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All about ‘dem bones!

All about ‘dem bones!

If you've ever seen a real skeleton or fossil in a museum, you may think that bones are dead, although bones in museums are dry, hard, or crumbly, the bones in your body are different. Bones in our bodies are living and growing tissues that are constantly rebuilding themselves, they contain nerves, blood vessels, and marrow, where blood cells are created. When we are born we have 300 bones that are soft and connected to cartlidge, when we become adults at age 25, we have 206

Headaches - Finding the root cause

Headaches - Finding the root cause

More than 10 million people in the UK experience headaches regularly, but what could be causing these niggling pains? After low back and neck pain, they are the top reason people consult us as chiropractors. There are a number of categories of Headaches including migraine, tension HA, medication-induced HA and cluster headaches. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that around half of all adults worldwide will experience a headache in any given year. Headaches can be a

Pillows for a sound sleep

Pillows for a sound sleep

I am thinking of the days when I used to sleep for 7-9 hours a night and how comfortable they were. Having just had a baby I am lucky if I get a 3-hour stretch of sleep. Let alone in a comfortable position. This brings me on to my next blog about the difference a good pillow can influence your night’s sleep. Today’s modern living, which often entails hours of driving and hunching over work stations, plays havoc with your neck. Neck pain can be felt in a large number of ways,

Keeping technology healthy for teens

Keeping technology healthy for teens

Teenagers can be at risk from suffering back or neck pain due to sedentary lifestyles and the excessive use of technology. Findings from the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) that showed 40% of 11 to 16 year olds in the UK have experienced back or neck pain. Worryingly, more than one in seven (15%) parents said their son’s or daughter’s pain is a result of using a laptop, tablet or computer. The research revealed that almost three quarters (68%) of 11 to 16 year olds spe

Dangers of Back Pain at School

Dangers of Back Pain at School

The new school year is well underway. Children are back in the classrooms, running around playgrounds and playing sports. However, children, like adults, can be prone to back pain, and there can be several causes. The most common causes of joint and back pain in school children are: Lack of exercise or excessive exercise Weight of school bags Bad posture Poorly set up desks Use of a computer or computer games Sports injuries Ill-fitting shoes/improper shoes Lack of exercise a

The value of stretching

The value of stretching

Stretching is part of a routine we go through, before and after exercising and to help prevent injury. More and more evidence from scientific literature are telling us when to stretch and when not to, often with confusing and contradictory information. A couple terms that always seem to be at the forefront of the debate is dynamic stretching and static stretching. The leading evidence suggests that static stretching may be detrimental immediately before exercising (referenc

When is pain an injury?

When is pain an injury?

Summer is here and it’s time to dust of the cobwebs and start moving. The “slightly” warmer weather gives us the opportunity to get out and experience the great outdoors! Whether it is going for a run, cycling or just walking. For some of us, it may have been a while since you’ve exercised and you are starting to feel a little achy in places that you didn’t think existed. After exercising, we may experience delayed onset muscle soreness. This is when you get that constant dul

Can Chiropractic help with sports injuries?

Can Chiropractic help with sports injuries?

This is my first blog post, so I thought I would keep it short. Giving an introduction into why chiropractors can help with sporting injuries. What has chiropractic got to do with sports? This short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz1RTO2lCUQ - will give an idea of why chiropractors have a big role in managing people of all sporting backgrounds. Whatever sport you part take, the times when you can train/compete without thinking about an injury you are carrying is the on

Rugby Injuries: Shoulder impingement syndrome

Rugby Injuries: Shoulder impingement syndrome

Rugby Injuries: Shoulder impingement syndrome I’m gonna discuss this problem in a simple ‘all you need to know’ style. The shoulder is essentially a relatively loose joint that lacks the stability that many of the other large joints benefit from. This is because the bony socket into which the arm inserts is very shallow and therefore the bony aspect of the joint does not offer much support. The way this joint is mainly supported is by the tendons of the musculature that attac

What is the difference between Chiropractor vs McTimoney Chiropractor?

What is the difference between Chiropractor vs McTimoney Chiropractor?

I am going to write this short post based on my experience as a ‘Chiropractor' and from meetings and having conversations with other ‘Chiropractors and ‘McTimoney’ Chiropractors. A McTimoney Chiropractor giving an ‘toggle recoil’ type adjustment to Thoracic Spine The key point I want to make with this post is that McTimoney Chiropractors prefer to use a different type of ‘adjustment’ or ‘manipulation’ to a normal ‘Chiropractor’. The techniques they prefer to use are very very

What makes a good or bad Chiropractor?

