With the change of seasons, we find ourselves tackling our gardens ready for summer time.  

Even though gardening is not considered as a sport it is very physical and time consuming, resulting in the body being in the same position for long periods of time. 

Gardening involves a lot of forwarding bending and at times can result in us twisting ourselves into awkward positions.  

These can result in spinal and surrounding structures to be strained and therefore resulting in back pain.

We have put together some helpful tips for you to incorporate into your gardening regime in order to prevent or manage any low back pain you may experience due to gardening. 

Warm up First 

It is a good idea to warm the muscles up first prior to gardening, as you would with any other type of work out.  This could be a brisk 5 minute walk with or without some gentle stretching. Below is a few stretches that will help to loosen the low back ready for gardening. 

If you already suffer with low back pain we would advise that you speak with your Chiropractor or healthcare practitioner in order for them to advise you on what stretches would be most appropriate for you.

Use support aids

Try to use support aids to make you feel more comfortable such as chairs or cushions.  Getting up and down from positions, especially up from the ground, can be a difficult task so use aids to help you alter your height.  

Ask for help

Do not be afraid to ask family, friends, neighbors etc for help.  If a task is is too much for one person or you are suffering with any discomfort as someone to help or take over.  It is important to understand your own limitations.

Chiropractors specialise in assessing, diagnosing and managing conditions of the spine. They are highly trained in finding the cause of pain in the spine. In the UK they undergo a minimum of four years’ full-time training. Importantly, chiropractors are regulated by law and must work within strict professional and ethical boundaries.

Before starting treatment, a chiropractor will do a full assessment. This will involve taking details about your condition, current health and medical history, and performing a physical examination. Sometimes it may be necessary to refer you for other tests, such as X-rays, MRI scans or blood tests. It is important for your chiropractor to gather as much information about your back pain as possible so that the most precise diagnosis can be made.

Your chiropractor will then explain what is wrong, what can be done and what you can expect from chiropractic treatment.

Chiropractors are best known for manual treatments such as spinal manipulation, where they use their hands to free stiff or restricted joints, or mobilisation, which is the gradual moving of joints.

But they may also use other recommended treatments such as certain types of acupuncture, electrotherapy, stretching exercises and rehabilitation, all of which form part of a chiropractor’s package of care. Your chiropractor may also offer lifestyle advice to help recovery and to prevent repeated episodes of back pain.

If your chiropractor does not think you can be helped by chiropractic treatment, you may be referred back to your GP or to another health professional. Chiropractors do not prescribe medication, so if this is needed, you may be referred back to your GP. As chiropractors support a joined-up approach to care, they may ask if they can send a brief report to your GP.

Many people who suffer long-term back pain benefit from regular, supportive chiropractic care to reduce the risk of recurrent episodes.

1. For Living Longer – Jogging

A US study showed that adults over 65 who ran or jogged for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week were as healthy as young adults in their 20s.[1] This might not sound important, but your walking style is a key indicator of mortality, so the longer you can stay spritely on your feet, the longer and healthier your life should be. Meanwhile, another study found that light jogging (between 70-120 minutes per week) was linked to the lowest mortality rate compared to sedentary people and heavy runners - so little and often is key here. [2]

When it comes to good physical and mental health, it's not a big surprise that research has shown January is the worst month of the year. All contributed to by the days being short, cold, and wet (let's not forget the come down from the festive period), and the summer feeling so far out of reach.

This January we wont let these feelings get to us, the tough year that was 2020 is finally behind us and we are looking forward to a better a new year, with hope and a chance to start a fresh. 

The Public Health Sectors are launching the 'Better Health - Every Mind Matters' campaign to support the nation's mental wellbeing with the encouragement that 'When things aren't so good out there, make inside feel better'. The campaign is being supported by the NHS, local authorities and a range of mental health charities, health organisations, as well as other charities and commercial sector partners. 

They have very helpful information and advise about anxiety, low moods, stress, sleep and others. 

To find the information you may need on The Every Mind Matters Platform, please click the image below.

