Tag Archives: Stafford chiropractic

Straighten Up UK!

Posted on by

Recent consumer research by the British Chiropractic Association has shown that people of all ages are experiencing higher levels of back pain and discomfort and much of this is related to poor movement or posture. In the Midlands particularly, incidences of back pain have increased 12% on 2017, and we are the most likely to develop back pain before the age of 30!

As a nation, we live busy and yet sedentary lifestyles. We are dashing about one minute, full of stress and time pressured, and then subjecting ourselves to long periods of sedentary behaviour by driving for long periods, playing computer games or watching television. This often leads to de-conditioning, fatigue and ultimately poor movement, stiffness and pain. Every year, back pain results in billions of pounds in losses to the nation due to lost days at work and sickness benefit payments; not to mention the significant impact this is having on a sufferer’s quality of life.

Chiropractors are keen to highlight this issue to show people in the UK ways in which they can help themselves towards a healthier lifestyle through education, advice and if necessary a treatment plan.

As part of this, the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) has introduced an exciting programme called Straighten Up UK, designed to improve posture and help prevent back pain by promoting balance, strength and flexibility in the spine. Chiropractors want to encourage adults and children alike to start using this set of simple, three minute straighten up exercises. They are designed to be done on a daily basis and become part of the daily routine, just like brushing your teeth.

The exercises can be adapted to suit individual capabilities (although please discuss with your GP, chiropractor or other healthcare practitioner first). There are kids’ and adults’ versions of the website and leaflets, so everyone can take part. Further information about chiropractic and the programme can be obtained by visiting www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk.

If you are struggling with back pain that won’t settle after more than a few days, it’s recommended that you see a qualified professional, such as a chiropractor, who can assess you and recommend a care plan to help get you moving again.

Let us help you to achieve better health. You can book an appointment with our chiropractor Chris or massage therapists Liesa or Matt, by calling 01785 530911 in Stafford, or 01952 825042 in Newport. Alternatively you can book using our online diary.

We look forward to seeing you.

Pure Health Chiropractic

Stafford Sports Massage

Get £10 off Stafford Sports Massage

Posted on by

Do you have a sports injury you can’t shake, or feel tight after that event? Or just want some help recovering from training? Get yourself booked in now, and get back to your best!

To celebrate our new Sports Massage Therapist joining the team, we are having a special introductory offer of £10 off Sports Massage in Stafford with Matt until the end of September 2018.

Terms: Expires 30th September 2018. Valid for Sports Massage in Stafford with Matt Price (Sports Massage Therapist) only, usual price £35. We reserve the right to withdraw this offer at any time.

Shockwave is here!

Posted on by

No, it’s not the next superhero movie, but it is something quite new and exciting! We are pleased to reveal that we now have a revolutionary type of treatment called Radial Shockwave Therapy (RSWT) available at both of our clinics for new and existing clients.

It has been shown to be particularly successful in treating stubborn soft tissue conditions in the shoulder, hip, knee, foot or ankle, that are struggling to respond to conventional therapy.

Why not see what shockwave can do for you? For more information, please visit our Shockwave Therapy page or Contact Us. We look forward to seeing you.

Mountain biking is bad for your health! (cervicogenic headaches…)

Posted on by

For some reason, I seem to be on a subconscious quest to experience a variety of injuries, perhaps in a bid to gain empathy for my clients. Having personal experience of pain certainly makes you a better clinician as it helps you appreciate what can often help, but to be honest; I’d rather not have to!

Over the years I’ve suffered with: disc prolapses; microdiscectomy surgery; wrist sprains; carpal tunnel syndrome; plantar fasciitis; knee sprains; shoulder sprains and most recently (after landing on my head falling off my mountain bike), neck pain and headache. Most of these injuries are fitness related and usually avoidable and recoverable, but who ever said exercise is good for you!? I guess it depends on what sort.

So, after my latest excursion head butting the ground, I am currently suffering with what is commonly known as “neck headache” or “cervicogenic” headache. I see quite a few clients with this problem, and now I know how it feels!

