New research reveals that women could be neglecting their back or neck health as they take twice as long, six weeks on average, to seek help for their pain, while men take just three. The consumer research also found that women, on average, develop back or neck pain at the age of 27, six years younger than men and experience it more regularly. Despite this, a quarter of women have never visited a health professional for their pain.

In addition, the findings from the British Chiropractic Association reveal that more than a third of women are turning to over the counter medication as a first port of call, 12% more than their male counterparts, ignoring simple fixes such as exercise and stretching which can prevent and improve back or neck pain. In contrast, men are most likely to turn to their GP when initially experiencing pain.

Whilst women are least likely to seek help, the BCA found that overall over a third (34%) of Brits would wait a month or more to seek professional help for back or neck pain. Moreover, one in ten Brits would continue to suffer in silence, not seeking help at all.

​Simple lifestyle changes, such as stretching and incorporating more movement into your daily routine, can be an easy and effective way to keep the back pain at bay, yet only 11% of men and women make these changes to their routine when they start to experience back pain.

This trend for women to ‘keep calm and carry on’ is also reflected in their delay in seeking help for other health conditions, with men seeking professional help for joint pain, strains and headaches more quickly than women.
​
For the majority of back pain sufferers the discomfort of back and neck pain can be eased or prevented by maintaining a strong, active body which is able to cope with the demands made of it, as described in a recent series of paper on back pain in The Lancet.

Top tips for women with back or neck pain:
•    Keep moving: Almost half (47%) of female respondents pointed to sitting still for a long time as a key trigger for their pain. If you are required to sit in one position for extended periods of time, at work or on a long drive for example, try to take breaks to walk around, stretch and move your joints and muscles every 30-60 minutes.
•    Hit the gym: Incorporating moderate exercise into your lifestyle will help you to build a stronger body that is better placed for dealing with the demands you make of it. If pain is preventing you from exercising, try a form of exercise, such as swimming, which will put less pressure on the joints while allowing your body to move.
•    Stretch it out: Stretching can be a beneficial way to keep your joints and muscles active. The BCA’s Straighten Up programme of simple exercises can be incorporated into your daily routine to promote movement, strength and flexibility in the spine.
•    Get a good night’s sleep: After a busy day sleep is essential, so I suggest taking some simple steps to ensure you sleep in a comfortable position. The Sleep Council recommend replacing your mattress every seven years and when you do, pick one that provides the right support for your body type and pillows that suit your sleeping position.
•    Keep it light: Almost a third (32%) of women cite that carrying their bag is a key trigger for their back or neck pain. If you are one of those people, then think about trying a different bag or about what you’re loading it up with! Choosing a bag that can be worn as a backpack or across the body may help to spread the load. Keeping your bag light and emptying it of unnecessary items each day can also help to prevent unnecessary weight.

​Consumer research carried out between 28/02/2018 and 07/03/2018 on a sample of 2,066 UK adults aged 16 + on behalf of the British Chiropractic Association.

I've pinched this from the BBC but I thought it was well enough written that I didn't have to bother! We can't even swim in the sea now!

Matt

Swimming in the sea substantially increases the chance of developing stomach bugs, ear aches and other illnesses, researchers have found.
The University of Exeter Medical School and Centre for Ecology and Hydrology carried out the study.
It concluded, compared to non-sea swimmers, the likelihood of developing an earache increases by 77% and for a gastrointestinal illness rises by 29%.
As well as swimming, the risks also apply to water sports, such as surfing.
Researchers reviewed 19 studies linking sea bathing to illness from the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Norway. They analysed results from more than 120,000 people.
"In high-income countries like the UK, there is a perception that there is little risk to health of spending time in the sea," said Dr Anne Leonard.
"However, our paper shows that spending time in the sea does increase the probability of developing illnesses, such as ear ailments and problems involving the digestive system, such as stomach ache and diarrhoea.
"We think that this indicates that pollution is still an issue affecting swimmers in some of the world's richest countries."
Research supervisor Dr Will Gaze said: "We don't want to deter people from going into the sea, which has many health benefits such as improving physical fitness, wellbeing and connecting with nature.
"However, it is important people are aware of the risks so they can make informed decisions."
Dr Gaze said most people will recover from infections with no medical treatment but they can prove more serious for vulnerable people, such as the very old or very young.
He added: "We have come a long way in terms of cleaning up our waters, but our evidence shows there is still work to be done.
"We hope this research will contribute to further efforts to clean up our coastal waters."

With the temperatures hitting some icy lows, perfect your ‘ice walk’ this March with top tips from the British Chiropractic Association.

Snowy and icy roads and pavements mean potentially hazardous conditions underfoot and a rise in injuries caused by slips and falls. It is quite natural, therefore, for us to be wary when walking outdoors and adopting our ‘ice walk’; the problem is that an unnatural walking posture could cause as many problems as the icy conditions themselves.

