If you are full of excuses about the dark, cold, rain and just cant get off the couch or away from your computer….. like now.  Hiring an exercise bike or treadmill may get you through the winter without putting on too much extra padding.  Arrange a schedule that means you go to bed earlier, wake up an hour earlier and get on the machine in the comfort of your own home before the kids get out of bed or your have to get to work etc.  Dont let the equipment become another clothes horse or breadmaking machine… if you know what I mean.   Come spring you will notice the extra energy of not having those extra winter kilos and eat a good diet.

What is a healthy diet??  What are you eating, what did you eat for breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner.  Keep a journal for a week or more include all your intake of drinks, food, snacks and treats.  Lets have a look and see if you are eating everything you require for your body to function properly.  These organs we have do the best they can, the inherent homeostatic mechanism will do its uttmost and your brain will get as much nutrient as you can give to it to function.  The sugar rushes, caffeine spikes, alcohol binges all pay their toll on our fragile system.  Eating foods that create a better balance to acids, sugars, toxins and lack of movement can help your tissues recover and you will feel better.

Foods our liver loves are rich in colour, Beetroot, sweet potatoe, carrots, greens, dandelion.  Foods to help nutralize our acid diets are cucumber, vegetables, bitters and Low GI foods help reduce the sugar spikes.  Green Tea helps tendons repair and is a good antioxidant also aids in preventing mental decline.  Eggs and sprouts are foods that have excellent source of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals needed to help cell balance.

Good fats and Oils are really important for every cell in the body the brain and nerves need really good oils.  Plants and fish are great natural ways to get oils such as nuts and uncooked grains, deep sea fish, flaxseeds etc. 

Dont overheat any oil it will burn and turn into a bad one we use rice bran oil or butter for stirfries and then toss through out good virgin oils at a lower temperature.

Salt is needed preferably iodised we need iodine.  Look how we have missed out on the sun over here in Australia and all deficient in Vitamin D.!!!  Eat as well as you can and fuel this vehicle you have through life like a premium racing car.

If you have had any previous sporting or dance injury get checked out first by your health professional before starting any new type of exercise.  If you can hop comfortably on each leg with good balance and stability and jump high with both legs from a bent knee position without pain you may be ready to get your legs and lower limb into a bit of fun with Zumba.  This is the new (ish) dance exercise craze that is fun and starting up in groups all around the community.   Search for a qualified instructor under Zumba Australia and start having some fun exercise. 

If you have upper limb, neck and shoulder pain or previous injury once again this may not be the best place for you to start.  Rehabilitate your old injuries first with a qualified health professional so you can join in a group exercise.

It can be best to get one on one care to start with, such as Osteopathic treatment or try Pilates with a qualified instructor in a one instructor to three client sessions.  The ratio is safer to help rehabilitation than in big groups of Zumba frenzy fun if you are in pain or have a previous injury.

At best spring is here – longer days, more sun and a great time to get into exercise.  Walking is the best form of exercise that is free and benefits your whole body.  Start walking 45 mins, three times a week and feel the benefits really fast!

Habits formed by the way we sit cross legged cause a twist in the spine known as a ‘scoliosis’.  A side bending of the low back and a rotation of the pelvis can eventually lead to postural back strain and pain.  There are other causes of scoliosis that can be genetic or a result from a short leg deformity for example. 

Straightening up your seated posture could make a big difference to your back pain, pelvic mechanics and help your bodily functions such as bowel motions and period pain. 

Try crossing your legs the other less natural way for 30 seconds, then return to the middle and sit in a neutral symmetrical position.  Do this every time you catch yourself crossing your legs at work, school or sitting at home.

We can help you by assessing your lower limb biomechanics and checking for pelvic torsions to help prevent low back pain and dysfunction in the pelvis.

Pamela Dennis and Alira Heaney are fully qualified, enthusiastic and loyal Osteopaths working to provide the best possible care and management of your body.

Due to committments Kate Locke has chosen to move away from Hobart.  She has been working for 2.5 years since she graduated at North Hobart Osteopathy on-and-off, amongst her travels overseas to places like the UK, India, Phillipines and most recently to Port Douglas and north QLD. 

We have really appreciated having Kate helping out our patients and giving them the best possible Osteopathic Care.  We wish her well in her Future.

We have moved to our new address, which offers easy access and plenty of parking in the street.  The bus stops straight across the road and North Hobart shopping is very close by for convenience.

It is a very busy time of year and with spring now upon us, it is time to get out those walking shoes, rain coats and get moving some of the winter plumage that kept us warm the past few months.

Now is a good time to think about a detox of the stomach, bowell and liver.  Take it easy and start to cut down on the caffeine, sugar, alcohol and fats.  Start taking some probiotics, inner health, yoghurts and fermented foods.  Eat plenty of beetroot it is in season and is really good for your liver.  Drink a few cups of green tea a day to increase your metabolism and anti-oxidize some of the fat stores.

We look forward to giving you more advice over the next few months to help get you moving and exercising over Summer!

