About Claire Thomas

As we navigate our busy lives, it’s easy to overlook the importance of regular check-ups for our bodies. Just like a car requires an MOT to ensure it runs smoothly, our bodies can benefit from periodic osteopathic treatment to maintain optimal musculoskeletal health and function.

**What is Osteopathy?**

Osteopathy is a holistic approach to health care that focuses on the musculoskeletal system. Osteopaths use a variety of techniques, including stretching, massage, and joint mobilisation, to alleviate pain, improve mobility, and enhance overall well-being. By treating the body as a whole, osteopathy addresses not just the symptoms but also the root causes of discomfort.

**Why Regular Treatments?**

1. Preventative Care 🔧: Just as regular vehicle maintenance can prevent breakdowns, periodic osteopathic treatment can help identify and address potential issues before they escalate into more serious problems.

2. Enhanced Performance 🥇: Whether you’re an athlete or someone with a sedentary lifestyle, regular osteopathic sessions can improve your physical performance and resilience. This is especially beneficial for those who engage in repetitive activities or suffer from chronic pain.

3. Stress Relief 😌: Osteopathic treatment can significantly reduce stress and tension in the body. By promoting relaxation and improving circulation, it can enhance mental clarity and emotional well-being.

4. Personalised Care 🩻: Every body is unique. Osteopaths assess individual needs and tailor treatments accordingly, ensuring that you receive care that is specific to your lifestyle and health goals.

5. Holistic Approach 🧘🏽‍♀️: Osteopathy emphasises the interconnectedness of the body’s systems. Regular treatments can help maintain balance and harmony within the body, promoting overall health.

**In Conclusion**

Just like scheduling an MOT for your vehicle, regular osteopathic check-ups can be a proactive measure for your health. Consider incorporating osteopathic treatment into your routine to ensure your body runs smoothly, allowing you to lead a healthier, more active life.

Stay well and take care of your body!

Does everything seem to happen at once? First you strain your back, then your foot and your shoulder start playing up too. Or maybe not these precise areas, but the same phenomenon. One body area hurts, and other areas quickly follow.

Possibly this seems like Sod’s law, maybe this is completely logical to you, but definitely just plain annoying?

Our body’s are incredibly adept at coping with ill health and injury. Although it might often feel like they are not working in our favour. They behave as they should physiologically to fight illness and adapt to any physical strains or injuries placed upon them.

Often we don’t even notice our body’s physically adapting to change and strain. They do so in a “cloak and dagger” style allowing us to get on with our chosen activities for months or even years. Then one day, we might physically push them too far and they let us know that this is the case. Often through pain and movement restriction.

Osteopaths are body detectives. Osteopathy is a tool that can assist in understanding what has happened in your body and begin to determine the reason why. Osteopathy offers solutions to body pain and restriction through assessing the whole body. Both in movement and position. Then assisting in the solution to alleviate and/or develop tactics to manage a pain issue.

Osteopathy offers a drug-free approach to the assessment and treatment of muscle and joint problems throughout the body. If you are in need of a body detective service. I can help you identify the perpetrators of your pain crime. Get in touch.

I usually expect an increase in lower back pain episodes following the bank holiday weekend. Frequently, excessive gardening during the holiday tends to be the culprit. However, maybe this rainy weather will make a difference?

If you’re engaging in a DIY project as an alternative activity, please be cautious. If the movements involved are repetitive, heavy, and differ from your usual activities, you may be at risk of overstraining your lower back or other areas.

So be cautious, pace yourself, incorporate gentle stretching in addition to your activity, and try to avoid getting into any awkward positions when resting beyond.

Pain is classified as acute when it occurs suddenly. If you do experience an acute pain episode, both osteopathy and laser therapy can aid in your recovery. Osteopathy is generally quite comfortable, laser therapy is extremely soothing. This can be particularly beneficial if an area has become intensely painful in a short period.

