Here it is, all shiney and bright, and lovely! Our PPQM renewal!
PPQM stands for Patient Partnership Quality Mark. It’s awarded to clinics that meet the Royal College of Chiropractor’s strict standards of excellence in meeting patient expectations.
We work really hard towards being the best that we can be, and to provide the best care that we possiblty can to each and every individual patient.
It makes us very proud to achieve recognition for this from the RCC, and to be able to give you that extra bit of peace of mind.
Well done team.
Leah Rose
PS – apologies for the dreadful photography, it was my best effort!!
This week is Back Pain Awareness Week – a campaign run by the charity Backcare – http://www.backcare.org.uk/. Visit their website to find out more, and to see their useful tips and information.
Back Pain is well documented for costing the UK economy millions of pounds in time lost to sickness, each week. What is less documented is the strain on the backs of people who are carers – lifting, carrying and helping others everyday, despite the toll on their back. This is the theme of this year’s Back Care Awareness Week.
If you are a carer and would like advice on posture and lifting, or are suffering with back pain due to your lifestyle as a carer, please do get in touch with us to find out about our consultations and our posture analysis.
Principal Chiropractor and clinic owner Simon Rose has always taken a strong professional interest in sports injuries. His reputation amongst amateur and professional sports men and women is enviable, as is evident from our testimonials page. He has successfully treated the knee, foot, ankle, shoulders and hips for over ten years – not only in sports people but also in both children and the elderly who may be experiencing pain (for example in the knee or hip) due to reasons other than sports, like “wear and tear” or posture.
Simon can now state that he is an advanced extremities practitioner, as he has now obtained the official title of Certified Chiropractic Extremities Practitioner (CCEP), under the Internationally acclaimed expert on the subject of
extremity adjusting, Dr Kevin Hearon DC CCSP CCEP. Dr Hearon has accumulated over 5,000 hours of post graduate study in x ray pathology, extremity adjusting including sports and athletic injuries, physiotherapy and muscle testing.
Extremity injuries (foot, gait, posture, ankle, knee, hip, wrist, elbow, jaw and shoulder) are suffered at one time or another by all of us. Simon will diagnose the problem that you are experiencing and he will treat the cause, with the underlying objective of preventing it from recurring as much as is possible
If you are struggling at the moment then call 01452 309372 today to book your consultation appointment
It’s exciting times for the Longlevens Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic! On 30th January 2013 we will be awarded the prestigious Patient Partnership Quality Mark (PPQM) 2013 – 2015 by the College of Chiropractor’s, who were themselves recently awarded Chartered status by the Queen.
The College of Chiropractor’s states: “The College of Chiropractors believes that chiropractic services should be centred on the users of those services. The College supports the delivery of services that are flexible and responsive to the needs of patients, acknowledging them as partners in their own care.” (Tim Jay DC FCC, President)
The award recognises the achievement of outstanding levels of care and service provided to patients, in areas including cleanliness and safety, communication and patient education, privacy, accessibility and record keeping. More information will follow and of course pictures, after the 30th January ceremony!
In addition to the PPQM award, one of the Longlevens Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic’s Chiropractors, Danny Adams, will be presented with an award identifying him as Outstanding PRT Chiropractor of the Year on the College of Chiropractor’s postgraduate Training Scheme, under Mentor and Clinic Director, Simon Rose.
Congratulations also to Danny (who has been busy!) for recently achieving his International Chiropractic Sports Science Diploma, awarded by the International Federation of Sports Chiropractic. This post doctoral qualification ensures extremely high standards of theoretical and practical competency in treating sports injuries and qualifies him to participate in major national and international events such as the Olympic Games.
More information will follow soon about all of the above.
A few seasonal tips to help you have a pain free Christmas this year
Tip 1: Did you know everyone has a built in lower back safety belt? To put it on all you have to do is maximally contract your abs, then back it off 50%, then 50% again, this leaves you with a 25% of maximum contraction at the lower part of your abs. When wearing this belt your lower back is exponentially stronger, if you keep using this safety belt it will become natural and you wont even have to consciously think about putting it on. Just make sure your are wearing it when lifting any heavy Prezzies .
Tip 2: To avoid muscle tightness you have to move properly, when using your arms, whether it be for lifting, reaching, even subtle motions such as waving make sure you keep your upper shoulder muscles relaxed. Try to concentrate on using your arms without shrugging your shoulders, shrugging the shoulders repeatedly leads to chronic tightness. Make sure your aware of this when your around the house putting up those Christmas decorations .
Tip 3: Stay loose, a tight muscle is usually sore, relatively stiff into touch and occasionally feels like it has strings of linguini running through it. If you notice you have muscles like these then I would recommend getting a massage or seeing a manual therapist such as a chiropractor help get them loosened out. Depending on the region of tightness tight muscles can lead to strains, sprains, headaches and muscle tears.
