Bespoke Blog

NEW BODY OSTEOPATHY

When you're suffering with injury, aches or pain, life can be a misery. The good news is that we can help.

Whether you're a professional athlete, recreational rider or office worker our team of fully qualified registered osteopaths and massage therapists have the knowledge, skills and resources to reduce pain and make you feel human again.

Formerly based in the Reebok Sports Club, we now work from a specially designed space within Bespoke Cycling in Canary Wharf. Our osteopaths are medically trained to diagnose and treat the cause of your pain, not just the symptoms. Rather than following a set protocol, your treatment will be completely unique to you.

Despite many people's perceptions, we treat a lot more than bad backs! In fact, we tackle a huge range of issues & provide services including:

• Sports injuries
• Back, neck & shoulder problems
• Leg pain & sciatica
• Repetitive strain injuries (RSI)
• Headaches & migraines of muscular & joint origin
• Sports Massage
• Medical Dry Needling
• Foot Clinic
• Goldilocks Pillow Fittings

We are registered with all major insurance companies. If you're receiving treatment through your insurer, we will invoice on your behalf. Simply bring your insurance details and authorisation code to your first session.

New Body Osteopathy is open 6 days a week. For more information on the services we provide and to find out how we can help you, contact us today on 0207 177 0207. We look forward to welcoming you soon and help you to move better, feel better, perform better.

www.newbodyosteo.com

In Depth Guide to Services:

Sports injuries

Sport injuries don't necessarily occur exclusively in sport, but can result from any physical activity. They can impact many different areas on the body and a combination of different tissues, including muscles, tendons, bones or ligaments. The injuries sustained can include ankle sprains, tennis & golfers elbow, knee ligament/cartilage damage, groin strain, Achilles tendonitis, shin splints, labral tears and more.

Usually, sports injuries are a result of severe trauma. However, they can also be caused by inadequate training practices, faulty equipment, poor posture and not warming up or stretching adequately. You can also be predisposed to injury because of poor flexibility, or muscular weakness and fatigue.

Mechanical compensation can also cause sport injury. A good example is a cyclist who is predisposed to a back injury because they have poor hip flexion or weak buttock muscles. This lack of mobility will lead to altered force transference through the tissues of the body, resulting in the greatest amount of pressure occurring in the lower back and placing inordinate strain on that area. By the same token, runners typically get Achilles tendon injuries because their calf muscles are too tight, or foot mechanics are poor.

Most sports injuries manifest themselves in limited movements and sharp pain in the affected area, although some might not be as apparent as others, or may only surface during sport and exercise (a mechanical compensation, for example).

Very often, patients experience long-standing niggles that they do nothing about. These issues go on to become something more significant and patients find they can no longer enjoy sport or a favourite exercise class. It's far better to catch these problems early, before they become more serious. But whenever you seek treatment, osteopathy can make a significant difference. As our patients have discovered, it not only reduces the pain of injuries, but improves performance and prevents further problems arising.

Lower back pain

Lower back pain is normally felt between the top of the buttocks and the lower rib cage and ranges from a mild dull ache to shooting or stabbing pain. It may be a result of a number of conditions, underlying issues (stomach or gynaecological problems, for example) and illnesses, but is usually due to musculoskeletal or 'mechanical' strain to the joints, muscles or nerves. Patients suffering from mechanical lower back pain will normally feel pain on movement and stiffness and restriction in movement, symptoms exacerbated by sitting for long periods or driving.

The treatment required depends on the cause of the lower back pain but, if it's due to mechanical strain, osteopathy can make a huge difference. Get in touch and we will assess whether we can make help with a course of treatment.

Neck pain

Neck pain can radiate from the neck into the shoulders, arms or towards the shoulder blades. The discomfort can include a range of sensations - a dull ache, agonising shooting pains, tingling in the shoulders, arms and hands, as well as headaches, dizziness and nausea. Pain is often worse when turning or bending the neck, and sitting for long periods can also aggravate symptoms.

Neck pain is usually caused by posture-related muscular strain or inflammation of the small joints in your neck. However it can also be brought on by a number of other conditions such as damage to the discs, trapped nerves, 'wear and tear' that occurs in the joints of the neck (a type of arthritis called cervical spondylosis), and whiplash-type injuries that can be triggered by a sudden movement of the neck.

It's always important to seek a professional assessment of your pain, particularly if it's worsening or persistent. If your neck pain turns out to be musculoskeletal (the most common cause), it can be treated effectively with osteopathy.

Shoulder problems

There are many types of shoulder pain. These include impingement or full/partial tears of the rotator cuff tendon, tendonitis, bursitis, and frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis). The most common we see are rotator cuff disorders. The rotator cuff is the group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint, keeping it in the correct position and allowing it to move in a controlled way.

Shoulder pain tends to be worse at night, during activities that involve your arm being above shoulder level - for example, when brushing your hair - or when you move your arm in an arc away from your body.

We also see repetitive strain injuries (RSI), which manifest themselves in pain, aches or tenderness in the shoulders that you notice when carrying out a particular repetitive action. Pain usually occurs on the front and side of your shoulder and may refer down towards the elbow. Without treatment, the symptoms of RSI may eventually become constant and cause longer periods of pain. You may also get swelling in the affected area, which can last for several months.

An accurate diagnosis for shoulder pain is important, so you should book an assessment if the discomfort persists or worsens. If it's appropriate, we can refer patients directly for MRI or ultrasound scan.

Sciatica

Sciatica is a description, rather than an actual diagnosis, and usually refers to pain radiating from the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back into the buttock, down the back of the leg and sometimes further. It is caused by the pinching or irritating of the sciatic nerve, most commonly from a herniated or 'slipped' disc, but also as a result of spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the passage where the spinal cord travels down the spine, and spondylolisthesis, which occurs when a vertebra slips forward and compresses the sciatic nerve. Sometimes the sciatic nerve can simply be reacting to inflammation in that area.

The symptoms can include any or all of the following: back pain on one side, pain in the buttock and the back of the leg, pain in the lower leg and into the foot, and tingling or numbness in the lower leg. There can sometimes be a burning pain in the lower leg and foot. Pain is often made worse by sitting or standing still for long periods of time. Usually leg or buttock pain is worse than the back and sometimes there can even be no back pain at all.

Assessing the cause is the first priority but, in most cases, your sciatic pain can be managed and improved with osteopathy, possibly complemented by lifestyle modifications.

Repetitive strain injuries (RSI)

Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a general term used to describe the pain felt in muscles, nerves and tendons which is caused by repetitive movement and overuse. The term also covers a work-related upper limb disorder, or non-specific upper limb pain.

The condition mostly affects parts of the upper body, such as the hands, wrists, forearms, elbows, neck and shoulders.

RSI pain can be anything from mild to severe and symptoms tend to develop gradually, rather than overnight. People complain of aching, throbbing or tenderness, as well as a tingling, numbing or cramping sensation.

At first, you might only notice symptoms when you're carrying out a particular repetitive action. But without treatment, the symptoms of RSI may eventually become constant and cause longer periods of pain. You may also get swelling in the affected area, which can last for several months. If symptoms persist, book an initial assessment with us.

Headaches & Migraines

The World Health Organisation recently reported that 4 per cent of adults have headache-related disorders with an estimated 190 million days lost from work in the EU alone because of migraine.

Migraine leaves 90 per cent of sufferers unable to perform even the most simple of tasks, disrupting work and family life. It's also an emotional burden. Unless you've had one yourself, you can never understand what it's like to experience a headache on this scale. Problems in the neck can often exacerbate these debilitating headaches.

The neck is key to other common headaches. Cervicogenic headaches (when pain specifically originates from the neck) often result from years of poor posture or postural strain from sitting at a desk. These headaches tend to present initially as pain around the 'suboccipital region', which is around the top of the neck and base of the skull. From here the headaches can be on one or both sides of the head, and commonly travel up towards the eyes, over the top or sides of the head. The headaches often appear on a daily basis, getting worse through the day or with sudden neck movements.

If you're living with chronic headaches, get in touch and we can assess whether osteopathy is a viable treatment.

Sports massage

Sports massage is primarily associated with injury prevention and recovery as a means of optimising performance. But it's not just a treatment for athletes. It's also useful when tackling other problems, including back pain and postural issues - increasingly common complaints among those of us who sit for long periods of time at a desk.

With sports massage, the pressure we apply is generally deeper and combines stretching on specific muscles and surrounding areas. Our sports massage therapists have gone through extensive training in anatomy and physiology and understand the physical demands of competitive sports. They will assess the state of your muscles and design treatment plans to help prevent injury and aid performance and recovery. Alongside more advanced massage techniques, they may also give advice to improve your flexibility, boost performance and recovery.

If your issue is not sports-related but due to a sedentary occupation, we can help tackle those postural imbalances that often lead to muscular strains - stretching short, tight muscles and advising you how to strengthen weak areas.

Medical Dry Needling

Medical acupuncture, which is usually offered as part of an osteopathy treatment plan, is an adaptation of Chinese traditional practices, backed up by the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Medical acupuncture involves the insertion of fine needles through the skin and briefly left in position. Two or three needless are inserted at a time and manual stimulation is applied to assist the process. Acupuncture stimulates the nerves in skin and muscle. Evidence has shown that it increases the body's release of endorphin and serotonin (our natural painkillers) in the pain pathways of the spinal cord and the brain. This changes the way pain signals are received and, as a result, the level to which pain is experienced. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) specifically recommends acupuncture for lower back pain.
Foot clinic

It's hardly surprising that a small problem in your foot can lead to a large amount of discomfort. When walking, over twice your body weight goes through your foot and this happens up to 10,000 times a day (even more when running and jumping). And what begins as foot pain can all too easily lead to issues elsewhere in the body.

The foot's primary function is to absorb impact with the ground, and then to mould to the ground to give you a stable foothold. As this happens, the arch of your foot flattens and your leg rotates inwards. Altered foot mechanics such as fallen arches or rigid big toe (hallux rigidus) can have different impacts on the body. So, for example, if you have flat feet, too much rotation can occur. This results in you adopting a 'knock-kneed' posture. Your legs rotate inwards, your pelvis tips forward and your back over-arches. This could cause foot, calf, knee, hip and lower back pain. Symptoms may even be felt in your upper back or neck.

Initial treatment will include manual therapy, but if your body needs more help, we also tackle foot issues with orthotic devices - shoe inserts that are very effective in providing support to the arch and rebalancing the foot. This helps the foot work more efficiently and takes the strain off the rest of the body. We offer both 'off-the-peg' and custom-fitted orthotics, including devices specifically designed for sports shoes or high heels.

If you'd like to know more about orthotics and how they can alleviate foot-related pain and discomfort, book a consultation with our osteopath Paul Costin.

Goldilocks Pillows

New Body Osteopathy is proud to stock Goldilocks Pillows Ltd, the only company in the UK licensed to use the simplex genius pillow measuring system. A patent-protected measuring system devised by Kulwinder Bajwa, a leading UK consultant osteopath, it's an easy-to-use method that ensures people use the correct height pillow.

The pillows, which come in five different sizes, ensure correct alignment and a superior night's sleep. Once you have been measured, you will know exactly what your pillow size should be. This eliminates guesswork once and for all. Finally, you'll have a pillow that's perfect for you.

For more information, please visit www.goldilockspillows.co.uk