Despite it’s soothing feel, it has a pronounced clinical impact on the muscules or other tissues it targets. Not only in cases of lower back pain, but also assisting with conditions such as the following:

• Osteoarthritis
• Other spinal pain
• Bursitis
• Cervical brachialgia
• Craniofacial pain
• Oedema
• Haematoma
• Joint pain
• Plantar fasciitis
• Sprains
• Strains
• Tendonitis
• Trauma
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Trochanteric Bursitis
• Achilles Tendinopathy

The laser penetrates the tissues for localised and effective treatment and relief. It can be utilised as a standalone therapy or alongside osteopathy. The effects of the laser include:

– Reduced pain
– Decreased inflammation and swelling (oedema)
– Accelerated healing times
– Additionally, it can alleviate muscle spasms and contractures, often providing immediate relief. All of this contributes to enhancing the effectiveness of manual therapy.

Did you see Keely Hodgkinson win gold 🥇 at the Olympic 800 metre finial last night? Amazing! I am in awe when I watch Keely and the many other athletes perform. Their talents, sacrifices, dedication and ongoing resilience is inspiring.

Most, if not all of those athletes will have been supported with manual therapy on their journeys to the Olympics. As well as a multitude of other support professionals to assist them performing at their peak.

We don’t need to be an athlete to consider our peak performance and getting the most out of our daily lives. Osteopathy can be a tool to assist your daily mobility and performance. Let me be a part of your support team.

Consider 🧐

• Is your body ready for the rigours of the tennis court, Parkrun, a yoga class..?
• Is your body resilient enough to be sat for long periods of the day?
• Can you walk as far as you need to?
• Can you bend forward to tie your shoes?
• Can you walk up and downstairs with comfort, or to the local shop?
• Are niggling injuries holding you back?

– What are you not doing that you feel you should be able to. Is it realistic. Do you need to take action to support this?

There are so many variables to our health. Health is a continuum. We slide up and down that scale of wellbeing in relation to illness, injury, poor mental health, stage of life, surgery, lack of rest and recovery, and so much more.

If you’re struggling with your movement or feel pain related to your musculoskeletal system. Think about how Osteopathy can help you. It can be a tool in injury prevention, in recovery, and also support the prevention of injuries recurring.

Osteopathy predominantly works from the outside of the body, but has profound effects in improving mobility, posture, reducing or alleviating pain and providing guidance and assistance with long term care. Osteopathic treatment also influences the wellbeing of the nervous and circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems.

Osteopathy keeps you moving so you can get on with living. Book your consultation using the link below.

https://www.rivermeadosteopaths.co.uk/book-online/

Many of us will need to travel for extended periods of time both through work and for leisure. The following advice might be of interest if travel is part of your life.

Travelling might be a well practiced routine. It may be more exciting and present an opportunity for new experiences. Maybe at times you travel to seek out rest and recovery from the regular day-to-day. It is potentially a treasured time, but occasionally this is accompanied by some common pitfalls that can lead to pain. So aim to keep it comfortable.

Taking an extended journey might mean we have to carry out physical activity that we are not regularly used to. However, very often it is the lack of activity that is the issue. A survey conducted by the British Chiropractic Association found that 48% of British holidaymakers experienced back and/or neck pain on their travels. In the clinic I am visited frequently by people who present with pain associated with the changes in lifestyle related to travel – different beds, sporting activities, lifting luggage, sitting for long periods…

If you’re heading-off anywhere. The following might be worth considering in support of a comfortable experience:

• Firstly get organised. Pack and prepare in advance to reduce the stress of a last-minute rush which will inevitably affect your body and how you feel. Try and pack as light as possible, reducing the potential strain of carrying heavy bags and luggage around. Rucksacks are better to distribute the weight more evenly across the body.
• If using a suitcase, one with wheels is better. It is less strain on the spine to push the case, as opposed to pulling and twisting to move it.
• If you’re having to lift luggage onto conveyer-belts or into vehicles. Try and lift from the knees if possible, positioning the luggage straight ahead of you and holding it as close to the body as possible.
• Consider footwear, you may have to stand in queues or walk long distances. Be comfortable and aim for a more supportive style of shoe.
• When in transit – move regularly. There are clearly restrictions on this, but do what you can. Make regular stops if travelling by road, or try and get up regularly on a plane or other transport where possible. You could also choose to practice regular mobility whilst seated – ankle circles, heel raises, bottom squeezes, gentle spinal rotation, shoulder circles… This is all positive movement.
• When needing to sit for a longer period, aim to position yourself as well as possible. Try and be upright with your feet flat on the floor. Aim to have your knees level with your hips. Sitting on a cushion might help if necessary, or could be used to support the spine.