Remember, as Santa always says “HO HO HO!!” “always be pro active, not reactive!” :p and finally…
Have a Very Merry Christmas from us all at Longlevens Chiropractic and Sports Injury Clinic!
This is a common question I often get asked about, I have written this post as a recent study looked at the effects of high heels >10cm on the lower back.
The paper is called “The effect of walking in high- and low-heeled shoes on erector spinae activity and pelvis kinematics during gait” by Mika A, Olesky Ɫ, Marchewka A, Clark BC published in October 2012.
The conclusion they found was “wearing high-heeled footwear may have clinical consequences, including increasing general or muscular fatigue, creating swelling or limited movement, raising the possibility of cumulative strain, promoting fibrosis in the paraspinal musculature, altering joint loading profiles…this list could go on and all these factors could be both consequences and potential causes of LBP.” LBP is short for ‘Lower Back Pain’.
As usual like most research papers state there is always more research required. However, as you can see this paper found good reason to suggest high heels >10cm as a cause of lower back pain.
My answer to the question is usually that the high heels may be a contributing factor but not the sole reason for your back pain. There are usually lots of individual reasons that all add up to the crescendo that is the back pain. Eliminating/treating each small reason bit by bit is the route to a healthy back. Maintaining a healthy back requires continuing exercises and stretches at home to combat the inevitable compensations your body has to make due to the activities of daily life and our hobbies.
If you are going to wear heels, I would recommend doing the exercises and stretches necessary to reverse the effects they cause. Some of which are stated by the above stated research paper. A good Chiropractor should be able to help you with these problems and any back pain you may have.
The Sacro-Iliac joint is a common cause of lower back pain due to the large amount of force it has to cope with, patients often get this joint confused with the hip as it is quite low and slightly to the side of the spine (wider in women).
This joint connects the spine to the pelvis and takes on a lot of force during motions involving the legs and torso. The joint essentially is a wedge of bone (The Sacrum) at the base of the spine fitting into wedge shaped region (between the ‘Ilia’, pleural of the ilium which is one of three parts of the pelvis) at the pelvis hence the name Sacro-iliac. Because this joint takes on so much force it requires a lot of stabilising, hence there are many ligaments connecting the sacrum to the surrounding structures. These ligaments are prone to injury, if the muscles around the joint, above or below are not working efficiently to support the spine then the S.I joint’s ligaments and cartilage are prone to increased forces and therefore damage.
Front view:
Rear view:
Pain that originally starts in this region often spreads across the whole of the lower back, this is because inflammation is a very clever but also very crude system. When the inflammatory process starts, it essentially dumps inflammatory chemicals on a region. What it often does however is go a bit too far, this can actually damage healthy cells, giving the feeling of pain in a general region. The S.I. joint can also refer pain to various other regions, this is because where the pain fibers from the S.I joint enter the spine, fibers often cross with fibers that innervate other regions of skin of the body, therefore producing pain at the region also. When this occurs, it is known as an S.I. joint Syndrome as all three components of pain, restriction and pain referral are involved to make up the ‘syndrome’.
Purely using an Ice pack regularly for 10-15 minutes every 2 hours for a week will make a massive difference and should localise the pain back to the joint where it originated. To clear out the rest and to prevent recurrence, a Chiropractor may be needed to get the joints moving properly and the muscles loosened and functioning correctly once more. There is only around 2-4 millimeters of movement at the joint therefore a Chiropractor will help regain as much movement as possible. This will get rid of the pain completely and with the correct assessment and treatment of your bio-mechanics and function it will prevent the problem from recurring in the future.
There are more serious conditions that can affect this joint such as various arthropathies, (there are many types of arthritis) though a well trained Chiropractor should be able to determine the exact cause of the pain from your history and assessment.
This weekis Back Care Awareness Week. Chiropractor Simon Rose of Longlevens Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic encourages people to straighten out their approach to back care, as new consumer research shows that almost half the UK population (48%*) has suffered from back pain. Nearly 40% of sufferers in the South West have suffered from back or neck pain for more than ten years! Ouch!
The research, commissioned by the British Chiropractic Association, shows that 23% of people in the South West have suffered for over a year, yet 19% of these people have never sought any professional treatment or consultation for their pain even though back pain has prevented 54 % of people in the South West from sleeping.
Simon Rose comments: “Back pain is something which must not be swept aside – not just by sufferers but by people of all ages who should think about preventative measures. Research shows that 43% of people are limited in their activity by back and joint pain, so we all need to act to ease and prevent future problems to live life to the fullest”.