What makes a good or bad Chiropractor?

As a practicing Chiropractor I have made 2 brief lists of things to be aware of when visiting a Chiropractor for the first time. The lists are also good to see how your current Chiropractor compares. All professions have good and bad practitioners, as you can imagine people’s abilities to treat differ, just as a persons abilities at sport can differ. Some people are naturals, some take time to improve and others well… the less said the better. There can also be differences in

What is the difference between a Chiropractor and an Osteopath?

What is the difference between a Chiropractor and an Osteopath?

One of the most common questions I get as a Chiropractor is “what is the difference between a Chiropractor and an Osteopath?” There are many different views to answering this question, so prior to writing this blog I had a little search around on the internet to see the variation in answers from each side of the fence. As you might expect there tends to be bias from each profession where you find that whichever profession the author belongs to they tend to sneakily make out t

Neck Pain: Chiropractic and exercise, the perfect relationship?

Neck Pain: Chiropractic and exercise, the perfect relationship?

Medication Exercise A Chiropractor After 12 weeks, the patients who used a chiropractor or exercised were more than twice as likely to be pain free compared to those who relied on medication. The patients treated by a chiropractor experienced the highest rate of success with 32 percent saying they were pain free, compared to 30 percent of those who exercised. Only 13 percent of patients treated with medication said they no longer experienced pain. ABC news, a popular america

How do I avoid getting back and neck pain whilst breast feeding?

How do I avoid getting back and neck pain whilst breast feeding?

There is loads of advice out there about how to breastfeed, though none of which provides a specialists view on the do’s and don'ts of breastfeeding positioning taking your neck and back into consideration. From a chiropractors perspective I have come up with some great tips to help you wonderful mothers and mothers-to-be avoid back and neck pain whilst breastfeeding. Making yourself as comfortable as possible during breastfeeding may mean trying out a few different positions

How exactly can a Chiropractor help treat my headache?

How exactly can a Chiropractor help treat my headache?

There a variety of different headache types, evidence shows that chiropractic can help treat two of the most common types, these are migraines and cervicogenic headaches. During a consultation, a chiropractor will assess you and form a working diagnosis as to which type of headache he thinks you are suffering from. They will then inform you as to whether they feel you would benefit from chiropractic treatment. Treating ‘Migraines‘ Although migraine attacks affect a significan

Why do I need to use ice?

Why do I need to use ice?

Why do I need to use ice? Its amazing… amazing how many times I have asked patients during our first meeting and consultation if they have iced their injury before coming in to see me. The answer 90% of the time is, “I haven’t” or “I have been using heat but not ice”. In mine and a lot of others opinions, Icing is by far and away the best thing you can do to get yourself back on the road to recovery as fast as possible in the early stages of a muscle or joint injury. Here in

What is the noise heard during a chiropractic adjustment or manipulation?

What is the noise heard during a chiropractic adjustment or manipulation?

If you have been to your Chiropractor or a therapist that performs manipulation you may have already had this subject explained to you briefly. However, this post will hopefully provide you with a little more detail and understanding about why you hear this unfamiliar noise and also reveal whether or not it is even significant!. If you have not heard of a manipulation before I shall now briefly explain. A manipulation is where a practitioner (such as a Chiropractor) takes a j

How to prevent football injuries on matchday: a Chiropractors perspective

How to prevent football injuries on matchday: a Chiropractors perspective

Warming up, as every footballer should know its an absolute necessity to a footballers game for these reasons, i) to prevent Injury, ii) increase performance, iii) prolong your playing career, iv) reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). From my decades of playing for and working with numerous teams I strongly feel the importance of a warm up is not emphasised enough by teams to their players at pretty much all levels of the game. This post is here to highlight the most c

What are myofascia and fascia?

What are myofascia and fascia?

Fascia, it has become one of the hottest words in the world of manual therapy, including Chiropractic, you may have already heard the term being used by your manual therapist and the importance of treating it to help you move better and aid in your recovery. So what is it?, what’s its role?, why is it so important?, and how significant is it to your overall treatment? Well the truth is that if your practitioner is up to date about just how significant fascia is, then it can b