Uncategorized

4 Rules

Posted by

The body has a few rules it will constantly try to maintain.

Feet strong on the floor

Eyes level with the horizon

Give space for pain or restriction (to stop it hurting)

Allow Movement

These were evolved over millenia, from our first steps as bipedal mammals through to conscious, creative homo sapiens. Without these, we would die. Without the ability to move, we would not be able to hunt, or gather, feed or run away from predators. And movement would not be able to occur if we couldn’t adapt dynamically for scar tissue, injuries or other problems. Movement would also not be possible if we had an unstable base (feet not strong on the floor) or our eyes were not able to gauge distance, speed or balance by being unlevel. 

It is only when it exceeds that capacity to adapt do most people even become aware of the problems and related pain that follows. Athletes and active people may notice the restrictions occuring faster, when they begin to limit performance.

What can you do about it? Move, explore, find out what your body can do and what it can’t. If you find a problem you can’t work out yourself, see an expert who can treat you as a whole person, rather than a collection of symptoms.

You evolved to be amazing, don’t waste it.

 

 

 

Whats the difference?

Posted by

As a practitioner, I get asked this every week…

“So whats the difference between osteopathy, chiropractic and physiotherapy”

Once we’ve got the jokes out of the way (The spelling, 50 grand a year and a Porsche etc), I try to explain, which is far harder than you initially think, as there are a huge number of cross over points between each discipline.

My take is:

  • The philosophy behind each practice. Having evolved from similar roots, each form has taken on a different theoretical approach to treatment.
  • An Osteopath tends to look globally as well as locally, use soft tissue techniques in conjunction with appropriate manipulation and applies the osteopathic principles to diagnosis and treatment.
  • Chiropractors traditionally look at adjusting the spine to improve the health of the body, manipulate (or adjust) more often, use x ray and other interventional tests to aid a diagnostic process and feel able to treat far more frequently.
  • Physiotherapists use a range of soft tissue techniques and electrotherapy as well as some manipulations and tend to practice in a hospital environment, as well as having special areas of interest, for example pre and post operative, respiratory etc.

However, these days there are far more areas of commonality. All practices are protected by law (you are not able to call yourself any of the above unless on a legally defined register), have to regularly train and update their skill base, use palpation, active and passive movements for diagnosis and have access to a combination of techniques to achieve their therapeutic goal.

In the end, it comes down to personal preference and personal recommendation. A good practitioner of any discipline should be able to take the time to talk you through your presentation, give you the treatment options, the space to come to your own conclusions and help map out a treatment pathway.

Whoever you choose to help manage your health, consider it as a lifetime investment in yourself.

The use of compression wear in recovery from injury

Posted by

Many people use compression wear for racing, training and recovery. However, I’ve been thinking about using for recovery from injury.

As of yet, I haven’t been able to design a suitable controlled trial but we have been trialing it in clinic with some athletes and other active clients.

We noted that it seems to help improve recovery time in people with both calf injuries and tendonopathies. It appears that the compression wear (in this case compressport calf guards) helps reduce buildup of oedema when worn overnight and support the muscle during everyday activity during the day.

We are going to continue trialing this and hopefully will have sufficient day to draw a more solid conclusion soon but i thought i’d put it out there for general consideration. We are also going to try the quad guards for hamstring and quad injuries if suitable clients present.