Looking After Mum

OSTEOPATHY – POST PREGNANCY

Why see an Osteopath after the birth of your child?

Pregnancy and birth places stress on a women’s body, stretching ligaments and joints. Treatment by an osteopath can help restore the body’s balance, removing tension and assisting new mothers cope with broken sleep and breastfeeding. By realigning the spine and pelvis, Osteopaths can also help restore circulation.  There is a growing trend for midwives to recommend a visit to an osteopath for both mum and new baby.

Common Post Natal complaints treated by Osteopaths are:

Coccyx and Sacro-illiac Joint pain is a result of changes in ligaments during childbirth. As the baby passes through the pelvis it causes warping and stretching of the coccyx and the sacro illiac joint which can damage the joint. This condition, if not treated, can deteriorate due to increased pressure on the joint when lifting and carrying baby post birth.

Pubic-symphisis joint pain occurs when the front of the pubic bone will open, or is stretched during childbirth. This causes sharp pain and if not treated may lead to an altered pelvis and pelvic mechanics, producing pain in the pelvis and lower back.

Back pain results from carrying heavy loads like baby capsules; and even your baby and the mandatory carry-all crammed with a child’s never ending list of  “accessories”.

Neck and shoulder pain may result from incorrect posture during breast feeding.

The sacrum, consisting of the lower vertebrae of the spine, needs to swing out of the way during the birth and may not return to a balanced position between the pelvic bones.  This may lead to lower back pain and sciatic pain, and alter the spinal curves of the upper back.

How can you help your body to recover?

• Sleep: If you are feeling tired and sleep deprived, sleep when your baby sleeps. This will assist in your recovery and ability to handle stress and remain calm.
• Drink lots of water and eat nutritious meals. This keeps your strength up, and increases the body’s ability to provide breast milk and cope with fatigue and lack of sleep.
• Do pelvic floor exercises. The sooner you do these after birth the better, as they rebalance the pelvis, and assist bladder control.
• Start light exercise. No matter how tired you feel, a little light exercise will make you feel better so push yourself to reap the benefits of movement. Try yoga, walking or swimming. These activities will improve general blood circulation, stretch the muscles and improve general well being.

ENJOY THOSE PRECIOUS MOMENTS WITH YOUR BABY

 

 

Happy & Pain Free 2018

Whatever your body health and fitness goals are for the New Year don’t go hell for leather from day one. A gradual build up of your chosen exercise or fitness regime is the key to success. Our practitioners are happy to help you achieve your goals with pain management & mobility advice – so call or email if you have any queries.

Wishing you all health & happiness for 2018.

 

A Marathon Challenge

Top tips to help you back to running in record breaking time.

Our osteopath Lorraine offers some no nonsense, easy to follow top tips to get you back to performing at your best!

Are you training for or just completed a marathon? At this time of year our practitioner’s report seeing lots of patients complaining of running type injuries.

A little known fact is that if you raise your legs to 90 degrees following a run, the lactic acid will be felt less the following day in your legs. You should ideally rest them up a wall for a good 10 minutes.

Rehydration is very important. Ideally rehydration salts mixed with water but a good quality sports drink should be sufficient.

You don’t need vast amounts. But you do need to recover sodium levels that have been lost through perspiration.

Painful muscle cramp can be caused by dehydration. The best way to deal with it is to rest, sip a sports drink and gently try to stretch the affected muscle.

Relax for the rest of the day. It is going to take 3 days for the inflammation to reduce so maybe take turmeric supplements or even ibuprofen (if appropriate for you) to help.

Heat is not your friend. If you have a sore lower back, knee, shin or Achilles tendon there is more likely inflammation present. If you apply heat to an inflamed area it attracts more blood locally, which in turn increases inflammation.

As heat is applied pain reduces as the inflammatory markers in the blood are reduced/ diluted by the additional blood. Unfortunately this in turn brings more inflammatory markers. You take off the heat and the additional blood reduces but, the extra inflammatory markers remain.

