Nice guys finish last – well that’s how the saying goes!

While this on the face of it may not sound as if it has anything to do with me being an osteopath in London W1 I wanted to share this short video that sets out to show, with scientific evidence, how nice guys finish first.

Whilst some mean, cutthroat and envious people may temporarily exploit and gain from others, in the long run, not only nice guys but nice people really do finish first.

 

Visit an experienced London Osteopath in W1

If you are suffering pain or discomfort and you would like further information on how I may help you or to book an Osteopathy appointment at either of my osteopathy clinic in London W1 please feel free to send me a message or call me on 020 8815 0979. I also have a clinic in North London if this is more convenient for you.

 

As an Osteopath in London treating patients who are suffering with some form of pain, I am always interested in research into pain management and keeping across approaches to pain recovery.

SIRPA, which stands for Stress Illness Recovery Practictioners Association, is an organistaion that has a mission to engage health professionals and train them in an approach to chronic pain recovery to help shift their patients from living with pain to living without it.

SIRPA have produced an interesting report that covers ‘5 Things Your GP Won’t Have Told You About Chronic Pain’ that can be downloaded from their website.

What is chronic pain?

Simply put chronic pain is any pain in your body that has lasted more than around 12 weeks. It can last for months and years. It can often start after suffering from an initial injury such as back spasm or ankle sprain and then continue from there. However a lot of the time the pain can be unexplained and could be because of posture problems or poor sleeping habits.

5 things your GP won’t have told you about chronic pain

SIRPA have outlined 5 major differences in their approach to chronic pain and that of current mainstream medicine.

These differences support SIRPA’s position that once physically damaging conditions such as cancer and autoimmune diseases have been ruled out that most causes of persistent or recurrent pain are not caused by something being wrong with the part of the body that hurts, rather by the brain.

In summary,  SIRPA highlights the following 5 points about pain

  1. Fear of pain and causing further damage can result in pain increasing
  2. A belief that there must be a physical cause for a pain often results in critical underlying factors being missed
  1. Pain can be triggered by the brain despite there being no physical trauma
  1. A patient’s belief that their pain is due to a physical cause often leads to their pain being ‘managed’ with full resolution being less likely
  1. SIRPA recognises that although chronic pain is a result of physiological changes that occur after the emotional brain is triggered by emotions, this is an unconscious and automatic response.

If you are suffering pain or discomfort and you would like further information on how I may help you or to book an Osteopathy appointment at one of my osteopathy clinics in London please feel free to send me a message or call me on 020 8815 0979.

 

 

 

Being an experienced osteopath in London a common questions I get asked is “what’s the difference between osteopathy and chiropractic treatment?”

An Osteopath in London explains the difference between (classical) osteopathy and (classical) chiropractic

The answer isn’t necessarily a simple one. There are as many similarities as there are differences between the two professions. There are not only differences between the professions but equally between practitioners of the same profession.

For example in osteopathy you have differences between classical osteopathy versus ‘cranial’ osteopathy and in chiropractic you have differences between classical chiropractic versus McTimoney chiropractic.

That being said there are differences between the two methods which are more to do with the underlying philosophical approach rather than which particular techniques are applied during treatment.

When it comes to diagnosis, chiropractors, will focus mostly on spinal integrity and will use x-rays of the spine to form a diagnosis. Osteopaths will use palpation (touch) of soft tissues (muscles, ligaments and tendons) and spinal positioning in conjunction with overall postural balance to form a diagnosis.

In the main, chiropractors work mainly on the spine. Osteopaths work on the spine and also on the whole body including peripheral joints.

When it comes to treatment chiropractors use more manipulative techniques whilst osteopaths may use manipulation in conjunction with soft tissue and mobilisation (stretching of joints) techniques. In my treatments I take into account the patient’s background, both physically and emotionally, which may then warrant the use of other approaches, such as Western Acupuncture, Low Level Laser Therapy and when appropriate, Nutritional advice and/or NLP and/or relaxation techniques.

