Restrictions are easing.

Lockdown restrictions are easing and so now is the time to start easing those restrictions that may have built up in your body.

After a few unprecedented months of being limited by lockdown we now have the freedom to move a little more. We are still living in times of stress and those stresses easily find their way into our bodies. This can cause us to hold pain and tension especially in our neck, low back, shoulders, jaw and even our face and nostrils. This causes pain which reduces our movement which increases stiffness and around the vicious circle goes. Osteopathy can help this!

There are some videos of stretches to do that will help you on News page of my website but sometimes we need a helping hand from an osteopath to get things going again. I’m pleased to say the clinic has been open for a few months now using the appropriate infection control and PPE. So please contact me at Newton Abbot (TQ12) or Ashburton (TQ13) for a chat about how I could help you find the Freedom to Move again.

Persistent Pain

We all feel pain from time to time. When someone injures themselves, specific nerves recognise this as pain, which in turn triggers the body’s repair mechanism. As the problem resolves, the pain tends to improve and usually disappears within 3-6 months. This type of pain could be argued to be beneficial: if it hurts, you are likely to try and avoid doing whatever it is that has caused the pain in the future, so you are less likely to injure yourself in that way again.

Occasionally the pain continues even after tissue healing has finished. When pain continues after this point, it becomes known as persistent (or is sometimes referred to as chronic) pain. This type of pain is not beneficial and is a result of the nerves becoming over-sensitised, which means that a painful response will be triggered much more easily than normal. This can be unpleasant, but doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doing yourself any harm simply by moving. You could think of this as a sensitive car alarm that goes off in error when someone walks past.

Persistent pain is very common and effects over 14 million people in the UK alone. It often does not respond to conventional medical interventions and needs a different kind of approach, but there are many things that you can do to manage your pain yourself with the support of your osteopath, your family and loved-ones. Keeping active, performing exercises and stretches can help, learning to pace your activities so that you don’t trigger a flare-up of your pain as well as setting goals and priorities are all very important and can help you to maintain a fulfilling lifestyle.

For more information on how to manage your persistent pain please contact me.

Working from home during Lockdown?

Many more people are working from home during these challenging times. I thoroughly recommend setting up a good, dedicated (if possible) working space at home. Of course this can be very difficult with lack of equipment, lack of room and sharing your space with family, children, housemates etc.

Despite these challenges there are usually things that can be done to at least improve our environment. The following short video is a taster of some of the things to look into.

I also recommend that if this is likely to be a long term arrangement that some investment in equipment should be looked at if one’s finances allow it. It’s also worth discussing this with your employer as they may be able to assist in the purchase of kit.

The least expensive and most useful addition is a laptop stand which can be used with a separate keyboard, mouse and/or trackpad. This lifts the screen up meaning the head doesn’t drop down. Looking down at a screen increases neck pain and tension, and puts strain through the shoulders. It even adds to low back pain and soreness as the centre of gravity moves forward and the lumbar muscles have to work harder. If we are in discomfort and pain then our ability to focus and concentrate is impacted leading to reduced efficiency in our ability to work well.

Document holders work in similar ways and are also inexpensive. They keep the head looking forward in a more neutral way.

A good chair (and importantly) properly set up will significantly help to reduce pain. Ideally one that will tilt as we lean our weight forward and back depending on what we are doing are the desk. The one above is an excellent example and kindly loaned by the people at Back World in Exeter, near my osteopathic clinics in Newton Abbot and Ashburton. You will also receive great advice on setting up a home work station.

Please feel free to contact me if you’d like some advice on your particular situation.