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Month: March 2018

By admin Our Blog

Ouch! What to do when you sustain an injury

Sprains and strains

Sprains and strains to muscles and joints happen to all of us and for most they are a painful, but temporary reminder to be a little more careful. Prompt action can help your body to heal faster and may prevent further injury or prolonged pain.

Strained or ‘pulled’ muscles often happen when we over exert untrained muscles, train without properly warming up or try to go beyond a joint’s natural flexibility. Sometimes we feel the pain straight away, however some injuries might not cause pain until later on. What can you do?

Remember RICE (Relative rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation), using these can help to relieve the pain and start the healing process.

Relative Rest

The first thing to do if you feel pain is to reduce the offending activity – pain is usually your body’s way of telling you that there is something wrong that needs your attention. It can be normal to feel a little sore after exercises for a day or two, but if it is more than this, pushing through the pain is rarely beneficial.

However, movement stimulates the healing process so stay as mobile as you comfortably can. Try to keep the joint moving through a comfortable range of motion, without forcing it to the point of pain. This will help to encourage blood flow and keep your joint flexible whilst it heals. This is particularly relevant for back pain as gentle exercise, such as walking, can help. You should slowly build your activity levels up as soon as your symptoms begin to resolve and as soon as you are able.

Ice/Cooling

Cooling the area using an ice pack can help to reduce swelling and pain. Wrap a thin tea towel around the area so as to avoid direct skin contact and then apply the pack to the injured area for 10 – 15 minutes. You should repeat this several times per day for the first 72 hours. This will help to control inflammation, making it easier for your body to get blood and nutrients to the area and resolve the injured tissues.

Compression

Gently applying a compression dressing may help to temporarily support the injured joint and reduce swelling, though remove this immediately if there are signs that this is reducing the circulation to the area (numbness, pins and needles, the skin turning white or blue etc).

Elevation

If the injury is in the lower limb (knee or ankle), elevating the area a little can make it easier for your body drain fluids that might accumulate around the area, causing swelling. For example, if you’ve hurt your knee, sitting down with the knee raised on a low foot stool may ease your pain.

Seek medical attention

If you have pain that can’t be controlled with over the counter painkillers, can’t put weight on the injured limb, experience paralysis or loss of sensation or the swelling is very bad seek help from your local A&E department, urgent care centre or telephone 111 for advice.

If the pain or swelling fails to improve within a week, a visit to an osteopath may be beneficial. They will be able to assess the injury, advise you on the correct treatment and can provide some manual therapy which may help it get better faster.

By admin Our Blog , ,

Postural Problems

Postural Problems

Few of us are likely to conclude that we have perfect posture. Most of us probably spend too much time slumped at our laptop, staring at a screen at work or stand slouched, as it ‘feels more comfortable’.

Modern Technology doesn’t help

In today’s modern technological world, we have become more sedentary, we sit longer, rely more heavily on gadgets, cars, mobiles and computers. Children follow suit from an early age and attend our clinic better versed at the use of an iPad than most of our staff.

Sit-stand desks

We are simply not designed to be as sedentary as we are living today. Not only does this impact heavily on our skeleton and muscles, but our heart, lungs, digestion and indeed our spirit and emotional wellbeing too. Many large companies are starting to take this on board, introducing sit-stand desks and getting staff moving more, but a lot more needs to be done for us to stay fit and healthy.

Centre of gravity and posture

Our body has an ‘ideal’ centre of gravity. Too long away from this ideal means that the joints change the alignment they are designed to be in as they are pushed or pulled from the centre. When this happens, instead of the bony part of the spine, designed to take the loading taking it, the soft tissues and muscles are forced too. Even this balance in the muscular system is then also not balanced as the load does not fall evenly resulting in some muscles working really hard and for long periods and others not working much at all. Muscles then become fatigued and this can cause pain and stiffness.

Many of the common problems that I see in clinic, like back pain and headaches, often have a postural component to them. I will work to assess your posture, alongside your condition and identify areas of muscle weakness and overload and then use techniques like osteopathy, massage, orthotic prescription and exercise to gently and effectively restore you back to health. My aim is to work in partnership with you to help you achieve your goals.

By admin Our Blog ,

Persistent Pain

Persistent Pain

We all feel pain from time to time. When someone injures themselves, specific nerves recognise this as pain, which in turn triggers the body’s repair mechanism. As the problem resolves, the pain tends to improve and usually disappears within 3-6 months. This type of pain could be argued to be beneficial: if it hurts, you are likely to try and avoid doing whatever it is that has caused the pain in the future, so you are less likely to injure yourself in that way again.

Occasionally the pain continues even after tissue healing has finished. When pain continues after this point, it becomes known as persistent (or is sometimes referred to as chronic) pain. This type of pain is not beneficial and is a result of the nerves becoming over-sensitised, which means that a painful response will be triggered much more easily than normal. This can be unpleasant, but doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doing yourself any harm simply by moving. You could think of this as a sensitive car alarm that goes off in error when someone walks past.

Persistent pain is very common and effects over 14 million people in the UK alone. It often does not respond to conventional medical interventions and needs a different kind of approach, but there are many things that you can do to manage your pain yourself with the support of your osteopath, your family and loved-ones. Keeping active, performing exercises and stretches can help, learning to pace your activities so that you don’t trigger a flare-up of your pain as well as setting goals and priorities are all very important and can help you to maintain a fulfilling lifestyle.

For more information on how to manage your persistent pain, speak to your osteopath.

 

Content courtesy of Institute of Osteopathy http://www.iosteopathy.org/your-health/persistent-pain/

By admin Our Blog

Back Pain and Children

Like adults, children can suffer from back pain as a result of a variety of lifestyle activities.  And like adults, there are number of things that parents and carers can do to prevent issues arising.

