Road works

The usual access to the premises is closed at the Milburngate roundabout. Please follow diversion signs for the route through North Road.

Perfect Posture

Here is a quick posture check....are you sitting comfortably at work? The chances are, probably not. For many years we have been advised to sit up straight at our desks. Now here's a thing, for some while the advice has been changed but the news does not seem to be filtering through.

Now we are encouraged to snuggle right back against our chair and then tilt the whole back so that we are reclined to an angle of about 100 - 110 degrees. Arms should be at our sides so that just the hands are at the front of the desk resting on the keyboard which will also be right at the front of the desk.

Check out the HSE.gov.uk ergonomics at work site for info because it works. The whole thing feels quite alien initially and also makes you look rather (excuse the pun) laid back. Changing your seating position may mean changing chair and monitor height soI believe that some office managers may have a bit of an issue with the somewhat relaxed appearance of the posture but it has made a huge difference to many people who come to me with work related neck and back pain. I have a few theories as to why it works, mainly I think it makes it almost impossible to fall into the inevitable slump and tortoise neck which we all adopt because we cannot maintain the bolt upright posture.

By the way, get to know your chair. Don't be frightened of finding out what all of those levers around the seat do. Then you can put it right for you anytime, even if you are hot desking or someone has 'nicked' your favourite chair.

Appointments, 17th to 21st december

We still have a few appointments left this week, especially on Tuesday. I just thought I'd say since I know a few people have said that they had put off phoning since they assumed we'd be fully booked.

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for a healthy 2019

The Practice closes for the Christmas holidays on Friday 21st December. The phone will be transferred to Sian if you need any help or advice 0191 3830677 and Liz will be working on 31st December. We hope that you enjoy any time off that you have and look forward to exchanging stories in 2019.

Good habits

I enjoyed a lovely long break over the Christmas period and count myself lucky to have done so. So I was happily back to work, but my goodness it did seem hard physically And then running, oh my legs hurt even though I felt I'd done enough to keep going over the holiday along with a few good walks.Of course the trouble is that when out of routine things tend to slide and I had let slip my very brief morning stretching routine. This usually takes 5-10 minutes three or four times a week and I really enjoy doing it.

What this has demonstrated to me is how very little we need to do to keep our bodies out of trouble, but how easy it is to stop looking after ourselves. What joy to also know that we can pick up our stretching and training again, and our bodies and minds will respond and embrace the kindness.

To supplement or not?

In my other life as a Cub Scout Leader we sometimes talk about friendships and peer pressure. Some Cubs are well versed in the fact that your friends shouldn't pressurise you into doing things you don't want to do. However I do point out that sometimes it is good to step out of our comfort zone, whilst we should not be persuaded into anything illegal or dangerous, new things can challenge and enhance our lives. I regularly challenge my patients to explore new ideas and try new movement patterns in order to change pain perception.

So it was on the persuasion of my work colleagues that I found myself at a Lamberts Healthcare seminar in Newcastle. I have always felt strongly that a good varied diet (especially combined with good varied movement) is all that we need to maintain general good health. However I have been persuaded by research in the last 5 or 10 years that a Vitamin D supplement is beneficial during the winter and early spring months. I've also been following the mindblowing research into the gut microbiota and how it appears to affect both mental and physical health and more worryingly how our microbiotic diversity may be declining due to modern diet and lifestyle. So maybe it was time to look again into dietary supplementation?

The day was both challenging and enjoyable. It is not often that I think on the cellular level and scientific understanding of the physiology of cells has grown hugely I found it massively interesting to be looking into how the tiny cells that make us as an organism are affected by what we do and of course vice versa. I loved the image of the mitochondria, the producers of energy in the cells, increasing in efficiency and number as we exercise. They too seem to thrive on pressure, a bit of stress, which can be driven by diet, exercise or other external factors such as temperature.

I now need to do some work. It is fascinating and useful to learn about our cell and organ physiology. But how effective are supplements? What research is there to show how useful they are. Testing is expensive, are the results worth the expenditure? In my working life I have seen many 'miracle cures' come and go, but some have stood the test of time. Is there really anything that will help our bodies to work more harmoniously and give that energy boost we all seem to be looking for? Or do supplements just drive our wish for a pill for every ill? On the other hand do current dietary regimes do us any good?

