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Great advice on Sleeping and Beds from the BCA

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Research carried out on behalf of Premier Inn suggests that you can tell a lot about someone’s personality by the position they sleep in. Your bed can also be the cause of back pain and the British Chiropractic Association has some great advice for sleep posture and how to choose your bed and pillow.

Choosing the right bed can minimise those factors that may lead to, or aggravate back pain. Research by the British Chiropractic Association in 2011 showed that of those experiencing back pain, 41% of women and 36% of men said that their pain could be brought on by a night’s so-called ‘rest’.
We come in different weights, shapes and sizes, but have one thing in common; we spend more than a third of our lives in bed, so should choose our beds carefully.
Which is better, a hard or soft mattress? – The best mattress is a ’supportive one‘. A 16 stone person sleeping on a mattress may not get the same support as a 10 stone person sleeping on the same mattress.

How do I know which is the right mattress for me? – If you are lying on your side, your spine should be parallel to the mattress and your spine should not sag (bed too soft) or bow (bed too hard). The longer you can spend lying on a mattress before you buy it, the more accurate this feeling will be. – Your pillow should be an extension of this i.e. your neck should be a continuation of the straight spine and not too high or too low.
What about my partner? –   Always shop with your partner as your respective ideal mattress tensions could be very different.  If this is the case, buy beds from a range that allow two single mattresses to be zipped together, so that you both get the support you need.

How do I know if my current bed/mattress needs replacing? –  Are you and your partner getting comfortable nights sleep? If the answer is no, your bed may be the problem. -Can you feel the springs through the mattress? If the answer is yes, it is definitely time to buy a new one. –  Is the bed more that 10 years old? If the answer is yes, consider purchasing a new one – beds wear out and may sag or lose support with time.

What things can I do to help prevent back problems even with my new mattress? – Try and adopt a sleeping position which creates less physical stress on the back. For example, lying on your side is better than lying on your front with your neck twisted to one side. –  Keep moving and avoid being in any one position for too long.

No matter how comfy the position may initially feel, the longer you stay in one position, the more this will ‘load joints’. If your partner moves around a lot at night, try separate beds for a while as your partner’s movement could aggravate YOUR back condition! –  Drink water. Keep well hydrated; dehydration can make muscles ache. –   Don’t leap out of bed first thing in the morning. After you have woken up wake up, try some gentle stretches. –   Wake up your body. Once up, avoid bending or doing anything sudden or strenuous until you back wakes up!

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College of Chiropractors Granted Royal Charter

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At a meeting of the Privy Council on Wednesday, the Queen approved the grant of a Royal Charter to the College of Chiropractors, the first Royal Charter to be granted to a complementary medicine organisation in the UK.
The College is an academic, professional membership body, established along the lines of the Medical Royal Colleges, which over the past 13 years has sought to ensure quality, safety and excellence are at the forefront of chiropractic practice in the public interest.
Chiropractic is regulated by statute and although chiropractors provide their services largely within the private sector, NHS funding for chiropractic treatment is now emerging region by region under the Department of Health’s new commissioning arrangements. Chiropractors specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of problems affecting the joints, muscles and nerves and are probably best known for treating low back pain, a condition which costs the equivalent of between 1% and 2% of the UK GDP and has a significant impact on people’s lives.
Rarely granted, a Royal Charter signals permanence and stability and, in the College of Chiropractors’ case, a clear indication to others of the leadership value and innovative approach the College brings to the development of the chiropractic profession. The Royal Charter essentially formalises the College’s position as a unique, apolitical, consultative body, recognising its role in promoting high practice standards and certifying quality and thus securing public confidence.
Tim Jay, President of the College, said, “The College of Chiropractors’ Royal Charter emphasises to the public and other health bodies that chiropractic is a healthcare profession with parity in the field of musculoskeletal health, providing a viable and recognised option for patients.”

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Fundraising Halloween Party for Bristol Heart Institute, Great Western Ambulance and LonglevensAFC (defribillator)

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Mark Moore, 27, from Longlevens Gloucester, loved playing football.  On 21st August this year he collapsed on the pitch and suffered a cardiac arrest.  He spent 2 days in a coma.

Fortunately for Mark paramedics were playing nearby and administered CPR and a defibrillator to bring him back to life.

Mark’s heart stopped for 30 minutes and he was shocked with the defibrillator 8 times on the pitch.  He suffered another arrest on the way to hospital.

Following a period of time in hospital having lots of tests and scans a pacemaker fitted, Mark is now back home with his family doing well, although he will never play football again.

His family are holding a fundraising Halloween disco on Saturday 3rd November to raise funds for Bristol Heart Institute where Mark was cared for, Great Western Ambulance service, and to hopefully purchase a defibrillator for Longlevens Football Club.