Tim Hutchful, from the British Chiropractic Association, offers some top tips to stay safe and adopt a better ‘ice walk’:

Best foot forward
–    It is a good idea to have two pairs of shoes, one for walking in the ice and snow, the other for indoors or whilst driving.
–    Waterproof or other, lined shoes are preferable as are thermal socks, as these items will help keep your feet warm. Cold, numb feet are less able to sense and adapt to changing conditions.
–    Footwear should have a solid and large, raised treads on the sole; essential for maximising your grip on the ice.
–    Shoes with support features are important – walking shoes with a firm ankle support are ideal as they help prevent you ‘going over’ on your ankle and help you feel more stable in slippery conditions.  If shoes have laces, they should be firmly laced to give a close fit without limiting the circulation.
What to avoid…..Wellingtons can be practical, but they often don’t give enough support and can be difficult to take off. Also avoid walking outside in leather or other, smooth soled shoes.

Top Gear
–    Clothing should be warm and allow you to move freely. Anything that impedes you from walking ‘normally’ could make you more prone to falling over or lead to you walking in an unnatural way.

Be Prepared
–    There are things you can do to prepare yourself for better balance. Standing on one leg, as an exercise, is a great way to help improve your balance.
–    When you are out and about, keeping your hands out of your pockets (use gloves) so that you can use your arms for better balance is a great idea too.
–    Watch out for parts of the pavement that may have been in shadow or under trees, where there is more likely be black ice, but make sure you pay attention to what is ahead too!

Falling Gracefully
If you do fall, try and curl up and ‘roll’ with the fall and stay relaxed, this will minimise any jarring to your body. Whilst it may be an automatic reaction, try to avoid putting your hands out to save you – this may cause wrist injuries.

Keep Your Wits
Try to avoid alcohol. Not only will you be more prone to feeling the adverse effects of the cold (because alcohol causes loss of body heat) but it may also cause you to take risks that you wouldn’t normally do and, of course, make you more unsteady on your feet. Keep topped up with warm drinks to keep your temperature up.

I saw this the other day and thought it was brilliant! Give it a try. 

Ten days ago, I went on my annual trip to the Royal College of Chiropractors Winter Conference in London. A lot of it was dull, very dull.

However, at the conference was a speaker named Ann Gates who talked about the importance of exercise for all sorts of health conditions. These were things that I already knew but that I had almost forgotten.

Her main point was that if exercise was a drug that you could get from your GP, if would be hailed as  a miracle. A drug that reduces all causes of death by 30%! 

The other information that I liked was the amount of exercise that different groups of people require. As you can see from the pictures below, 0-5 year old's need 3 hours of moderate intensity exercise per day. 5-18 year old's need 60 minutes per day and everyone over 18 years of age needs 150 minutes per week MINIMUM.

So what is moderate exercise I hear you cry? Well, examples of moderate exercise include: 

• Brisk walking 
• Water aerobics
• Riding a bike on level ground or with few hills
• Doubles tennis
• Pushing a lawn mower
• Hiking
• Skateboarding
• Rollerblading
• Volleyball
• Basketball 

​As the rather excellent NHS website states "Moderate activity will raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster and feel warmer. One way to tell if you're working at a moderate level is if you can still talk, but you can't sing the words to a song."

I would strongly encourage everyone to visit the NHS website I mentioned above by clicking HERE. The page you will be taken to is for adult recommendations but there are links to the children's versions too.

As you will see when you visit the NHS website, their are different ways to get your quota in. You can do 75 minutes of vigorous exercise instead. As a general rule, you can half the amount of time required if the exercise is vigorous. 

Examples of vigorous exercise include:

• Jogging or running
• Swimming fast
• Riding a bike fast or on hills
• Singles tennis
• Football
• Rugby
• Skipping rope
• Hockey
• Aerobics
• Gymnastics
• Martial arts

The recommendations for adults also state that strength training should incorporated into our routines. However, the easiest way to think of it really is to do 30 minutes of some sort of exercise every single day. That way, you've got it covered. 

I think the most important thing to take away from all of this is that most of us could do a little more than we do currently. As the picture at the top of this article shows, the benefits of exercise really are incredible and we can all access those benefits with some fairly small changes.

Thanks for reading,

Matthew George

The second most common question I am asked is: Should I use ice or heat for my pain?

Just to be difficult, the answer is both!

This piece of advice is as helpful as a chocolate teapot. Therefore, I will try to explain when to use ice and when to use heat in the following paragraphs.

The first thing to think about is that cold reduces inflammation which reduces swelling, redness and soreness. Heat increases new blood flow into the area which brings with it nutrients and inflammatory chemicals. This promotes healing and relaxation. So, now that we know what ice and heat do, we can start to understand when to use them.

If you have a sharp, catching pain that almost takes your breath away, you are probably experiencing inflammatory pain. Most commonly this comes from joints and occasionally tendons and ligaments. You would almost certainly need to use ice to reduce the inflammation and thereby reduce the pain. I recommend using an ice pack for around 15 minutes at a time. 20 minutes is okay if you are thick set are using it on your lower back. 5 minutes is enough if you are using ice on your hand or foot as their isn't much padding for the ice to permeate. Remember to wrap the ice pack in a tea towel or pillow case as freezer burn is not nice. When you are finished, pop the ice pack into the freezer for 30-40 minutes and then repeat. If it's easier, just use the ice pack once an hour for 15 minutes until the sharp pain has gone. I do understand that real life means that may not be possible. Just do what you can, the more the merrier. 