If you are suffering pain or discomfort and you would like further information on how I may help you or to book an Osteopathy appointment at one of my osteopathy clinics in London please feel free to send me a message or call me on 020 8815 0979.

 

As a registered London Osteopath in W1 and North London, I help my patients understand, overcome and prevent a myriad of issues and the symptoms they may cause.

Osteopathy is a validated, regulated and increasingly researched medical therapy which aims to address pain and other symptoms caused by a range of disorders including those incurred in the workplace, the sporting world and during pregnancy as well as general lifestyle related conditions.

5 things you may not know about osteopathy

So whether you are familiar with osteopathy or not here are 5 things you may not know:

1. The title ‘osteopath’ is registered by law

The title ‘osteopath’ is protected by law (Protection of title). To practise in the UK, an osteopath must be registered with the General Osteopathic Coucil (GOsC). It is a criminal offence for a person to claim they are an osteopath unless they are on the GOsC Register and are liable to prosecution.

2. Osteopaths undertake rigorous training

You can’t become an osteopath overnight. Osteopaths study to Degree Level leading to a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Osteopathy or a Masters Degree. A degree course may be taken over four or five years and will include anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacolog, nutrition and biomechanics with at least 1,000 hours of clinical training.

3. Seven million osteopathy consultations in the UK per year 

Osteopath registered with General Osteopathic Council and who practise in the UK carry out more than seven million consultations every year. As of 4 March 2014 there are 4,815 osteopaths registered on the UK Statutory Register of Osteopaths.

4. Osteopaths work to restore your body to a state of balance

Osteopaths work to restore your body to a state of balance, without the use of drugs or surgery where possible. For a patients body to work well an osteopath believes that the body’s structure must also work well. Touch, physical manipulation, stretching and massage are used by an osteopath to increase joint mobility, relieve muscle tension, enhance the blood and nerve supply to tissues and to help the body’s own healing mechanisms. In addition to the classical Osteopathic approaches I use, when appropriate, Western Accupuncture and/or Low Level Laser Therapy.

To aid recovery, promote health and prevent symptoms recurring, osteopaths may also provide advice on posture and exercise.

5. Many private health insurance schemes cover osteopathy treatment

People often don’t realise that osteopathy is a fully recognised and respected method of diagnosis and treatment and that many private health insurance schemes do cover the treatment.

Visit an experienced London Osteopath in W1

If you are suffering pain or discomfort and you would like further information on how I may help you or to book an Osteopathy appointment at either of my osteopathy clinic in London W1 please feel free to send me a message or call me on 020 8815 0979. I also have a clinic in North London if this is more convenient for you.

In addition to my work as a London Osteopath in W1 and North London, I am qualified in a range of other complementary therapies including Naturopathy, Low Level Laser TherapyAutogenic Training, The Perrin TechniqueLife Coaching and (Western) Acupuncture. These therapies have both specific and general applications and can also work very well in combination with each other.

My aim through my work at my osteopathy clinics in W1 and North London is to help my patients achieve overall health of the body and of the mind.

Good nutrition plays a part in our health and well being and ensuring that our food provides us with high nutritional value is important.

This brings me to a common question – Is there a difference between fresh and frozen produce in terms of nutrition? And which is better for us?

Fresh Vs Frozen – Is ‘Fresh’ really the best?

If you believe Fresh is best then I suggest you watch the short video below (2 mins) as all may not be what is seems when defininng what is ‘Fresh’.

If we delve a bit deeper, you will see that because of logistics and picking processes it is often the case that fresh vegeatbles and fruit sitting on supermarket shelves and then in our fridge can actually lose a lot of their nutritional value. In fact, some ‘fresh’ produce can lose up to 50% of their nutritional value from the time they are picked to the time they are eaten.

Frozen vegetables and fruit on the other hand are picked when ripe and frozen immediately thus locking in the nutritional value.

Of course if you grow your own vegetables or buy them directly from a local supplier or at a farmers’ market and eat them that day, nothing will compare to the taste or nutrition.

Watch this video for a great explanation of Fresh vs Frozen …