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Back pain: why we should all be taking more care to stand tall – Bristol Post article

Back pain: why we should all be taking more care to stand tall – Bristol Post article

Back pain: why we should all be taking more care to stand tall According to the charity Back Care, back pain is the second most common cause of absence from work in Britain. Every year more than four million working days are lost as a result of back pain and, on average, an employee with back pain takes 17 days off to recover from an episode. Chances are you won’t know there’s a problem until it manifests in pain, at which point you may head to a GP, or perhaps a physiotherapist or a chiropractor. Bristol chiropractor Charles Herbert, who’s based in Clifton with business partner Matt Poulter, is aiming to turn this scenario on its head. On the basis that prevention is better than cure, he and Matt want to start visiting Bristol offices to talk to workers about posture and the best way to set up a desk environment and to give general advice about good spine maintenance. “It’s an ambition we have to get Bristol healthy,” says Charles. “We are the Green Capital of Europe and a ‘healthy’ city, so why not be the healthiest individuals as well? “Going into offices is something we’re going to roll out, but we have big plans. It’s something new we haven’t done before in this way – and it’s a case of putting it into a package that companies can offer their employees to see what can be done to make people have fewer days off work. “I’d say the majority of our patients sit in an office. The most common postural problem for office workers is the head lolling forward....
Should I see a Chiropractor or have NHS outpatient treatment for my low back pain?

Should I see a Chiropractor or have NHS outpatient treatment for my low back pain?

Chiropractic treatment for low back pain When people get back pain most people take pain killers and if that doesn’t do the trick they go to see their GP.  The GP will generally do 1 of 3 things: Prescribe stronger pain killers and potentially time off work Refer you to see an NHS physiotherapist as well as no. 1 If things are really bad, refer you for an x-ray or MRI as well as an appointment with a neurosurgeon or similar Sometimes option 1 does the trick, however if not then you move on to option 2, etc.  So the question is, if the pain is hanging around for a while and you’ve been referred to the NHS physiotherapist or similar, should you wait the 6+ months or go and see a Chiropractor? What does research say you should do for low back pain? I’m a Chiropractor and therefore will have my own biased opinions.  So, I’m going to answer this question with research.  In my experience most patients are given a sheet of simple exercises when they see the NHS physiotherapist.  However, most people need a more ‘hands on’ approach and end up coming to see me.  For this blog I’m looking to compare the improvements from the physical, hands on treatment offered by the NHS with improvements from Chiropractic treatment. One specific study looked to compare the 2 different treatment types.  They split 741 patients, aged between 18-65 with low back pain, into 2 groups.  One group received Chiropractic treatment and the other ‘hospital outpatient treatment’, which consisted mainly of mobilisations, manipulation, traction and exercises.  The majority of the patients...
Lord Lloyd-Webber – Journeying from suicidal thoughts to Chiropractic

Lord Lloyd-Webber – Journeying from suicidal thoughts to Chiropractic

This blog is in regards to Lord Lloyd-Webber’s battle with his own thoughts during debilitating back pain and how he previously experienced his mother go through the same.  To read more follow this link for the full report. Lord Faulconers Bill to allow assisted suicide for those that are terminally ill has recently rekindled a huge ethical and moral debate in the national papers. Although this article focuses very much on Lord Lloyd-Webber and how his view on the subject wavered depending on his experiences, it also demonstrates some very strong chiropractic philosophy. The longer I practice Chiropractic the more I see the relationship between mind and body. A healthy body often belongs to a healthy mind and vice versa. When patients have been through an intense period of emotional stress, existing health issues appear to worsen or new ones appear. Research in abundance demonstrates the increase in depression etc. in chronic pain sufferers. This mind/body principle is key to a holistic chiropractor and is often the answer I give when people ask me, “What’s the difference between a chiropractor and an osteopath/physio?” I’ve had hundreds of patients that develop disc symptoms (as Lord Lloyd-Webber appears to have suffered) either during or after a period of stress. A huge part of the healing process for the patient is the acknowledgment of the link between the two and then taking the necessary steps to deal with both problems. The other key principle to Chiropractic is that the power that made the body heals the body. As chiropractors, we allow healing to happen, we DON’T do the healing. Lord Lloyd-Webber underwent “14...
I click my own neck, what more can a Chiropractor do? – Self manipulating spine

I click my own neck, what more can a Chiropractor do? – Self manipulating spine

Lots of people click their own necks; sometimes for relief, sometimes for dramatic effect, sometime just because they can, often without trying to.  But what is the difference between clicking it yourself and a Chiropractor doing it? The need to click one’s own neck is potentially a sign of an underlying problem.  Often the need to do it is down to poor posture putting excess stress on the joints in the cervical (neck) spine.  Due to the stresses on the spine, the joints become restricted and uncomfortable.  If an on-going problem, it may get to the stage of a trapped nerve!  When you click your own neck (self manipulating) you are mostly ‘clicking’ either the joint above or below the restricted one that needs to move properly.  Chiropractors train over 4-5 years to adjust the right joint in the right way (see picture below).  This relieves the restricted joint and frees up any trapped nerves. Is there anything wrong with clicking my own neck? The danger of doing it yourself is you’re clicking the wrong joints.  When you self manipulate it may make the same ‘popping’ noise (air being released from the joint) as a Chiropractic adjustment; it might provide some relief, due to the natural release of a pain-relieving chemical called endorphins.  But it can cause damage. When a joint is restricted, the joints above and below work harder to compensate for the lack of movement in the stiff joint.  So these joints are moving too much already and when you self adjust you are forcing them to move even further (see picture).  This can, over time, cause stretching of the...

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