Another common issue is sleeping in a different bed with a change in pillow support. If it’s feasible, take your trusted pillow away with you. If you lay on your side, a pillow or a folded towel between your knees may support you in a more aligned position. If laying on your back, a pillow under your thighs should help place your spine in an easier place. Laying on your front isn’t an ideal option for the spine. If this is the only way you can settle. A pillow under the tummy can help ease some of the stress from the back.

If you’re heading off on a “fly and flop” kind of break. You will inevitably be spending more time sitting or laying down relaxing. You may find you feel more uncomfortable due to lack of movement. You could consider similar support when laid down (as in sleeping positioning.) Or aim to sit well as previously described. In either case, try and move regularly.

Eat well and stay hydrated to help and ensure that everything in your body works optimally. Keep moving! (Have I said that already?!) A possible solution to stiffening up too much is practicing some daily mobility exercises to try and balance out any extended periods of inactivity. Or get involved with the aqua aerobics classes in the pool, the yoga sessions… or if it has one use the hotel gym.

I hope your travels are successful. If you need any help please get in touch. Happy travelling 😎

Taking care of oneself should always be a top priority. It isn’t the only priority in life for sure, but it’s an important factor if we want to better manage general wellbeing and support our longer term health.

Even before the pandemic the UK population was living longer but unfortunately in poorer health. A direct quote from the UK’s Health Foundation Report 2022. “Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, and harmful alcohol use are leading risk factors, driving the U.K.’s high burden of preventable, ill health, and premature mortality. All are socio-economically patterned and contribute significantly to widening health inequalities.”

The “top” conditions viewed as Western world/lifestyle related problems are; diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, some cancers and stroke.

It’s common for people to neglect self-care activities or feel guilty when they do make time for them. However, self-care is crucial for overall wellbeing. Whether it’s dedicating time to socialising, relaxing, exercising, preparing a nutritious meal, or seeking assistance from a trusted osteopath for any musculoskeletal health concerns. Self-care encompasses a range of valuable activities.

Have a think about the small changes you could make in the coming weeks to do the best you can to support long-term health. Maybe challenge yourself with a new activity. It can empower you and enhance your resilience in life. Just spending time in nature stimulates all our senses, and has been demonstrated to improve our neural health, and reduce the likelihood of dementia.

Remember to prioritise your own self-care and make time for activities that nurture your physical and mental health. If your muscles and joints need support, please get in touch for assistance.

Healing is a process. It will have similar parameters for everybody, but there will inevitably be some variation from person to person. The nature and extent of an injury will also dictate the length of the healing process.

Osteopathy and laser treatment optimise your body’s natural biological reactions. In osteopathy, it is mechanical pressure, in laser, it is light energy that influences the body cells to produce the cellular products necessary for healing to take place. Both osteopathy and laser complement one another. The work produces good tissue length and tissue fibre alignment with as little or as good quality scar tissue as possible. Evidence also suggests that greater benefit will occur if these treatments are used alongside appropriate exercise prescription.

The following are the stages of tissue repair. In reality they will likely blend into one another as opposed to being isolated events:

Bleeding. All tissues will bleed with injury to a varying degree, on average for 4-6 hours. This is not the time to receive manual therapy, but could be a good time to apply an ice pack for no longer than 10 minutes.

The second phase is inflammation. This starts approximately one hour after the injury. The inflammatory process starts and reaches a peak over 1 to 3 days. However it can be quite normal for it to continue for a few weeks beyond an injury, inflammation is necessary to bring the products needed into the area for repair.

Inflammation gets tissues ready for mending – the proliferation phase. This can actually start quickly beyond an injury, but may continue for up to 6 months.

Finally the injury will enter the remodelling phase. The basic scar tissue formed in the proliferation phase is refined here. This process could still be continuing over 1-2 years. Despite people hopefully being able to return to more normal activity in the meantime.

Osteopathy and laser therapy will help guide these processes. This is one of the reasons why it is important to complete your course of treatment.