Do you wake up with a crooked neck and feel like your arms and hands aren’t there?  Well, maybe it is your pillow, your muscles or joints and the amount of wine you had after dinner.  We often see people with neck pain with or without arm pain or headache, often called referred or associated pain.  Sometimes it is the way we sleep, but not that often, a contour pillow maintains its shape as we toss and turn at night so that our neck is supported a bit more with cushioning in the nape of your neck.  This does have its pitfalls because not everyone has the same size shoulder width and when on your back you need a lower support.   This is why I have recommended the Dentons Caress pillow for years and also the Dentons High profile for those of us with broad shoulders.  I wont be without mine. 

There are other pillows such as memory foam, feather down and flat pillows for laying on your back.  The truth is we do move alot in our sleep and you will have to mold your pillow regularly through the night to maintain a good neck position.

There are conditions that aggravate the inflammatory mediators in your body such as inflammatory arthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis and other joint problems following sudden trauma such as ‘whiplash’ or chronic postural strain from poor seated or work related posture.  These are a few which it is always best to get checked out  by a medical professional such as your Osteopath or GP etc.

Now I mentioned earlier that the wine may make it all worse, well sorry for saying it but a standard drink is very small and 1-2 standard drinks 3 times a week is considered enough, more than this and “Housten we have a problem!”  The inflammatory mediators are triggered, your liver heats up and your neck is stiff for various mechanical and neurological reasons and often the right side of your neck and shoulder.  We also sleep alot heavier when intoxicated after 3 standard drinks for women and 5 for men, which could mean that the sleeping posture is not changed as often and you could end up compressing your neck joints for too long in one position.  Not to mention the people who fall asleep sitting watching TV, head dangles as the beer dribbles down the side of the lazy boy.  I’ve seen them!   Stiff neck sure and this is not just arthritis. 

Come and see us and we can try and get the right pillow for you and make your neck more bearable.  This weekend go for a 30 minute walk in the sun, at least!

After 10 years in the Palfreyman’s Arcade we have moved around the corner to:

385 Argyle St, North Hobart.

Phone and contact details will remain  (03) 6234 5510    New!  FAX:  (03) 6234 5514

Mobile: 0417 515 554 

Located Near the North Hobart Football Oval and Rydges Hotel.  Look for sign saying OSTEOPATH on the red brick building.  Enter down the right hand side and in the back of the house.  We are here from 18th July 2010 and will continue to offer our existing services.

New site for North Hobart Osteopathy

Our Osteopaths

From left to right:

Alira Heaney, Pamela Dennis and Kate Locke.

To find out more about us check out the page on Our Osteopaths which will be updated very soon.

We all wish you a great start to summer next week and a great festive season.  Kate will be away for the Christmas break and returning in Feb 2010.

The clinic will be open over Christmas and New Year holiday time both Pam and Alira are available for appointments through this time.

       We look forward to having a great festive time and seeing you healthy and happy in 2010.

People can recover from Disc Injury with limited intervention and at a reasonably low cost. 

Discs are made up of tough fibrous rings of tissue that act as shock absorbers and resist forces that cause stretch to the tissue.  There is a central jelly-like nucleus that hydrates with water overnight while the spine is at relative rest.  This pocket of fluid in the middle of the disc adds height to the space between the bones (vertebral bodies and joints) and helps to resist compressive forces.

Discs begin to show clinical signs of wear and tear after 35 years of age (sometimes earlier) and CT or MRI investigation will confirm this diagnosis.  However the patient may not experience pain or symptoms from compression or wear and tear of the disc until the surrounding nerve endings for pain are stimulated in the surrounding tissues ie: the periosteum, joint capsule, ligament, muscle, bone or connective tissue like the fascia.  Not only can this pain be a localised back pain, the segment of the spine (vertebral level eg Lumbar 5 or L5) that also is innervated by this pain nerve receptor becomes facilitated.  This means that the embryological segment of a sensory pain nerve and all that is connected to this segment of your spine, is activated with pain chemical mediators.  This is how we get referred pain like lumbago, sciatica, leg, foot and or buttock pain from a L5 disc bulge.  These regional symptoms are related by their embryological origin and this is how we perceive pain in other areas of the body with our brain in the central nervous system.   

This is separate from the disc itself or the jelly-like centre (nucleus pulposes) pressing on a nerve root as it leaves the spinal cord.  You may experience symptoms such a pain, pins and needles and / or numbness if a nerve root is being pressed or squashed by the disc material.

First aid for a Disc injury is to reduce the local inflammation and muscle spasm to prevent further injury.  This can be achieved several ways such as positions of comfort, heat, cold packs, anti-inflammatory medication or natural therapies, walking and or rest.  It is not advisable to bed rest for any prolonged period of time for simple low back pain.  Avoid changing your good posture to compensate for the pain as this may cause injury to other areas of your body.

There may be bio-mechanical, bio-chemical and biological influences in the body that can increase your risk of a disc injury and referred pain patterns.  These can be identified with professional advice and individual assessment.  Nobody is identical and we all respond to wear and tear in different ways.

We can help you with advise, treatment, exercise prescription and nutritional information in a consultation.  Let us help you now.