Surprisingly, Chiropractic Clinic's around the country see an increase in patients with back aches and pains which have appeared during the Christmas period. There are many ways you can hurt your back at Christmas; whether it's bending and lifting heavy items like Christmas trees, furniture or even the turkey can easily strain your back or exacerbate existing aches and pains.

If you do hurt your back or neck during the holidays, your first thought might be to put your feet up on the sofa and watch some festive films and wait until the pain disappears. Although this may seem like a tempting option, it is much more beneficial for your back to keep your muscles moving. 

So, our first tip..

Keep Active

We know it's easier said than done, as the Christmas period for most means to relax, BUT that doesn't mean sitting on the sofa for 2 weeks eating your body weight in sugar. Prolonged periods of rest is bad for your joints and we are designed TO MOVE! So, try and get at least 30 minutes of gentle to moderate exercises 3-5 times per week in order to keep your joints and muscles healthy and your mind happy. Whether that's starting your days with a brisk walk out in the cold, fresh air or following an online exercise/pilates class.

Wrapping

We are all guilty of this, we sit on the floor, cross-legged, for a long time wrapping that never-ending pile of presents. This is not the best position for your and can cause extra strain on your neck and lower back. Why not try standing or sitting at a table instead. Another good way, standing at your ironing board as this height can often be adjusted to suit you and does not require you to be slouched over too much. 

Tree's a Crowd..

When it comes to putting up your decorations like the Christmas tree, get some help. The more help the better, even with the stages before the decorating; we have to get them from somewhere, so be mindful when digging them out from the attic or loft, always have someone else with you. When decorating be sensible, use a step where necessary. Don’t overstretch, don't take short cuts or move in awkward ways that your body isn’t used to!

When carrying heavy boxes or bending down to get that turkey out of the oven, be sure to bend and lift properly, squatting and using the knees rather than bending at the waist. 

Cleaning and Cooking

It's so stressful making sure your home is clean for your visitors, never mind the mammoth task of cooking for everyone, so try and delegate your load. Split the cleaning up amongst family members and even with the cooking if you trust others enough. But if you are like most people and would prefer to take full control of the Christmas Dinner then try to avoid being stuck over that stove for hours-on-end. Do some bits and bobs the day before, like the veg for example! 

Travel 

Always get yourself comfortable before you start your travels, making sure you are sat upright and your mirrors are correctly adjusted; especially your rear-view mirror. Because lets face it, it's so easy to slowly sink and slouch during a long journey, so use that mirror as a gage to know whether you need to sit up more. HAVE A BREAK, make a stop or two at a service station to stretch those legs, as well as some fresh air. 

...and most importantly, have fun this Christmas! 

From us at The Whitchurch Clinic, we hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 For more information contact us on 02920 617700 or email info@thewhitchurchclinic.co.uk

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Airprene Reinforced Wrist Support                                    £ 6

Cherrystone Hot Water Bottle                                            £14.99

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Cherrystone Rectangle                                                      £14.99

Cryoderm Gel 4oz                                                              £10

Cryoderm Gel 16oz                                                            £19.20

1 Metre Exercise Band                                                       £3

Hotspot Tub 200ml                                                             £14.99

Kinesiology Tape                                                                £6.50

Lonsdale Ankle Support                                                     £7

Lonsdale Open Knee Support                                            £ 6

Lonsdale Elbow Support                                                    £6

Lonsdale Wrist Support                                                      £5

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Quick Top Tips

• Take short frequent breaks, we're built to move. Many working from home are missing the mini-breaks they had working in an office environment, less distance to the kettle! 
• Set an alarm/timer every 30 minutes to remind you to change position and correct posture.
• Build postural stretches and exercises in to your daily routine.
• Mix up your tasks during the day to use different muscle groups. 
• Consider a standing desk to help vary the pressure on different parts of your body
• Those using laptops consider having a separate monitor or wireless mouse and keyboard so that you can position all well. 
• Reduce screen time by listening to audio books or podcasts during your spare time, instead of watching TV or using phones.
• If you aren't able to access a computer chair remember to support your lower back with extra cushions.
• When choosing where to set up consider appropriate natural light, screen glare, and sight line. Ideally position somewhere you can occasionally look in to the distance to reduce eye strain (so not facing a wall or with sunlight directly behind you).

