Show back pain the back door and begin with the doorway stretch

• Stand in a doorway
• Bend your right arm 90 degrees a lie your forearm against the door frame
• Raise your elbow to shoulder height and rotate your chest left. You should feel this stretch in your chest and front shoulder.
• Hold this stretch for 30 seconds then repeat on the left side
• You can also do this stretch with both arms on the doorframe and leaning forward

Downward Facing Dog

• Begin on all fours. Have your knees aligned with your hips and hands aligned with your shoulders.
• Drive your weight into your hands and off your knees.
• Push your tailbone towards the ceiling.
• At first keep your heels off the ground, then begin to ease them back as you feel comfortable

Seated Twists

• Sit up tall place your left hand behind you, bringing your right hand to your left knee.
• Gently twist towards the left and lengthening through the spine. Do not twist to aggressively or pull your knee!
• Look over your left shoulder as far as you feel comfortable. Hold this position and take 3-5 deep breaths then release to the centre.
• Repeat again on your left side.

The Static Wall

• Sit your hips as close to the wall as possible with your legs raised against it (bum against the wall)
• Have your arms stretched out to the side and your feet hip-width apart
• Point your toes back towards your body, keep your toes flexed and your front thighs tight. Keep your shoulder and neck relaxed
• Hold this for 4 minutes

Ragdoll pose

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart
• Ben your knees slightly
• Bend forward and try to touch your toes
• While bent place each hand on the elbow of the opposite arm
• And let yourself hang there.

What are Muscle Knots?
Muscle knows are one or three things: Scar Tissue, Muscle Adhesions or Myofascial Trigger Points. If knots have a gravel like feel it is most likely scar tissue. If it sounds like it snap, pops and cracks while being massaged it is likely to be adhesion. If there is a "lump" that feels sensitive it is most likely a trigger point.

So what can be done about them?

Scar Tissue

Unfortunately chronic scar tissue is likely to only be removed with surgical intervention.

Adhesions

Adhesion is what happens before scar tissue is formed, and are caused by many injuries. Manual therapy can help to break down adhesions before scarring occurs. 

Trigger Points

These again can be treated with manual therapy

Osteopaths can help treat muscle knots by using trigger point therapy, also known as myofascial trigger point therapy. We apply pressure to different areas of the tender muscles in order to relieve pain and other symptoms. This re-educates muscles into pain free habbits, the swelling and stiffness resulting from neuromuscular pain reduces, circulation, coordination and flexibility improve and a range of motion is restored.

What are tension headaches?

A cervicogenic headache aka a tension headache, is a common issue that produces pain around the eye, neck, temples or side of the head. A tension headache can last from 30 minutes to several days and can be so serve they stop you from being able to do normal activities.

Tension headaches can be caused by many things such as anxiety, stress, neck or jaw tension, dehydration and fatigue. If these factors are not address, then tension headaches will keep occurring.

The effects of tension headaches can be a number of things such as:

Trouble concentrating

Sleep difficulties leading to low energy

And can commonly cause people to experience feelings of depression.

I begin all my appointments with an examination and diagnosis, this process is slightly different now for more information please see my Covid-19 update.How I can help to relieve your tension headaches

The treatment involves soft and deep tissue massage techniques which will gently reduce the tension in your muscles.  A gentle shoulder and neck joint mobilisation to help the joints move more freely. And an upper neck and jaw treatment as these are typically problem areas for those suffering from tension headaches.

I will then look to help you to identify what you triggers are and create a program to help you break this cycle. There are many factors that could trigger your tension headaches, so I suggest a program with specific diet and lifestyle changes to create a holistic approach tailored to you.

This program could help you if:

You are continuously struggling with tension headaches

You would like to get to the root of the problem and not mask it with painkillers

Your sleep deprived because of these headaches

You have a lot of tension in your neck back and jaw

Your headaches are beginning to affect other aspects of your life

You would like advice on how changing your diet or lifestyle could break this constant cycle.

If you would like more information or would like to book an appointment please call me on 01275 830 241

What is Text-Neck

Well Text-Neck is exactly what the name suggests, it is caused by spending hours on your mobile phones, as most of us do now!

The average person spends 2-4 hours on their phones everyday. Most users tend to be hunched over their phones while texting, scrolling or checking their emails. This adds extra pressure to their spines. The human head weighs around 12 pounds, but when your neck is bent forward and down, it adds extra weight to your cervical spine of approximately 60 POUNDS! That is like carrying a child or 240 sticks of butter around your neck for 2-4 hours a day. 

This strain on our spine can lead to degeneration, muscle strain, pinched nerves, herniated disks and more. 

And these are just the examples of how it can effect the spine! This poor posture caused by "text-neck" causes issues in other areas of the body too. It can reduce lung capacity by 30 percent, it can cause headaches, neurological issues, depression and heart disease. 

I am not suggesting that you throw away your phone an never look at it again but we must look at how we hold our heads. 

Please look at the tips below to help you avoid future pain and discomfort. 

• Keep your neck straight and look at your phone with just your eyes or keep your phone at eye level. 
• Exercise your neck and spine! Try these simple stretches. Stretch your neck side to side, use your hand to create resistance and push your head against them forwards and backwards and stand in a doorway extend your arms and push your chest forward to strengthen. 
• Having regular Osteopathic treatments will help stretch, massage and manipulate your bodies muscles, tissues and joints.