Aromatherapy is the practice of using the natural oils extracted from flowers, bark, stems, leaves, roots or other parts of a plant to enhance psychological and physical well-being. The inhaled aroma from these “essential” oils is widely believed to stimulate brain function. Essential oils can also be absorbed through the skin, where they travel through the bloodstream and can promote…
How to have the perfect poo! There’s not many things more satisfying than a really great bowel movement! Get it right and you’re skipping out of the door, on the other hand you can feel sluggish and under-par if your motion is on the slow side. Functional bowel dysfunction is a silent epidemic. Whether it be constipation, incomplete emptying, faecal…
We are pleased to announce that from February 2021, we are bringing an ear wax removal service to Physio and Therapies. Recent changes within the NHS mean that GP’s are unable to remove ear wax and referrals to ENT services mean a long wait and heavy reliance on NHS services. We can offer a local, quick, Covid safe service with…
In today’s post I am going to give you a few tips on how to help yourself when you have achy, tender knots in your muscles.
Muscle knots appear in various muscles in the body and are known as trigger points. You can tell if you have one because if you press or squeeze them they can hurt! Often a lot! They can also radiate pain into another part of your body, so you might squeeze your leg muscle but feel a pain in your foot, for example. Here at Physio and Therapies they are one of the most common things we find when we assess clients who come for help with a wide range of problems.
When arriving to do my ‘Women’s Health’ elective placement in 2000, I thought I’d observe Pregnancy classes, talk to ladies about bladder care, teach exercises to do after a Hysterectomy, and teach Pelvic Floor exercises. To my horror, I met my clinical educator for the next 6 weeks… coming out of fracture clinic with a BROKEN right arm! So I became her right hand, LITERALLY! That afternoon, she guided me through a vaginal examination of a new mum with weak pelvic floor muscles and leakage after having her baby; rectal Biofeedback on a 25 year old gentlemen who had been in a diving accident which left his anal sphincter weak and we examined a lady with a vaginal prolapse and taught her how to manage it. From then on I was hooked and most of my training since has centred around Pelvic Floor/Continence.
‘Women’s Health’ is now more often called ‘Pelvic Health’, in many hospitals/clinics not only because it is a more accurate description, but in sympathy with the poor men having to hide at the back of the waiting room of the ‘Women’s Health’ clinic!
Somatics – movement education
There is a damaging belief prevalent among fitness fanatics that there is “no gain without pain”. We have been led to believe that you cannot have a good workout until you “feel the burn”, but doctors, physical therapists and bodyworkers tell us a very different story. That pain is, in fact, our body’s natural way of indicating something has gone awry. That pain is a flashing warning light on your body’s dashboard.
Another common misconception which is accepted in most people’s lives is the belief that as you age you will suffer more aches and pains. But what if a lot of those aches and pains are a result of chronically tight muscles?
Many people lump Physiotherapy into the same category as less proven “alternative treatments” and it’s also confused with massage or chiropractic therapy. But Physiotherapy is different and this is the story of a Physio patient, Susan, in her own words.
“It was the prospect of being forced to give up cooking that made me try Physiotherapy. My hands and wrists had ached ever since I’d binged on note taking by hand and on my computer at college. My doctor gave me a blood test to rule out arthritis, but she had no idea what to do next. My husband, Andrew, had been urging me for years to try Physiotherapy, but I assumed I had the kind of permanent damage that nothing short of surgery could address. However, I knew that if my hands got much worse, I wouldn’t be able to cook—or make a living as a writer—so I finally made an appointment with a Physiotherapist.
How many hours a day do you spend on your phone, on your tablet or at a computer screen? What is your head doing right now? If you’re reading this using your phone, laptop or tablet, chances are you’re hunched over with your head tilted down. Research has found that this position, called ‘text neck’, can lead to bad posture and cause pain in your neck, head, shoulders, spine and even down your arms.
Recent research shows that 79% of 18 – 44 year olds have their mobile phone with them almost all the time – with only 2 hours of their waking day without their phone at hand. Many of us rely on smartphones and tablets to communicate for work and to keep in touch with family and friends throughout the day and we setting ourselves up for a future of pain and discomfort.
Migraines are now listed in the top 20 disabilities by the World Health Organisation and a survey of over 120,000 households found that four out of ten females and two out of ten males respectively will experience migraine at some stage in their lifetime – most likely before age of 35 and that the greatest frequency of attacks are likely to occur between the ages of 20 and 24 years in females and 15 to 19 in males. The authors reported that these findings were in accordance with previous studies. (Stewart WF, Wood C, Reed ML, Roy J, Lipton RB. Cumulative lifetime migraine incidence in women and men. Cephalalgia 2008;28:1170-1178)
Clearly this is a significant problem for many people!
By Diane Palliser, Reflexologist
“If you’re feeling out of kilter
Don’t know why or what about
Let your feet reveal the answer
Find the sore spot work it out”
– Eunice D. Ingham
Reflexology is one of the oldest healing practices in the world as evidenced by Chinese and Egyptian texts, illustrations and artefacts. Cleopatra’s lover Mark Antony was reported as being particularly skilled in the area of foot massage, provoking the scorn of his rival Caesar, who, on witnessing Mark Antony massaging Cleopatra’s feet at a party remarked that “it showed his pathetic enslavement to her”. Another, much more recent female icon, Princess Diana is also reported to have had reflexology 3 times a week.
However, Reflexology is not just a luxury treatment enjoyed by goddesses but can also be beneficial to pets, babies, people overcoming addictions, people with and recovering from cancer and those living with Alzheimer’s, to name a few.