As home working seems likely to continue long term, more patients are considering investing in their own desks and office equipment. For our suggestions on how to set up your workstations, equipment ideas and more, please read on below.

Desk

Chair

Monitor

• Reduce glare and reflections, by ensuring neither you or the monitor face the window. Tilting the monitor slightly downwards can help with glare, and adjust the monitor’s brightness to a comfortable level.
• Remember to rest your eyes every 30 minutes or so, by looking away into the distance.

Keyboard

• Put reference documents either between the monitor and the keyboard or directly alongside the screen in a document holder so the keyboard is not pushed too far back on the desk, disrupting your posture.
• The keyboard should not be so close to you that your wrists rest on the sharp edge of the desk.

Mouse

Laptops and Tablets

• Docking the laptop into a desktop computer at a suitable workstation.
• Connecting the laptop to stand-alone equipment such as a separate screen, keyboard and mouse. 
• Transferring your information onto a desktop computer if working for long periods. 
• Use on a desk where possible with a suitable chair.
• If on lap use a tray over a cushion to elevate the laptop, and the tray will insure the fans aren’t blocked.

The COVID-19 situation continues to change rapidly, so I wanted to let you know what we're doing at TWC to protect our colleagues and visitors, while ensuring we continue to provide you with access to the care you need.

We endeavor to stay open as long as it is safe to do so. The safety of our colleagues and visitors is paramount. We are monitoring advice from the Government and the World Health Organisation, and reviewing our plans daily.

We are following the guidelines and advice that is being constantly updated by our governing bodies as well as Public Health England/Wales.

However we do ask that if your or any of your family members are feeling unwell to follow government advice and contact us to rearrange your appointment as soon as possible.

For further Government and NHS advice from on symptoms and self-isolation click on the links below:

NHS Advice: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

GOV.UK Advice: https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response 

Whilst we are always hygiene conscious at TWC, we are stepping up our measures in clinic to ensure the safety of our patients, staff and the general public.

As always, we are :

• Ensuring to disinfect the bench and change head roll in between every patient.
• Wash our hands and use hand sanitiser between each patient contact or wearing disposable gloves that are changed for each patient.
• Hand sanitiser and tissues are available to use for all our patients in reception and the treatment rooms.

However we will now also be:

• Leaving 15 minutes gaps between appointments to avoid patients having to use the waiting area and giving us plenty of time to clean.
• Regularly disinfecting door handles, surfaces, taps and our payment terminals in between patients.
• Asking patients to touch as little equipment as possible when in clinic.
• No longer shaking hands with you all.
• Asking that you chose to pay with card rather than cash where possible.
• We will not be charging any late cancellation fee's to those who call to us with less than 24 hour notice as they need to self-isolate and recover.
• Taking our patients temperatures to assist with public health screening.
• Spacing chairs in our waiting area to assist social distancing.

Any concerns you may have regarding your appointment you can contact us on 02920 617700 or email info@thewhitchurchclinic.co.uk 

These are a rare type of headache that affects about 1 to 2 people in every 1,000. Onset is normally between 20-40 years of age, and they are 3-4 times more common in men than women. Approximately 1 in 20 people with cluster headache have a family member who also has the condition. Unlike migraine, it is more common in men than women (by five to six times). It is also more common in heavy smokers. As with all forms of headache, cluster headache occurs in children but it is less common than in adults.

The symptoms of cluster headache are characterised by unilateral (one sided) pain, although the affected side may vary each cluster period. The pain is usually centered over one eye, temple or forehead, and can even be a combination of all or spread to other regions making diagnosis difficult. They usually last 15-180 minutes, and can occur from once every other day to up to 8 times a day. Pain is often characterised as excruciating.

