Reducing aches and pains during pregnancy (and how to speed up post-natal recovery)

A number of our female patients are expecting babies. They tend to visit the clinic at a relatively advanced stage of the pregnancy, when the greater weight of the child is beginning to provoke lower back, pelvic or hip pain.

Beyond the first term, Osteopathy is a highly helpful form of pre-natal and post-natal therapy in reducing aches and pains as the pregnancy progresses, preparing the body for effective delivery and speeding up recovery after birth.

Many of our pregnant patients are active professionals or family carers, who often tend to pursue their existing active lifestyles regardless, and don’t make the necessary adjustments and concessions to their pregnancy until pain stops them in their tracks.

Thus during pregnancy, the support provided by holistic osteopathy needs to extend well beyond the gentle joint mobilisation, muscle stretching and soft tissue massage that patients expect to receive.

Right from the first session, it is important to assess the lifestyle factors that may cause upset and trigger pain: simple issues such as banning high heels for the duration, not carrying heavy weights on one arm or shoulder, how to get in and out of cars, and relying on legs rather than on the back to stoop low etc. all contribute to stave off the risk of injury during pregnancy.

We try and help our patients to be more aware of their posture and work ergonomics, both in the office and at home.

Our patients are encouraged to adopt a tailored range of simple and gentle physical exercises to address the factors causing pain and stiffness, and foster the postural alignment, muscle balance and tissue health that will support the remainder of the pregnancy and prepare for a positive and empowering delivery.

Relaxation, visualisation and breathing exercises are also routinely used in conjunction with the physical exercises, specifically in the weeks directly preceding delivery.

Surprisingly, an area often neglected in preserving good physical shape, limiting undue weight gain during pregnancy and looking after the baby-to-be is the patient’s diet. Detailed dietary assessment and sound nutritional advice provided early on really help to manage weight, optimise mother and baby body tissue health, and favour prompt recovery post-delivery.

In our experience, addressing this full range of concerns really helps our patients’ feel they are in charge of the process and can play a leading role in ensuring a healthier and more comfortable pregnancy, and a more straightforward delivery.

An added bonus to these treatments is that we often get to welcome older children and partners in our clinic; in so doing, we can assist in their active involvement in preparing for this very special event.

Last but not least, a classic pitfall following a safe delivery is that all the focus centres on the baby to the exclusion of the Mother’s post-natal aches and pains, which are then ignored until well-entrenched and chronic. Encouraging pregnant mums to actively plan for a few post-natal treatments really helps them rapidly reclaim their previous form.

Please contact us if you would like to discuss our range of treatments/support for pregnancy. Bridge to Health is based in Uxbridge, west London.

Treating injured marathon runners osteopathically

Over the first few months of practice in Uxbridge, we have treated quite a number of patients training for marathon events.

Some visit because they have sustained an injury in the course of training, others because they are seeking supportive physical treatment and general advice in the context of their preparation and recovery.

The priority with injured marathon athletes is to “fix the patient” so that they can get back to their training schedule as fast as possible, with minimal interruption; but also to ensure the weakness that caused the injury is remedied and postural imbalances are corrected.

In all cases, we provide osteopathic treatment alongside a broader range of tips and advice to ensure that our patients are fit on the day, but also continue remaining fitter and healthier thereafter.

This advice covers a broad range of topics, including:

• Holistic osteopathic treatment to ensure not only lower limb fitness, but also optimal neck, shoulder and rib cage function, and core strength for peak performance;
• Deep tissue massage routines in the run-up and recovery phase of the run;
• Warming up and warming down routines;
• Input on a well-balanced running schedule that takes into account the athlete’s general health and fitness at the outset;
• Advice on fitness training to achieve the right balance of cardio-pulmonary fitness, musculoskeletal strength, flexibility, endurance and balance;
• Dietary advice to ensure that the right balance of nutrients is taken to deliver top performance and recover from the effort;
• The imnportance of adequate hydration before, during and after the run;
• Use of cryotherapy and contrast hydrotherapy to preserve and enhance muscle and organ health;

We have detailed this advice in a handy tips help sheet for our patients and other friends who are preparing for this great test of physical and mental endurance. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us (contact details here) if you would like us to email you a copy.