If your child does complain of back pain, it is important to seek advice from a qualified professional, such as an osteopath.  An osteopath will help to establish the cause of the problem and will provide advice on treatment, or refer you for further examinations if required.

Good school bags

Children are often required to carry bags full of books, PE kits, musical instruments and other equipment to and from school. Parents should try to limit the weight of school bags as much as possible and invest in a good quality back pack that the child should wear across both shoulders, ideally with a strap across the chest to keep the load close to their body. Packing the bag with the heaviest items (such as laptops and heavy books) closest to child’s body, will also make carrying more comfortable and less likely to strain the muscles of the back.

Limit screen time

Looking down to use smart phones, tablets and laptops for an extended period can pull the back and neck into an unnatural posture, resulting in pain. Placing limits on the time spent using devices and encouraging regular breaks may help to avoid problems. If your child has to use a laptop for homework, consider purchasing a support that elevates the screen to a height that allows him or her to sit up straight to look at it.

Regular exercise

A sedentary lifestyle is known to contribute to the risk of developing back pain, as well as contributing to obesity. Regular physical activity helps to keep the core muscles that support the spine strong and maintain flexibility, which will help to avoid back pain. Encourage lots of active play, walking, running, swimming, cycling to keep your child fit and healthy.

The right bed and pillow

Good quality sleep is vital for both physical and mental development. Make sure that your child has a good sized comfortable bed with a firm mattress and a pillow that supports their head without lifting it too high.

Osteopathic Treatment for your child’s back pain

Your child’s back pain may benefit from osteopathic treatment.  Using gentle manual therapy an osteopath will help to resolve any stresses and strains that are affecting their body and relieve their pain. They can also provide lifestyle advice that may help to prevent the problem from coming back.

 

Content courtesy of Institute of Osteopathy

http://www.iosteopathy.org/your-health/back-pain-and-children/

By admin Our Blog

Active 10

We all know how important it is to be active. The good news is that you don’t have to go to the gym or start expensive fitness programmes, walking counts too! Just ten minutes of brisk walking every day can get your heart pumping and can make you feel more energetic, as well as lowering your risk of serious illnesses like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Going for a brisk walk is also a great way to clear your head.

To help you get started, a new strand of work from Public Health England’s One You programme is encouraging all adults to build more physical activity into their life by simply walking briskly for ten continuous minutes or more every day, known as ‘Active 10s’.  Active 10s are simple to fit into your day, from taking the dog out to going for a lunchtime walk. There is a free Active 10 app which shows how much brisk walking you are doing and where you can fit ten minute bursts of brisk walking into your day. You can find out more about the app below, or download it here.

The Institute of Osteopathy is delighted to be working in partnership with Public Health England on One You and hope to inspire thousands of people to become more physically active by using Active 10.  For more information on keeping fit and healthy, visit your osteopath who can provide guidance and advice to help you get active. You can find an osteopath here.

Background

Without knowing it, by the time we reach our 40s and 50s many of us will have dramatically increased our chances of becoming ill later in life. Whether we are eating the wrong things, drinking more than we should, continuing to smoke despite everything we know, or just not being active enough, all of these small things can add up to an unhealthy you.

Making better choices today can have a huge influence on our health, and could prevent conditions like type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and reduce our risk of suffering a stroke or living with dementia, disability and frailty in later life. Physical inactivity is a major cause of disease and disability for adults in the UK and costs the NHS millions every year.

The campaign, Active 10 was created following research which found that 60% of middle aged adults had not walked for 10 or more consecutive minutes in the last month.  Active 10 aims to highlight the difference that at least ten minutes of physical activity a day now, can make to your health in later life.

Brisk Walking and the Active 10 App

We all know the importance of being physically active and the good news is that just 10 continuous minutes of brisk walking counts as physical activity. Brisk walking is simply walking faster than you would do normally, which gets the heart pumping, makes you feel more energetic and helps to improve your mood. Over time it can also help to lower the risk of serious illness like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Active 10 has a free app you can download which includes tips and encouragement to help you fit ten-minute brisk walking sessions into your daily routine. It also tells you how much brisk walking you are currently doing as well as helping you to slowly build up from just 10 minutes of exercise to 30 minutes a day by providing regular rewards, challenges and encouragement.

About One You

Active 10 is the latest physical activity campaign from the One You programme, devised by Public Health England. One You is the first national programme that seeks to encourage adults to make positive changes to their everyday behaviours that could see them avoid many of the diseases caused by modern day lifestyles. It is estimated that habits such as poor diet, excessive alcohol, smoking and a lack of activity – are responsible for around 40% of all deaths in England and costs the NHS more than £11 billion a year.

The One You campaign provides positive lifestyle messages on areas such as smoking cessation, eating, drinking, sleeping and moving to inform, energise and engage millions of adults, especially those in middle age. One You also provides information on free health checks and how people can reduce their stress levels and sleep better.

Osteopathy is a profession that focuses on creating an environment for supporting the health of our patients and the One You campaign, with its focus on positive messages for overall optimal health, is a campaign that aligns well with our osteopathic principles. Osteopaths are ideally placed to provide health advice and guidance to aid people to make the changes proposed by the One You campaign, and demonstrate that there is far more to osteopathic practice than just treating backs.

Resources you need

  • How are you?nhs.uk/oneyou/hay This 10-minute quiz will give you an idea of improvements you can make to better your long-term health.
  • Active 10 App (https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/active10) Download this app to see how much brisk walking you currently do and set new targets for physical activity.
  • Visit the Active 10 website to find out more nhs.uk/oneyou/active10 Are you interested in finding out more about Public Health England’s Active 10 and One You campaigns, visit the link above to find out more.

Content courtesy of Institute of Osteopathy

http://www.iosteopathy.org/your-health/active-10/