Attacks can be associated with one or more of the following, on the same side of the face as the headache:

• conjunctival injection (redness of the white sclera of the eye)
• lacrimation (tears)
• nasal congestion
• rhinorrhoea (runny nose)
• forehead and facial sweating
• miosis (constricted pupil)
• ptosis (drooping eyelid)
• oedema (swelling)

During a bout of cluster headache the pain is often experienced at a similar time each day. The headache often starts at night, waking people one to two hours after they have gone to sleep. The pain usually reaches its full intensity within 5 to 10 minutes, and lasts at this agonising level for between 30 and 60 minutes.

Episodic cluster headache

80% of cluster headache attacks occur in periods lasting 7 days, to 1 year, separated by pain-free periods of 1 month or longer. The bouts (or “clusters”) often occur at the same time of year, and can then disappear for several months or even years. The reason for this seasonal timing is not completely known, although it is one of the key aspects of diagnosis, and may involve a brain area called the hypothalamus.

Chronic cluster headache

The remaining 20% of people do not have these pain free intervals, and are said to have “chronic cluster headaches”. Attacks occur for more than 1 year without remission or with remissions lasting less than 1 month.

There is no special test to diagnose cluster headache, diagnosis is based on your of all your symptoms, and you may be referred for an MRI scan to rule out other causes for the pain starting suddenly.

• Alcohol is one well known trigger of cluster headache, often bringing on the pain within an hour of drinking. Avoid alcohol during a cluster period once the bout is over you will be to drink alcohol again.
• A significant number of people find that strong smelling substances such as petrol, paint fumes, perfume, bleach or solvents can trigger an attack. During an episode of cluster headaches you should try to avoid these things.
• Some people find exercise or becoming over heated will bring on an attack, so again avoiding these is the best advice during a bout.
• Research has showed that heavy smokers are at an increased risk of developing chronic cluster headache so giving up smoking or cutting down is worth considering.

Whilst there is currently no cure for cluster headache, the treatment has become much more effective in the last 10 years.

Acute treatment

Quick treatment is key.  Ordinary painkillers that you can buy over the counter are not usually effective, as they take too long to work. Oxygen is one of the safest ways to treat cluster headache. You need to breathe the oxygen in at a rate of between 7 and 12 litres per minute. The treatment usually starts to work within 15 to 20 minutes. For some people the attack is delayed rather than stopped altogether. Your GP will be able to order oxygen for you.

Sumatriptan injections have been found to reduce the pain within 10 minutes during an attack. Sumatriptan and zolmitriptan nasal sprays do help some people, although the onset of action maybe slower than the injection.

Preventative treatment

The most common preventative treatments are medication based.  The migraine trust website gives further details of specific medications.  Also avoid triggers as much as possible. The migraine trust gives further details on medications or see your GP.

Information cited from:

https://www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/types-of-migraine/other-headache-disorders/cluster-headache/

http://ihs-classification.org/en/02_klassifikation/02_teil1/03.00.00_cluster.html

As with any new symptoms it is always important to visit your GP or Chiropractor to rule out any other disorders before reaching a diagnosis yourself.

These headaches are very common and because they happen regularly, often people refer to them as "just a normal headache". However headaches usually happen for a reason, and for many people chiropractic treatment can be a very effective way of treating these headaches. It is one of the most common types of headache that we see as chiropractors see, and they can be very severe, and often have a profound effect on the lives of sufferers. 

A cervicogenic headache is caused by referred pain from the soft tissues and joints of the neck. When these structures are inflamed often a headache will result. Headaches generated by muscular trigger points are classified as 'regional pain syndrome', and very much overlap with these type of headaches.

The neck has a number of nerves that travel over the skull and if these nerves are irritated they will refer pain to various locations. Pain may radiate to the forehead (frontal region), the eyes (orbital region), the temple, and the ears.

