30th Anniversary

Yes, it’s 30 years since Grays Complementary Clinic opened!  We have a special offer for new osteopathy patients this month – your first treatment for £30 saving you £40.  Just quote 30 YEARS when you book on 01375 396402

Shoulder articulation

A frozen shoulder is a painful restriction of your shoulder, often with no obvious cause.  It gets harder and harder to move your arm, getting slowly worse over several months.  This often happens to people in their 50’s and is more common if you have another long-term illness like diabetes.

The medical name of this is “adhesive capsulitis” because the tough bag or capsule that surrounds the joint starts to get stuck to itself.  The inside of this bag has lots of nerve endings that are meant to tell you when you are over-stretching the joint but the adhesions mean that you get the pain signals before you reach the limit of the joint movement.  This makes you wary to stretch it so you start to guard the movement, hoping it will get better if you rest it – but this is one condition that doesn’t improve with rest.

You should see a professional who understands how your joints work, as it’s all to easy to stretch it in the wrong way.  It’s also important to make sure it isn’t another problem like arthritis or an injury to the joint. 

Osteopaths are highly skilled manual therapists who can treat all kinds of joint, muscle and other musculoskeletal problems.  Call 01375 396402 to find out more or make an appointment to end your pain!

Osteopaths are healthcare providers that are allowed to work during the COVID pandemic. We have a duty to take extra precautions such as checking temperatures, taking patients through a checklist, wearing PPE and asking you to wear a mask while you are in the clinic.

We are also available for advice and phone consultations. If you need any help call the clinic number – 01375 396402

We may be able to give you exercises, suggestions for other ways or working or self treatment tips to tide you over until you can come in for treatment.

Profile of your spine shows how low chairs cause back pain

How to give yourself backpain no. 3

Your spine is designed to keep your head above your base – whether you are sitting or standing. It does this by adjusting its natural s-curve. So today, we’re going to destroy that self-correcting shape!

*First, find a low chair with a long seat and a flat or hollow back. Ideally the seat should slope backwards so your weight is thrown back, but the long seat stops you getting far enough back to support your lower back.
*Sit with your knees above your pelvis, upper body thrown backwards and the natural hollow of your lower back bent forward.
*You can “rest” like this, with your upper body thrown backwards (although your muscles will be working overtime trying to give you some stability)
*Or even better, you can try to work by tilting your upper body forward, squeezing the discs in your spine so they become wedge-shaped. If you work really hard at this, you can even get them to burst – we call this a prolapse, but most people talk about a “slipped disc”.

Don’t go to A&E with back pain!

This week’s news featured A&E departments that had up to 14 hours’ waiting list. We should rightly be proud of our world-leading, life-saving health service – but we have to understand it’s not meant for minor aches and pains, no matter how distressing they are at the time.  Back pain, neck pain, other joint pain, stiffness, pins and needles, tension headaches, injuries and many other physical ailments can be helped with osteopathic treatment.

backpain

A&E stands for accident and emergency – the first thing the staff ask themselves when you check in is – “Is it a (serious) accident?  Is it an emergency?” – if not you will be bottom of the list while they deal with the heart attacks, overdoses, strokes and other life-threatening issues they see every day.

Rather than wait for hours on uncomfortable metal benches just to be given ineffective painkillers, or make an appointment to see your gp in a week or three (and then be put on a three month waiting list), why not consider osteopathy? You can usually get an appointment withn one or two days, have a whole hour to explain your problem, have ayour problem diagnosed, get treatment and an exercise programme to help you recover.
Call 01375 396402 for appointments or more information.

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Bulging wallet

How to give yourself backpain no. 2
One for the men today!
*Get one of those compact wallets that fit in your back pocket
*Put all your debit cards in the front
*Put all your credit cards in the middle
*Put lots of storecards at the back
*Put your driver’s licence, id card, a book of stamps, business cards, library and donor cards all on the right side
*Go to the ATM and get about £200 out – preferrably in tenners
Your wallet should now be about 2″ thick. Now stick it in your back pocket – the one you ALWAYS put it in ‘cos it feels funny the other side Sit down all day on it – ideally drive with it there. Don’t forget to keep topping it up with more cash, receipts, vouchers etc.
Now just sit back and wait for the pain to start!

Give yourself backpain no. 1

How to give yourself back pain No. 1
*Buy the biggest handbag you can find
*Transfer everything from your other bag(s) into it, without bothering to check
*Just in case, put a spare of everything in there
*Put it on your high shoulder – you know, the one you always put it on because bags slide off the other one
*Hitch your shoulder up even higher to keep it in place
Shoulder bags are a leading cause of back, neck and joint pain. Putting your body off balance like this is similar to driving a car with flat tyres on one side. Try to keep your body balanced and straight, change sides regularly, or use a rucksack that spreads the weight evenly.
THIS IS EVEN WORSE FOR CHILDREN WHO CARRY SCHOOL BAGS ON ONE SHOULDER – as they grow their body will become bent and they will get problems later in life.
Osteopaths can do more than just fix your back – we can advise you about the stresses modern life puts on your body, and how to minimise the risk.
Call 01375 396402 to find out more.

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Osteopaths are like arms

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neck strain caused by using mobile devices

Have YOU got text neck? How hunching over your phone puts 60lbs of extra pressure on the spine
• Slumping to look at a phone puts extra pressure on the cervical spine
• Cervical spine is the part of the spine above the shoulders in the neck
• Bending the head at a 60 degree angle puts adds 60lbs worth of pressure
• At more than four stone, that is heavier than the average seven year old
• Extra weight leads to wear and tear, back pain and could require surgery
• Previous studies have warned bad posture leads to health problems
Do you spend hours hunched over your phone, checking texts, tweets and emails?
Do you also suffer from neck and back pain?
If so, the two may well be related.
New research has found that slumping to read a text or study a selfie can put undue pressure on the neck, leading to a sore back.
This is because bending the neck increases the pressure put on the spine.
Bending the head at a 60 degree angle to look at a phone screen puts 60 lbs – or 27kg – worth of pressure on the cervical spine, the part of the spine above the shoulders, the study found.
At more than four stone in weight, that is heavier than the average seven year old.
The extra pressure put on the neck leads to early wear and tear and the person may eventually need surgery, experts said.
By Madlen Davies for MailOnline

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/…/Why-hunching-phone-gives-pain-…

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Pain is like the tip of an iceberg – it’s just the part of the problem you are aware of. We all have strains and stresses on our body from poor posture, unsupportive chairs, doing jobs that put us in unnatural positions, standing or sitting too long – and so on.
If you’re in the Grays Thurrock area, call me on 01375 396402 and see how osteopathy can go deeper than the pain and deal with all the stuff below the surface.