Simon and Leah Rose of the Longlevens Chiropractic & Sports Injury Clinic have held fundraising events for charities that are close to their hearts in the past, and commend Mark’s family for their efforts in supporting the organisations that have supported them.  We wish Mark Moore’s family every success for their event.

The party starts at 7.30pm and is tickets only.  If you would like to attend please let us know via our contact us page and we will pass your details to the Moore family.

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Sacro-Iliac, also known as SI, Joint pain

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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.

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STRAIGHTEN UP UK! Simon Rose gives an insight into the South West’s Back Pain Issues

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 This week is 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.

*research conducted in February 2012

 

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Sports Therapy Open Evening at the University of Gloucester

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University of Gloucestershire Logo

Yesterday evening Leah Rose attended the University of Gloucestershire’s Sports Therapy Open Evening.  It was a great opportunity to meet the Department’s leaders and lecturers, to understand the courses in much more detail, and to learn more about what Sports Therapy undergrads and grads can offer.

The Sports Therapy Department at the University of Gloucester boasts some fantastic and very impressive new facilities.  Unsurprisingly, the stats for the courses show that application numbers and entry levels are very high compared to places available, despite the phenomenal rate of growth and expansion that the course has experienced.  Exciting times are ahead for what is still a relatively new profession.

We would like to thank the Sports Therapy Department for a very informative and enjoyable evening and we look forward to becoming more involved with the department in the future.

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Rugby Injuries: The Stinger

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In this post I will be explaining what occurs and what is felt with a stinger injury and I will also give some advice on what to expect with regards to recovery.

“Stingers”, also known as “Burners”, occur when a persons neck is taken too far to one side too quickly whilst at the same time the shoulder is depressed downwards too far and too quickly also. The usual mechanism is as a result of a tackle during Rugby or American Football, the resulting pain is described as stinging or burning sensation. The reasons for these symptoms are because the nerves exiting the neck that innervate the arm (via the “brachial plexus”) are stretched during the tackle and therefore injured.


The type of pain that is felt is regarded as a sharp shooting neurological type pain with regions of stinging and burning locally and often distally down the arm. The pain location can vary, though the most commonly affected area is that which is innervated by the C5 nerve as this is the nerve where most of the over stretching is likely to occur as the shoulder is depressed too far downwards. As you can see in the picture below, the C5 nerve root is the highest exiting nerve that innervates the arm from the neck region.
Look at the yellow nerves exiting the spine in to the arm in this picture, C5 is the highest level.

The regions of skin innervated by C5, C6, C7, C8 and T1 are shown here in this picture, when suffering from a Rugby stinger you may feel discomfort along one or more of these regions with C5 being the most likely.

The muscles that you may find weak as a result of a stinger playing Rugby are most likely to be those innervated by C5 and then decreasing in likelihood C6, C7, C8, T1.

As you can see the main muscles innervated by C5 and C6 are those surrounding the shoulder girdle, therefore expect dysfunction to occur in this region. The rate of healing for a nerve is very slow so make sure you are patient and perform rehab sensibly. I would recommend seeing a specialist (e.g chiropractor) for advice and guidance throughout this process as too little or too much rehab or treatment at the wrong time could decrease your recovery rate and prolong your return to action.

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Kate’s Write Up of the Paralympics

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What a fantastic yet exhausting week at the paralympics! The response for the massage was brilliant everyone kept coming back for more!

Most clients were media people carrying cameras all day long who were looking for relief for their shoulders.  Firstly I would ask them to take 3 deep breaths in to relax.  Then I started on their lower back to make sure they felt a release of tension all over the back, not just at the shoulders. Every person I saw had shoulders up by their ears with tension and the muscles that run parallel to the spine (Paraspinals) were solid too. I would use broad techniques with the palm of my hand to begin with to warm up the muscles, then move onto using my thumbs (butterfly technique) to increase the pressure to release tension. I then moved onto specific stretch technique, in which I apply pressure down into the muscle as the client stretches out the muscle that has been pinned by me. This is a fantastic technique that has instant results, however it is sometimes quite tender. I used this technique on the paraspinals, upper trapezius, and neck muscles with which you can see visible increases in range of movement of the cervical spine (neck) straight after the technique has been used.

The therapists I got to work with at the paralympics were fantastic, it was lovely to meet new faces and learn from other people. All in all it was a great experience and I even got to meet some famous faces!!

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Do You Work for the NHS?

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We are pleased to announce to all NHS employees that we have joined healthstaffdiscounts.co.uk and are giving 10% off consultation and treatment charges to those NHS employees who hold an NHS staff card!

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Tips To Improve Your Posture

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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!

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