It’s important to note that headaches can be a sign of something more serious, so it’s important that you are examined by a qualified professional and if necessary referred for appropriate tests. Once confirmed though, cervicogenic headaches are generally regarded as secondary headaches arising from problems with the joints or muscles of the neck. Symptoms can include tenderness in the upper neck and base of skull; dizziness; nausea; neck stiffness; pain into the face or side of head; and blurred vision. The headache typically starts in your neck, and can sometimes mimic migraine symptoms.

The pain is often chronic and relentless and there can be a variety of causes including prolonged poor posture; joint or disc degeneration; inflammation of a neck joint or nerve; or a history of whiplash or trauma causing joint movement issues.

Fortunately it’s been shown that Chiropractic care, including spinal manipulation, dry needling, and exercises can help to get on top of the problem. It’s a good job I’m in this business!

Why not see what chiropractic can do for you. You can book an appointment with our chiropractor Chris or massage therapist Liesa, by calling 01785 530911 in Stafford, or 01952 825042 in Newport. Alternatively you can book using our online diary.

We look forward to seeing you.

Yoga Pose Balance Chiropractic

Balance, coordination, spinal health and Chiropractic

Posted on by

In this blog, our Stafford and Newport chiropractor talks about the importance of balance and coordination, and how it can be an indicator of spinal and nervous system health.

Balance and coordination are vital to our normal everyday movements and a good quality of life.  If one or both of these areas are compromised, it can profoundly affect our strength, mobility and overall wellbeing.

There can be many reasons that your balance and coordination can be adversely affected, and if you do find that you are suffering with balance problems or changes in your coordination, it’s important that you are assessed thoroughly by an appropriate healthcare professional to rule out potential underlying medical causes. However, in this article I’m going to discuss how changes in balance and coordination can be affected by your spinal biomechanics; or in other words: problems with your back or neck.

As a chiropractor, I see lots of clients with back and neck problems, and we are experts in assessing and treating spinal conditions. It’s very common in my experience for clients to become biomechanically unstable after an injury i.e. unable to tolerate movements in the neck or low back without sharp pain or re-injury. Why do you think this is? Why does the body struggle to contract and engage the spinal and neck stabilisers when the muscles are still there? The answer lies in the nervous system.

The spinal structures, including the joints and the surrounding small muscles, ligaments and tendons are constantly sending messages to the brain via mechanoreceptors (nerve endings) which sense pressure, movement and stretch. This feedback is sent to the brain, which then combines it with input from various other areas (including visual and inner ear) and decides how best to stabilise the area and control coordination of movement. This subconscious awareness of position, stabilisation and coordination occurs thousands of times per second, and is often known as proprioception.

It is thought that acute injury or long term movement dysfunction issues (such as osteoarthritis), can disrupt or override this feedback mechanism and lead to further instability, injury or damage. It’s not surprising that a lot of clients I see with acute or chronic spinal issues have terrible balance and coordination. Chiropractic techniques, combined with appropriate exercises for balance and strength have been shown in various studies to help with improving proprioception.

If you need help, then come and see what our chiropractors in Stafford and Newport can do for you.

We look forward to seeing you.

Chris Mallett
Principal Chiropractor, Pure Health Chiropractic & Wellness (Stafford and Newport)

 

Yoga Image By Matthew Greenfield (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Christmas Opening Hours

Posted on by

Over the festive period our opening hours will be:

 

Stafford

– Up to and including Friday 22nd December open as normal.

– Closed Saturday 23rd December until 1st January 2018

 

Newport

– Up to and including Saturday 23rd December open as normal.

– Closed Sunday 24th December until 1st January 2018

 

Both clinics open as normal from Tuesday 2nd January.

 

We wish all our customers a joyous Christmas break and a Happy New Year!

Stafford Chiropractor Chris and massage therapist Liesa run the Stafford 10k

Chiropractor Chris runs the Stafford 10k!