The British Chiropractic Association has developed a simple program of exercises called “Straighten Up UK”to help people get more active and prevent back pain in both adults and children. Easy to learn and do, it consists of precise, slow stretches, each with a specific purpose.
Simon Rose says: “The three minute exercise routine helps to promote an active lifestyle as well as balance, strength and flexibility in the spine, therefore reducing the risk of problems arising. Education on the importance of posture and back care cannot begin early enough, the sooner action is taken the less likely future back pain will be. With recent research by the BCA showing that 42.5% of people do not participate in any physical exercise, we must shape up and straighten up to keep our backs healthy”.
Visit the BCA website to see instructional videos on the Straighten Up UK routine and begin to tackle potential problems this Back Care Awareness Week. You will also find a range of advice, leaflets and video guides available to download from the BCA website www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk.
1. Stretch regularly – Yoga and Pilates are brilliant to improve your posture, the better you move, the better your posture and the less problems you will experience. If you feel tight in one particular area or are not sure where you are moving incorrectly then your teacher (yoga/pilates) or manual therapist (e.g. Chiropractor) can help you.
2. Correct your ergonomics at work, if you sit at a desk for long periods at work for example then make sure you ergonomics are perfect. A lot of companies will assess this for you, however make sure it is kept up to date as it is very important for your posture and to prevent injury.
3. Take regular short breaks, if you have to stay in one place for a long period of time (e.g. sitting down) make sure you take a break and move about for at least 5 minutes every half hour. This will allow the structures within your body to recover from a prolonged period of stress in one position which can lead to poor posture.
4. Drink lots of water – staying hydrated keeps your muscles and joints supple and strong preventing your body from getting lazy and adapting a poor posture.
5. Feel free to fidget! Fidgeting is your body telling you that you need to move to get comfortable, listen to your body. If your body needs to move to be comfortable then let it be comfortable, just don’t let it be comfortable in one position for too long .
Always remember, keep moving and stay loose, keep your back straight when bending and use your knees!
If your company would like us to pay you a visit to conduct free postural assessments please get in touch!
Within this post I’ll explain why seeking treatment for your back pain earlier will potentially save you a lot of money.
Take a quick look at these well researched statistics:
80% of the population will experience back pain at some time
40% of the population are affected by back pain currently (16 million)
2.5 million people have back pain every day of the year
119 million working days are lost
1.2 million people are affected by musculo-skeletal pain and 500.000 by work related stress
The Hard Working Citizen
The sooner a person with back pain sees a well trained therapist such as a Chiropractor, the sooner they will get better, simple. Recently I and my colleagues have noticed how patients are presenting with incredibly chronic (>3weeks) back pain. People seem to be putting up with pain without seeking help for longer than ever before, we think this may be due to the recent recession (or double dip recession as it is for us Brits). People are really feeling the pinch, but if you think you are saving money by not getting your back pain treated now, you are very mistaken. In fact, it’s not cost effective at all! Its actually uneconomical! I’ll explain why.
Scary but (potentially) true
I’m going to use a common lower back problem as an example, a lower back disc bulge, a disc bulge usually occurs because the underlying supportive back structures are working incorrectly. The forces within the lower back are therefore repeatedly falling upon structures that cannot cope with the increase in load (the discs, among other things). This leads to failure, if the bulge is not correctly managed and the forces continue to be incurred in a region that has already failed then its ability to heal is diminished. It may take months or years to get better with a very high chance that it will recur in the future due to the mechanism of micro tearing in the outer layers which heals incredibly slowly, if at all (Read more here on disc bulges). Disc bulges can progress and in a lot of cases may even lead to surgery, the likelihood of this increases if you do not seek effective advice and treatment. The earlier you seek treatment, the quicker your disc bulge will resolve itself and with the correct prevention strategy provided you will have a lower back that will be less susceptible to having disc bulges in the future.
“And financially this affects me how?”
The financial implications of this are simple, by letting your back pain progress and possibly worsen it may end with you requiring surgery and months off work with no guarantee it won’t recur. Due to the reasons above you may even require multiple surgeries in the future. Therefore, costing you even more in lost wages with time off work and possibly even your job! This is all theoretical of course and I’m not trying to scare you well, maybe a little lol… as more than likely if it is your first episode of back pain it may be nothing serious but for the price of a consultation fee it’s still best to get it checked out now to be better safe than sorry. The best way to treat the problem and find out the cause is to seek help from a well trained manual therapist such as a Chiropractor. A good therapist will offer you a variety of treatment and prevention options (or referral if required) and an insight into how your problem could progress if left untreated. So what I would recommend is to save yourself money and seek help now rather than later, trust me, your future pain free self will be thanking me in the long run.
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Rear view:
