achilles tendonitis

Achilles Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendon in the heel. The Achilles is critical to walking, running, jumping and going up and down stairs. If you have Achilles Tendonitis all of these activities will be painful. Persistent strain causes irritation to the tendon, which may be caused by stiffness in your foot or weakness in your hip. In severe cases this strain may even cause the tendon to rupture. Tight calf muscles and chronic overuse, particularly in runners, may contribute to wear and tear in the tendon.

arthritis

Arthritis is a common condition that causes pain and inflammation in a joint. In the UK, around 10 million people have arthritis. It affects people of all ages, including children. The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

asthma

Asthma is a condition in which your airways narrow and swell and produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. For some people, asthma is a minor nuisance. For others, it can be a major problem that interferes with daily activities and may lead to a life-threatening asthma attack. Asthma can't be cured, but its symptoms can be controlled. Because asthma often changes over time, it's important that you work with your doctor to track your signs and symptoms and adjust treatment as needed.

back pain

Back pain results from a combination of reasons based around poor or sustained posture, a lack of regular exercise, stress, illness, or sports injury. In the back there are a combination of muscles, ligaments, discs, nerves and blood vessels and any one of these structures can become strained or overloaded, resulting in lower back pain.

chronic pain

People with chronic pain often turn to massage therapy to help naturally improve their qualityof life. Most people go to massage therapists to reduce pain. There is a release of serotonin, the body's natural production of anti-pain chemicals. Additionally, an aggravating factor in pain syndromes can be a lack of deep, restorative sleep. Massage is very effective at increasing deep sleep. With more deep sleep, there is less pain.

fibromyalgia

The exact causes of Fibromyalgia are as yet unknown. The experience of people who have undergone dry needling have experienced an improved lifestyle with less fatigue and anxiety and also that manipulative therapy may improve pain relief and combat associated stiffness.

glue ear

Glue ear (also known as secretory otitis media, otitis media with effusion, or serious otitis media) is a very common condition among children. This medical condition predominately occurs in children although it can develop at any age and can affect one or both ears. Glue ear occurs when the middle ear fills with a sticky, glue-like fluid instead of air. This fluid dampens the vibrations made by sound waves as they travel through the eardrum and ossicles. The cochlea in turn receives dampened vibrations, and so the 'volume' of hearing is essentially 'turned down'. This is why glue ear children display symptoms such as dulled or apparent 'selective hearing’.
Remedial Massage, Advanced Remedial Massage and Reflexology are natural remedies for this condition.

headache

A headache is defined as "a pain or ache in the head...It accompanies many diseases and conditions, including emotional distress."Headaches are one of the most common symptoms that can be experienced. Most people will experience a headache at some point of their lives. They can affect anyone regardless of age and gender. Headaches respond well to physical therapy.
Massage Therapy is very effective in soothing headaches along with dealing with the associated problems. Stress Management and lifestyle changes may also be a requirement.

hip & groin pain

Pain may be caused by local structures within or around the hip or groin, or, may be referred from other sources (such as the lower back, pelvis or sacroiliac joint). Sudden onset hip and groin pain often occurs in athletes involved in fast moving change-of-direction sports, kicking sports and those sports which involve rapid acceleration and deceleration (such as football and rugby). The muscles in this area are mainly endurance muscles, built to last indefinitely. However, if they are misused they can become tired and inflamed, resulting in hip joint pain.

irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common, long-term condition of the digestive system. It can cause bouts of stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and/or constipation. The symptoms vary between individuals and affect some people more severely than others. Reflexology and massage are all forms of homeopathy which are known to help and aid the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and combined with regular exercise, can be of real benefit to the sufferer.

jaw pain

The jaw joint, medically referred to as the Temporomandibular Joint or TMJ, is made up of the bone below the mouth (the mandible, commonly referred to as the jawbone) and the bone just above the mouth (the maxilla). The TMJ allows the upper jaw to close on the lower jaw and is one of the most frequently used joints of the body. These are very complex structures and as with any joint, misalignment can occur. These bony structural imbalances occur as a result of faulty posture or trauma.

joint pain

Joints form the connections between bones. They provide support and help you move. Any damage to the joints from disease or injury can interfere with your movement and cause a lot of pain. Many different conditions can lead to painful joints, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bursitis, gout, strains, sprains, and other injuries. Joint pain is extremely common, and it's believed that about one-third of adults report having joint pain within the recent past. Knee pain being the most common complaint, followed by shoulder and hip pain, but joint pain can affect any part of the body, from ankles and feet to shoulders and hands. As you get older, painful joints become increasingly more common.

knee pain

Sudden pain in one of the knees is usually the result of overusing the knee or injuring it. The knee joint is particularly vulnerable to damage and pain because it takes the full weight of your body, and is prone to damage particularly during strenuous activity. You're more likely to experience knee pain as you get older, and people who are overweight or do lots of sports have a higher risk of damaging their knees. Some sports that involve a lot of turning, such as football, netball and skiing, carry a particularly high risk of knee injuries.

migraine

Migraine is a neurological disease characterized by recurrent moderate to severe headaches often in association with a number of autonomic nervous system symptoms. Typically the headache affects one half of the head, is pulsating in nature, and lasts from 2 to 72 hours. Associated symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light, sound, or smell. The pain is generally made worse by physical activity. Up to one-third of people with migraine headaches perceive an aura: a transient visual, sensory, language, or motor disturbance which signals that the headache will soon occur. Occasionally an aura can occur with little or no headache following it.

neck pain

Neck pain is common in people of all ages and is often caused by how we use our necks. Working all day bent over a computer, driving long distances, poor posture while standing or sitting, stress and tiredness are all factors that can cause the muscles in the neck and upper back to become tight and the joints to become stiff which can contribute to ongoing neck pain. Sometimes a nerve in your neck can become irritated or “trapped” and cause pain in the arm going down into your shoulder or the hand, and may be accompanied by pins and needles and numbness. Some headaches can be the result of tension or stiffness in the neck and upper back.

pregnancy related discomfort

Many pregnant women experience back or pelvic pain. Common symptoms may include:
Generalised muscular back pain,
Pain or discomfort in the joint at the front of the pelvis,
Pain occurring in the lower back,
Sciatica and leg pain associated with back pain and rib and thoracic spinal problems leading to breathlessness and difficulty in deep breathing, neck aches and headaches.
Many commonly used medications for these symptoms are often not recommended for a pregnant or breast feeding mother. Osteopathy offers an alternative approach to help you deal with these common conditions.

repetitive strain injury (RSI)

Repetitive strain injury (RSI), which can also be referred to as repetitive stress injury is an umbrella term for a number of specific injuries caused by the repeated movement of a particular part of the body. Specifically, repetitive strain injury is known as an occupational overuse syndrome that affects nerves tendons and muscles.

sciatica

Sciatic pain (often called Sciatica) is inflammation or compression of the sciatic nerve; this is the largest nerve in the body. The sciatic nerve runs all the way down the leg. Symptoms of sciatica may vary depending on where the nerve is compressed.

scoliosis

Scoliosis is the abnormal twisting and curvature of the spine. It is usually first noticed by a change in appearance of the back.

shoulder pain

Shoulder pain can be a result of injury or disease of the shoulder joint. Injury can affect any of the ligaments, bursae, or tendons surrounding the shoulder joint. Injury can also affect the ligaments, cartilage, menisci, and bones of the joint. Common shoulder complaints include frozen shoulder, impingement, shoulder osteoarthritis, dislocation and repetitive strain injury (RSI) of the tendons of the shoulder.

sleep problems

Insomnia is difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep for long enough to feel refreshed the next morning, even though you've had enough opportunity to sleep. Most people experience problems sleeping at some point in their life. It tends to be more common in women and more likely to occur with age. It's difficult to define what normal sleep is because everyone is different. Your age, lifestyle, environment and diet all play a part in influencing the amount of sleep you need.

sinusitis

Sinusitis is a common condition in which the lining of the sinuses becomes inflamed. It's usually caused by a viral infection and often improves within two or three weeks. The sinuses are small, air-filled cavities behind your cheekbones and forehead. The mucus produced by your sinuses usually drains into your nose through small channels. In sinusitis, these channels become blocked because the sinus linings are inflamed (swollen).

sports injuries

Sports Injuries occur in athletic activities. They can result from acute trauma, or from overuse of a particular body part.

stress

Stress is caused by two things. Primarily it is down to whether you think situations around you are worthy of anxiety. And then it's down to how your body reacts to your thought processes. Stress happens when we feel that we can't cope with pressure and this pressure comes in many shapes and forms, and triggers physiological responses. These changes are best described as the fight or flight response, a hard-wired reaction to perceived threats to our survival.

tennis & Golf Elbow

Tennis elbow is a condition that causes pain around the outside of the elbow. It is clinically known as Lateral Epicondylitis. It often occurs after strenuous overuse of the muscles and tendons of the forearm, near the elbow joint.

treatments