You need ice or something cold on the sore areas. Ideally for 3-5 mins per hour and gentle movement to stop the inflammation from building up. I am not talking about a brisk walk, just a standing up every half hour or so just to mobilise around the back and hips for a couple of minutes.

Injury

There is very little an osteopath can do for the first 72 hours following an injury.

With muscle strains and ligamentous sprains our advice is RICE. That is unless it’s a significant injury. Then you should visit A&E immediately.

If you feel an injury is more than a sprain or strain you should see your GP. If you suspect fracture, dislocation or ligamentous rupture that’s a trip to the hospital.

Rest the injured part

Ice the area regularly. It’s recommended to ice an injury for 20 mins every 2 hours.

Compress the injured area. A compression bandage is ideal.

Elevate the injured area

If after 72 hours there is still pain, that’s the time to visit us at Cedar Hall Clinics in Thurrock or Benfleet in Essex. We are highly trained to give you a diagnosis, treatment (if appropriate), advice on management and a prognosis.

With regards to running again, injured or not, I’d recommend taking a little time off. At least to begin with.

Avoid any running at all for a week, maybe two, depending on how you feel. Walking is OK and is a good way to reduce the metabolic waste products from the muscles.

You can contact us on 01375 678877 or 01268 774249 we offer free assessments

http://www.cedarhallclinics.co.uk/

 

Mobility Matters

Age is not necessarily a barrier to keeping fit & active. At Cedar Hall Clinics we can help older people improve mobility, strength and fitness following surgery, injury or illness with treatments tailor made for each individual.

Our team of therapists often work together to achieve optimum recovery for each patient which may include osteopathy, physiotherapy, acupuncture and rehabilitation exercises.

We also offer home visits to those who are housebound due to pain/injury/surgery and more information can be obtained from our Reception team on 01268 774249 or 01375 678877

http://www.cedarhallclinics.co.uk

 

Happy New Year

Wishing all our patients and kind followers a very Happy 2017. Don’t overdo the New Year Resolutions especially rushing off to the gym to get fit. Make sure your body is ready to take on any rigorous exercise! Come for a free assessment.

www.cedarhallclinics.co.uk

 

Autumnal Aches

The weeks are hurtling by and we are now firmly into the Autumn period with more wet & windy weather predicted. It’s the time of year when we might start to notice our aches & pains that little bit more, so if you’ve got a niggle or even something more acute & painful come for a FREE assessment. You could be on the road to recovery before you know it!!

 

Caring for all the Family

Fixing your aches, pains and injuries is what we do best. Call us on 01268 774249 or 01375 678877 for a FREE assessment. Treatments are suitable for all the family from birth to well beyond retirement.

 

Relax!! You’ll Wonder Why You Left It So Long!

Your First Osteopathy Appointment:  All new patients are asked to complete a simple personal history form. Your osteopath needs to know about any previous medical problems, current medication and of course, most importantly, details of the condition that you need help with now.

During the initial consultation your osteopath will spend time getting to know you and will perform a comprehensive examination, using various orthopaedic, neurological and medical techniques to help determine the origin of pain. Your osteopath will then decide upon the most effective treatment, if necessary, for your condition.

Osteopathic treatment involves manual techniques such as deep tissue massage, soft tissue stretching, mobilisation, and manipulation and sometimes ultra sound. This helps reduce excessive scar formation, reduce pain, improve elasticity and mobility of muscles, joints, and spine. Depending on your condition you may be given home exercises to do to increase your strength and flexibility. If necessary and only with your permission your osteopath will refer you to your GP or an Orthopaedic Consultant.

Our osteopaths appreciate that a first time visit for treatment may be daunting but please be reassured – there may be some soreness after but usually no more than after physical exercise. If you would prefer please feel free to bring a friend or family member for moral support. However many, now pain-free patients, often wonder why they left it so long to get treatment! 

It is difficult to predict how many appointments you may need but as a general rule, acute conditions may need only 2-3 treatments, whilst long standing, chronic conditions may need longer. Some patients find it beneficial to pop in for an MOT once in a while to help maintain optimum fitness.

Call our clinics at any time for more information:     

Benfleet 01268 774249     Thurrock  01375 678877