Signs of cervicogenic headache are:

• Pain around neck or base of the skull, may project to other areas of the head
• Pain aggravated by specific neck movements
• Restricted neck movement
• Tenderness of neck muscles
• Abnormal posture

The current theory is that they can be caused by abnormal movements or posture of the neck; osteoarthritis/spondylitis; or even post-whiplash injury.  All can lead to restriction of the joints, particularly the upper neck at the base of the skull. Occasionally the headache can be aggravated by neck movement and muscular trigger points as detailed above.

Chiropractic treatment for cervicogenic headaches is very similar to that of tension type headaches. These headaches can be tough to manage as many of the factors that cause the headaches in the first place are external, i.e. posture or sleeping position. Chiropractors can help through:

• Soft tissue massage
• Trigger point therapy
• Acupuncture/dry needling
• Spinal manipulation/mobilisation
• Home exercises/stretches
• Ergonomic and postural advice

Other treatments that might help with headaches available at TWC:

• Hypnotherapy for stress management and help reduce tension
• Deep tissue massage to help release trigger points
• Diet advice for food intolerances/allergies i.e. gluten or dairy

This website provides links to multiple recent studies in to the affectiveness of chiropractic and the treatment of cervicogenic headaches:

http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/headache.shtml#Cervicogenic

A 2005 article reviews the diagnosis and treatment of cervicogenic headaches:

http://jaoa.org/article.aspx?articleid=2093083

As with any new symptoms it is always important to visit your GP or chiropractor to rule out any other disorders before reaching a diagnosis yourself.

This is the most common type of primary headache: its lifetime prevalence in the general population ranges in different studies from 30 to 78%. A number of studies have appeared after the first edition of The International Classification of Headache Disorders that strongly suggest a neurobiological basis (coming from the nervous system), at least for the more severe subtypes of tension-type headache (TTH).

The most common triggers of TTH reported are anxiety, emotional stress, depression, poor posture, and lack of sleep, although the evidence for each of these (except stress) is poor. Physical exhaustion is also a common cause of TTH, so make sure you are getting enough sleep! 

If you have TTH, it will produce a mild to moderate pain, whereas the pain of migraine can reach disabling severity. Normal movement during everyday activities shouldn’t aggravate it, unlike a migraine, which can be aggravated by movement. There is an overlap in the triggers of migraine and TTH, as both may be brought on by stress or tiredness. Head and neck movements are important triggers in patients with TTH, whereas hunger and odour were significantly common triggers in migraine.

Tension headaches are divided in to episodic and chronic. Episodic tension-type headache is further categorised into infrequent and frequent subtypes.

Episodic infrequent – They occur less than once per month, so between 10 and 12 times per year.

Episodic frequent - At least 10 episodes occur for 1-15 days per month, for at least 3 months.

Chronic or New Daily Persistent Headache - Last more than 15 days per month on average, for more than 3 months. Can last for hours or may be continuous.

The pain is typically bilateral (right and left), pressing or tightening in quality, and of mild to moderate intensity, and does not worsen with routine physical activity such as walking or climbing stairs. There is no nausea, but photophobia (light) or phonophobia (sound) may be present. 

Over the counter medication, such as Aspirin or paracetamol, does help some sufferers, but long term use is not advised due to the wider problems prolonged taking of these drugs has on your body. Paracetamol overuse can even cause headaches when you stop taking them, due to withdrawal.

Chiropractic may be able to help if your headaches are caused by trigger points in the neck or jaw that refer pain to the head, which can amalgamate to feel like a tight band. A trial treatment period of 3-4 sessions will give you a good indicator of how effective management will be. Treatment can involve:

• Soft tissue massage
• Trigger point therapy
• Acupuncture/dry needling
• Spinal manipulation/mobilisation
• Home exercises/stretches
• Ergonomic and postural advice

Research looking into the efficacy of chiropractic and the treatment of tension type headaches are available at:

http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/headache.shtml#Chronic_Tension

Information cited from:

https://www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/types-of-migraine/other-headache-disorders/cluster-headache/

http://ihs-classification.org/en/02_klassifikation/02_teil1/03.00.00_cluster.html

As with any new symptoms it is always important to visit your GP or Chiropractor to rule out any other disorders before reaching a diagnosis yourself.