If you have an aching, dull pain that seems to be ever present and annoying, you are probably experiencing muscle tightness or over-activity. You would be better served using heat to relax the muscles and flood them with nutrients so that they can heal. I recommend using heat in the same way as ice, except that with heat, it's harder to overdo it. If you left a heat pack on for 30-40 minutes nothing bad would happen. If you left ice on for too long, you can damage the tissues. Use heat in the same way as the ice, once an hour until things have improved. Incidentally, if you have a long-term (chronic) condition such as wear and tear in your joints (osteoarthritis), heat can be used to ease the pain and stiffness associated with this.

So, in summary, the sharper and newer (acute) the pain, the more likely it is that you should use an ice pack. The duller, more achey and longer lasting (chronic) the pain, the more likely it is that a heat pack would be best. 

Acute and sharp = ice.
Chronic and achey = heat.

We have packs that can be frozen or microwaved available in both clinics for £5. They last around five years and can be constantly re-used.

For a bit of fun, the first person who correctly tells me the most common question I am asked wins a brand new ice/heat pack.

Good luck and happy icing. Or heating obviously. 

​MG

We are currently in the midst of a summer of sporting excitement and entertainment with something for everyone: Euro 2016, Rugby test matches, test cricket, Tour de France, US PGA Golf and Wimbledon to name a few and of course, not forgetting the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Make sure you are not the injury worry this sporting summer and take care of your posture.

Sitting for long periods can trigger back pain and with endless hours or sporting coverage in the offing, some will be more at risk than ever of becoming couch potatoes!

Our lifestyles are sedentary enough but, during televised sporting events, people spend even more time sitting down. Lack of exercise is our worst enemy and we should avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time, as sitting incorrectly puts almost twice as much pressure on the back than when standing.

Prolonged sitting isn't the only health hazard. Sport fans will argue that jumping up to celebrate a gold medal win or berate a referee is an involuntary action but, doing it too quickly may be more harmful than sitting down for prolonged periods. Going from a fixed posture when sitting down to quickly jumping up on your feet in excitement could be potentially damaging.

Follow this simple advice from the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) to have a pain free summer of sport:
• Try to ensure that you change position every twenty minutes; stand up and move around (An excuse to grab a refreshing beverage)!
• Make sure you are active during half time; there is plenty of light exercise you can do during the 15 minute break.
• Don't slump, sit right back into the seat, so your back is fully against the back of the chair/sofa.
• Drink Up! - As much as possible, try drinking water instead of beer, tea and coffee; it will keep you hydrated and help you concentrate on what is happening.
•  All this variety of sport may inspire you to get out and try it yourself, which is the perfect way to keep active over the long summer evenings.

I was asked the other day about maintenance care. In fact I was asked if I would recommend it. 

I instantly felt a blog post coming on!

Chiropractors have long held the belief that regular monthly follow up treatments even after you have reached maximum improvement are just as helpful for the spine as the regular services you provide for your car.
 
​Pain
 
In a recent study reported in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, after intensive care for one month, thirty long-term back pain patients were randomised to receive either no follow-up care, or maintenance chiropractic treatments at three week intervals for a nine month period.
 
Both groups continued to have significant improvement in their pain scores throughout the follow-up period. However, only the group receiving maintenance care during the follow-up period retained their improvement in disability nine months later.
 
In other words, when patients opt for maintenance care they generally notice their pain and stiffness less often and experience fewer flare-ups.
 
Overall health
 
Can maintenance adjustments really help our overall health and well-being? In case studies, patients report improvement in both mental and physical well being when they continue maintenance care. Also, other chiropractic services, such as advice regarding diet, exercise, posture, and stress management, have a more meaningful impact on overall health and well-being when continued during follow-up visits.
 
In the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics it was reported that based on a seven year period, patients utilising chiropractic maintenance had:

• A 60.2% reduction in hospital admissions
• A 59.0% decrease in hospital days
• A 62.0% drop in outpatient surgeries and procedures
• An 85% decrease in pharmaceutical costs when compared with conventional medicine within the same geography and during the same time frame.

 
Once per month?
 
Do patients have to keep coming monthly to get best results? Well, because chiropractors look at their patients as individuals that respond differently to treatment approaches, it does depend on several factors.
 
There may be some especially older individuals with significant arthritis that get best results when having treatment more often than monthly. On the other hand a younger individual that is fit and has no prior history of problems may be able to return every two or three months for a “tune-up” and still get great results. Still another individual may get great results for a while then get put under a lot of stress, stop exercising and see their problems worsen. They may then need a temporary increase in the frequency of their follow-up care.
 
No two patients are exactly alike. However, for a lot of patients that have a prior history of significant spinal problems, a monthly treatment seems to provide sustained relief and help prevent recurrence. In fact, I go to my chiropractor in Horsham once per month for maintenance and prevention.
 
What if it’s not for me?
 
If you have read through this information and have decided that maintenance care isn’t for you, that’s okay. You can always call us on an ‘as and when’ basis whenever you need us. If you have any questions, please ask.

​MG