Category: Osteopathy

Picture this: the sun is shining, the children are smeared with a mixture of sun cream and ice lolly gloop, and the smallest one is covered in grass cuttings from falling on the newly mown lawn. And the new trampoline is waiting to keep A&E busy and provide me with the opportunity to use some terrible jokes.

Trampolining is excellent exercise and entertainment; however, we must use them safely. I refuse to do health and safety paranoia, but for every person telling you that jumping on a trampoline is great fun, another will label it a death trap. So, is your trampoline waiting to spring into action and cause you an injury? Or can your afternoon be bouncy?

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Trampolining safety rules

Here are three and a half simple steps that you can take to ensure that you won’t leap off the trampoline and land in the waiting room at A&E.

1. Think carefully about letting more than one person bounce at a time. Around 60% of trampoline accidents occur when more than one person jumps. Collisions, becoming unbalanced, and even being catapulted off are all dangers.

2. Also, make sure that young children aren’t on full-sized trampolines. Children under 6 make up about 15% of all trampoline injuries. Supervise them and keep them on age-appropriate trampolines to avoid accidents.

3. Buy the extra safety stuff: a safety net is essential to keep anyone from falling off, and padding over the springs will prevent fingers from being trapped or anyone slipping through.

3.5. Get some lessons if you can. If the kids’ know-how moves on the trampoline, it will be safer.

In conclusion, trampolines have their ups and downs. However, you can bounce to your heart’s content.

What is the perfect heel height or how to find the right height for you?

Have you ever wondered why some women adore sky-high heels, whilst others consider them torture? The mystery can be solved with a closer look at the shape of your foot.

Statistics suggest that many women aren’t making the right choice for their feet when it comes to shoes. According to the College of Podiatry, this causes the average woman 23 days of pain per year. Unfortunately, pain is not the only consequence. Sore muscles, corns and blisters are also a risk, as well as the potential for long-term knee and back injury.

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How do you choose what’s best for your feet?

Podiatrist Emma Supple says that a series of measurements can determine your perfect heel height. This will allow you to walk in comfort. First, take off your shoes, sit down, and hold one leg in front of you with your foot relaxed. If your foot sits naturally at a right angle to your leg, then you have less mobility in the ankle. Unfortunately, you will be more comfortable in flat shoes. If the top of your footfalls forwards, you are a natural heel wearer!

To find your optimum heel height, ask a friend to help. First stretch a tape measure from your heel, in a straight line parallel to the floor. Then place a pencil at the ball of your foot (at a right angle to the tape). Finally, read the tape measure where it hits the pencil will give you your ideal heel height.

However, Emma does suggest a maximum height, not recommending more than three inches for day-to-day wear. Therefore even if your ideal is higher, the height is likely to impact posture, so your body is thrown backwards. Besides, sticking your bottom out will risk lower back pain- and, if the heel of the shoe is not directly under the heel bone, you won’t have maximum stability.

Grab a tape measure to find the perfect heel height

Ladies, when you next decide to buy a pair of shoes- grab a tape measure, and put your best foot forward!

References:

1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3824090/There-formula-finding-heels-won-t-cripple-s-remarkably-simple.html

2. http://www.alterationsneeded.com/2015/03/how-to-measure-your-ideal-heel-height.html Download Text VersionDownload PDF VersionBack to Blogs

Friends and family can often tell you, “It’s your age; you’ve just got to put up with it”? “Pain is related to age…we can not do anything about it”? So is pain and ageing compulsory?

A patient told me he was just old and asked what should he expect at his age.

Some things can’t be stopped or reversed, but some aches and pains are unnecessary.

So how do you know the difference?

Usually, arthritic pain starts gradually; it’s bothersome at the start but not agony. It begins when some of the cartilage covering the ends of the bones roughens and becomes thin, and then the bone thickens. So the pain is not sudden.

As time goes on (we’re talking months and years here, not days), the bone at the edges of the joint thickens and forms bumpy bits called spurs or osteophytes. That’s why arthritic joints look a bit fatter than average.

Of course, as all of this wear and tear happens, it can cause pain, but it also causes a change in the way the joint works, which means the muscles can get tight, and the joints above and below have different strains put on them.

So, not only does the arthritic joint hurt, but you’ve now also got pain from the changes in the muscles and other joints. Treatment can help with all of these issues. Osteopaths focus treatment on muscle strains and joint pains, and we can give you easy things to do at home to help keep the area mobile.

Patients believe that arthritis causes pain. In reality, it may only be a muscle strain. The solution is good mechanics.

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Good mechanics leads to reduced symptoms.

Treatment and the right exercises can achieve this:

• Enough movement in a joint
• Strong muscles to support the joint
• No tight muscles compressing the joint

So, don’t sit there and blame your age – get the right exercises and treatment. You don’t have to put up with it!

Pain and ageing; all treatments at Arbuckle Osteopathy end with advice on lifestyle choices or exercises for stretching or strengthening.

People don’t talk about upper back pain very often. Yet it can be just as crippling as lower back pain. In most cases, the underlying causes are not severe. However, upper backache can cause a level of discomfort that’s too misery-making to ignore when it occurs. Moving the head or the arms usually aggravates Upper back pain and can radiate it out along the edge of the ribs. It can also cause headaches or aching in the neck and shoulders.

The causes of upper back pain can vary from poor posture or trauma to improper lifting or carrying heavy objects. One of the most unexpected reasons is sneezing! Yes, the typical sneeze can cause excruciating pain in the upper back. It’s straightforward to blame backache on lifting heavy things like children, concrete, shopping or piles of washing, but sometimes our bodily functions can cause the problem.

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Self-help things you can do for back pain

Self-help things you can do if your upper back is painful: Rest: Avoid activities that exacerbate the symptoms for a day or two. Sleep: Try to make sure you get some good sleep. Watch your posture: Keep your head in a neutral position with your ears directly over your shoulders when you’re sitting. It significantly reduces the amount of stress on your neck and back. Be careful: Don’t try to stretch through severe pain – the chances are you will aggravate it! As always, the effect of any remedy will vary from person to person. Try to figure out what works best for you. And don’t do the things that make it worse!

Other causes of problems in the upper back may include osteoporosis (where the bones got weak) and scoliosis (where the spine isn’t straight but in an “S” or “C” curve when you view it from the back). So if the pain doesn’t subside, go check your back – it’s not wise to ignore symptoms. These symptoms of pain and or stiffness are the body’s warning signs of getting a proper diagnosis.