of Europe for this cultural geek has been introduction to opera. Even if you are a musico too, you'll enjoy this rather different rendering of La Traviata.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia and it's only four minutes long; and a lot of fun. BRINDISI ... watch?v=_zmwRitYO3w

The green journey

The green journey has become an essential part of meet Bernard-Preston; in essence it's a spiritual experience. Expect to be carried along or stay well away.

It is sobering that my moniker has all my life been attention deficit Bernie.

Meet Bernard Preston and you will find a man almost obsessed with leaving the planet a better place for our children's offspring than the polluted-world we have turned our home in the galaxy into.

Along the way keeping his own bees, growing spinach and discovering the wonderful world of worm-farms, he has discovered the key to greater wellness. More outdoor exercise, a huge variety of coloured foods and less red meat have all contributed; and capturing the sun's energy in a huge solar farm.

My sourdough bread journey

There have been three pivotal events in my sourdough bread journey. In a way they were "chance" events but there is a thread that links them together.

The first was the aroma given off by wheat as it is being milled at a friend's home; something so powerful but I had never smelled it before or had any inkling of its power. Fresh bread in the oven gives one a clue but it goes much deeper.

It's been a profound journey of wellness. I helped cure my serious chronic constipation; it gave us nearly 50% protection against breast and prostate cancer. The vitamin E, normally extracted by millers is a natural anticoagulant; no heart disease and strokes.

That's not small beer; it has made a huge contribution to a life without medication.

Soaring

For more than twenty years Bernie soared the heavens in his old wooden glider; once the thermals took him to 14,000 feet above sea-level.

• The widow maker
  

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Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and the family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

Taking pills and consulting psychologists has become a distant memory. True, the physical work did mean an serious episode of femoral nerve damage, from which is only just escaped spinal surgery, but overall the green journey has meant substantially better wellness.

Actually it was lifting a very large lady in acute pain on the adjusting-table that really did the damage.

Just what can we do to make sure this isn't the legacy we leave to our children? Wean off plastic is the first-step in the right direction. The Pacific ocean has become a gross dumping ground for our garbage; no wonder we have become so sick.

Greater well-being

If you really want to step up to greater wellbeing then just where do you begin? There's no single answer, of course; each of us must make our own green journey, marching to the beat of a different drummer.

At meet Bernard Preston, I'd suggest five really-simple things.

1. Get more exercise; whatever you enjoy. I used to play squash, in Holland I rode a bicycle every day, now I work hard in the garden and take long walks on holiday; you choose what fits with your lifestyle, but do something.
   
2. Start making this hummus recipe every single week; it's the key to turning a green salad into an interesting dish. That's a double bonus.
   
3. Start having eggs Florentine regularly for breakfast.
4. Make your own sourdough bread; it takes only five minutes if you have a baking-machine.
5. Get onto a natural probiotic; we found making kefir the easiest.
   

Naturally you don't need to start with any of these to step up to greater wellness; but if you are tired, listless and bored then do something; or in pain, overweight and you know that things are slipping, For you it might be a skipping-rope, an apple a day, and doing the daily crossword.

Just don't wallow in the trough of despair; perhaps read Pilgrim's Progress, one of the most beautiful books every written.

Let your food be your medicine is how Hippocrates, the father of Medicine and Spinal Manipulation put it.

Copy and paste "let your food be your medicine" into Site Search for more information.

Lonely road of faith

I won't pretend to be a great man of faith; I am not. The Slough of Despondency and other such chapters characterise my own pilgrim's progress. Yet I love the Lord, he is my chosen-portion, and I can indeed say the lines have fallen in pleasant places. It all began with "you must be born again."

• Lonely road of faith
  

Recently I have again returned to an old, and alas forgotten habit of enjoying a psalm a day.

Join with me as I bring you my own psalms of victory lyrics; they do indeed bring a song to the heart.

Today's Christian women are amazing, as of course they have been over the ages; three in particular had a profound influence in my spiritual-life.

A huge helper in our study of the scriptures has been Life with God, a book reviewed here by Mike Smallbones.

Glider pilot

For many years Bernard Preston has been a solo glider-pilot, owning his own Ka6. His books are laced with several glorious tales, some very scary, of his exploits in the air; like a thermal taking him to 14,000 feet above sealevel and the terror of finding himself in rotor.

Not for most, gliding is what he calls the sport of kings, not horse-racing at all.

Book reviews

My very good friend Mike Smallbones and I have done a series of reviews of Christian-books. Perhaps you might find one of interest.

• A new kind of Christianity
• Fathers and Sons
• The great emergence
  

• HELEN'S 15 EURO SALAD; the cure for a multitude of problems. 
• NUTRITIOUS CHOICE FOODS; need to get your cholesterol down without statins? 
• COWARD'S CASTLE
  

Did you find this page interesting? How about forwarding it to a friendly book or food junkie? Better still, a social media tick would help.

Address:

56 Groenekloof Rd,

Hilton, KZN

South Africa

Website:

https://www.bernard-preston.com

Create a Cyan Zone at your home; one which complements blue areas for longevity with green for protecting Mother Earth.