Choosing premises for our osteopathic practice in Uxbridge

Why did we choose Fitness First?

We chose to set up our first osteopathic clinic in Uxbridge, and having decided on the town, the next step was to identify suitable premises for our clinic.

We started with a systematic search for treatment rooms within a three mile radius of the town centre, focusing on existing healthcare units (GP practices, dentists, chemists), fitness clubs and leisure centres.

Unfortunately, the flipside of Uxbridge being a dynamic commercial centre is that appropriate premises – defined as a couple of treatment spaces, a reception area and kitchen / WC – is very hard to come by.

Two ”perfect spaces” for a couple of treatment rooms and a reception area caught our interest at first. However, the first, perfectly located on the High Street, was helpfully perched at the top of an almost vertical flight of stairs (perfect for acute lower backs…); the second was located in Stockley Park, and although the space was perfect in every respect, the prospect of treating aching, stressed-out executives necks and shoulders all day – as opposed to genuine mixed population practice – did not appeal.

Eventually, we settled on a treatment suite in the Fitness First Health Centre, it would be a great first step into the local market. Fitness First has an established reputation as market leader in the health and fitness industry, with an obvious target population for an osteopathic clinic. Further, they are serious about promoting and supporting in-house business partners.

The Uxbridge Fitness First gym had an established in-house alternative therapy clinic, but nothing competing with the treatment approach of osteopathy. It is also well located on the high street, and is less than a five minute walk from the Uxbridge Metropolitan and Piccadilly tube station.

Fitness First has over 2,500 active members, providing an entrenched pool of potential patients, and the location and layout of the clinic is professional and welcoming to outside patients.

Finally, Fitness First offers its on-site therapists free gym membership, which is not just a good opportunity for us to maintain our levels of fitness, but also an ideal way to meet potential patients in an informal setting.

What is Osteopathy? What can an osteopath treat?

I first came across osteopathy as I was recovering from a rather unpleasant accident which produced a badly prolapsed lumbo-sacral disc, and resulted in an orthopaedic operation called a discectomy. I had been warned that my recovery prospects were not good, but my encounter with osteopathy changed all that. A decade and a half later, when I decided on a career change and screened the full range of health professions, osteopathy again came out tops.

Osteopathy is a manual therapy which aims to diagnose and treat a wide range of physical conditions causing pain, stiffness, weakness or malfunction throughout the body. Although osteopathy is mainly known for dealing with spinal pain, the range of conditions successfully treated covers a much wider range of musculoskeletal and organic diseases, including

• Headaches and migraines
• Whiplash injuries
• Neck and shoulder tension (known as the office syndrome…)
• Frozen shoulder
• Asthma
• Arthritis, of both degenerative and inflammatory source
• Digestive complaints – e.g. irritable bowel syndrome
• Sciatic pain
• Pre and post-natal pain
• Sports injuries – e.g. tendonitis, muscle strains etc.

Osteopathy is distinctive in its focus on looking at the patient as a whole: it takes into account how the whole body moves and adjusts to pain, it is interested in the patient’s diet, exercise and lifestyle, all of which are factored into the diagnosis and treatment process. Further, using essentially only hands and brain, the osteopath will work with the patient to facilitate good structural alignment, tissue health and organ function that will alleviate pain, prevent symptom re-occurrence and foster a return to stable long-term health.

It is because of its holistic approach, and the stringent clinical standards required of osteopaths by the General Osteopathic Council, that I firmly believe in the healing power of good osteopathic treatment.

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog about two osteopaths in Uxbridge.  We decided to set up a new osteopathic clinic / practice a couple of years ago, and last October it finally became reality when Bridge to Health opened its doors to its first patient. We have our website – www.bridgetohealth.co.uk – to help promote our services, but if we can get to grips with blogging, we hope that these pages will help us contribute and publish useful information for healthy living – with an obvious bias around osteopathy – as well as give background about us, and what Bridge to Health is up to for our patients/potential patients and corporate clients.

And so for our next post…