Posted on by

First of all – a big thank you to everyone who helped our Stafford and Newport chiropractor Chris and massage therapist Liesa raise money for Spinal Research!

A few months ago, it seemed to like a good idea to sign up with a few of my friends and colleagues in running the Stafford 10k. “It’s not that far”, I thought to myself. As I ran the final stages through the town centre with a ferocious “stitch” to the point of having to walk, I realised that maybe I should’ve done a bit more training, and also not eaten so many jelly babies half way round!

Once I’d recovered, it turned out I hadn’t done too badly. A 55-minute 10k with not really much training was pretty good for me. With the guys from the gym also doing well and (more importantly) enjoying it, we’d managed to raise a decent amount for charity and had fun too. Well done to everyone who took part!

I’d avoided doing much running in the 12 months leading up this event. This was partly due to injuring my knee in April; partly because I’m not a keen runner; but mainly because I’d developed a lot of calf and heel pain when trying to run any sort of distance since doing the half marathon in 2016. I’m not a natural runner and if you’re anything like me at running, then you will tend to “plod” rather than “glide” along. For me, this created a lot of tension in my feet, legs, pelvis and lower back and often led to shin splints, with accompanying back and heel pain.

There was a good reason for this, and it’s the same reason a lot of amateur athletes get pain and restriction: I was terrible at post-exercise stretching! Much like everyone else, as I became fitter, I also became complacent about warming down and stretching after training.

As we age, unfortunately our bodies don’t recover or regenerate as quickly as they used to. It’s absolutely vital that we warm down and stretch adequately to ensure that we don’t develop myofascial restrictions which can easily lead to changed movement, restricted mobility, and painful conditions. I now do this after every workout (finally listening to my own advice!), and have noticed a huge improvement in my ability to run pain free.

If you want help too, then why not see what chiropractic and massage can do for you. We look forward to seeing you.

Chris Mallett
Pure Health Chiropractic & Wellness – Stafford and Newport

Our Chiropractor rides the Alps!

Posted on by

I’m pleased to report that I managed to survive a week of mountain biking in the French Alps relatively unscathed despite one high speed crash and a few scrapes and bangs on the head.

My knee performed well, although a bit achy, and after 175 miles of downhill (and even some uphill), I came home feeling like I needed another holiday!

The area we were in (around Briançon in south-east France) was hosting part of the Tour de France this year, which provided the inspiration to hire a road bike for a day with some friends. I’d never ridden a road bike before (the lycra look and the UK roads put me off!), but this was France and the Alps are amazing, so we decided to ride up the Col du Galibier, one of the highest mountain passes on the tour. Overall, it was an awesome experience, and although I didn’t find the climb too bad, holding my head up on the 45 mph descent was agony! I can now fully understand why I see cyclists with painful necks as chiropractic patients!

Stafford and Newport Chiropractor

Recently, back in the Stafford and Newport chiropractic clinics, I’ve seen a few clients who seem surprised when I say that I can look at their foot, knee, ankle, hip or shoulder problems as well as their back pain, neck pain or headaches. Many people think that chiropractors only treat backs, but that’s simply not the case. Chiropractors are well trained in recognising, treating and giving advice and rehab plans for many different neuromusculoskeletal (nerve, muscle and joint) conditions. The main difference between chiropractors and other therapists, is that we also look to identify and address any spinal joint dysfunction i.e. movement issues in the small joints of the spine. Without a stable and well-functioning spine and torso, your peripheral movement, strength and coordination will almost certainly be compromised too.

Good spinal function is essential for movement; Good movement is essential for health; Chiropractic helps to maintain good spinal function.

Whatever your injury or movement problems, we will work tirelessly to help you to get back to your optimum and stay that way. See what chiropractic can do for you – I am available in Newport on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and also in Stafford on Wednesdays and Fridays. I look forward to seeing you.

Chris Mallett
Pure Health Chiropractic & Wellness – Stafford and Newport