I'll be honest though, as a result of the seminar, having had a period of mild 'flu followed by a heavy head cold which I have struggled to shift I have started taking co-enzyme Q10.......having done no research apart from ensuring its safety record.

Calling all gardeners

It is that time of year, occassional warmth, showers, light and suddenly the garden turns into a jungle. But please PACE YOURSELVES!

Poorly knee

I returned from a very active week in Switzerland with painful pudding knee which was so swollen that I couldn't straighten it when walking, cue the piratical lurch in and out of the waiting room. Poor knee, I really had pushed a lot of work onto it, although I must confess I'm not sure what specifically had caused the damage. I'd like to blame the endless snaking up and down the queues at Geneva airport (a pet hate) but that was 24 hours after I'd noticed the distress calls from my brain about the joint.

I limped into work to a suitable amount of sympathy and a few observations that I was hardly a good advert but this last is what I would like to address. I followed my own advice and kept my hot poorly knee cool and treated it with respect. Although I had to work I looked after it. My fantastic colleague treated the biomechanics of the surrounding joints and reminded me that our tissues are designed to heal. We also decided that this was probably a time when anti-inflammatories might be useful. (I took these for 48 hours but stopped when my mouth started to feel sore in that just about to start a mouth ulcer way) I started some gentle stretching and allowed rest periods, made sure that my diet was good and included some good proteins and plenty of fluid.

The point? I was back running in a week. Injuries happen, especially when we push ourselves, but we are amazing, we are self healers. Don't send the bit that is struggling to Coventry, nurture it, treat it, live alongside it and then once it's healed start the real work. That's the dull bit, remedial exercise, here I come.

Fees

With regret, due to rising costs, our fees will be increasing by £1 from &th October. First consultation and treatment/re-exam (if you haven't been for over three years) will now cost £47 and follow ups £37. Under 18s are £37 and £27 respectively.

As always if we feel that Osteopathic treatment will be ineffective or unsuitable there will be no fee. Please phone for a chat if in doubt.

Feel the fear

I went to a new exercise class on Monday, the weather forecast made running look like a chore. I was full of enthusiasm until a couple of hours before whereupon the doubts started.

What if;

I don't like it,

I make a fool of myself,

I'm the oldest, fattest,

I'm the worse dressed/wearing the wrong gear.

Then my neck started hurting, maybe I should give it a miss this week. Oh and it was now pouring with rain and it is hard enough finding somewhere new in good weather. And of course just when I wanted to finish on time I ran over...maybe it will be too late.

Luckily I had followed my own advice and had planned my own back up. I had been in touch with a friend who goes to this class and she had confirmed with the class leader that there would be a space for me. The thought of letting my friend down, and not seeing her, got me there. And yes I enjoyed it, I don't think I made a fool of myself and if I did I don't care because I had fun. Ditto oldest, fattest, clothing etc, the only person who might possibly care was me.....and I remembered it didn't matter.

Go on, get out there DO SOMETHING

It's here again

Happy Christmas to you all. If you need help over the festive season just ring the usual number 01913830677.

Our very Best Wishes for 2020. Let's hope that the New Year ushers in peace and tolerance.

A resolution to enjoy

I wonder how many fitness trackers were received as presents over Christmas and whether they have encouraged resolutions for increased fitness. It is amazing that we can measure our steps taken, our running speed, our heart rates and even our sleeping can be monitored. Whilst they can be useful to provide information I am worried that they can kill the joy of exercise or even increase anxiety about our activities. (There is evidence that some people are so anxious about their sleep patterns that they are suffering from insomnia!)

It can be very easy to get caught up in the urge to do better each time you go for a run so that slowing down to admire the blossom on a tree, to pat a friendly dog, to say hello to a friend becomes an issue. We are a competitive species, that's how we have evolved, but we also have the capacity and need to admire beauty, to enjoy contact and sociability and to just have fun.

Enjoy your fitness tracker but use it as a tool, not a master. Maybe don't wear it sometimes and see how that feels.Get back to enjoying and doing things because you want to. After all the device may know that you've done the run, slept the sleep, walked the steps but you were the being who saw the first snowdrop of January and felt your spirits lift because of it.