Patients often complain of pins and needles or numbness in their hands, often accompanied by neck pain. One of the most common causes is compression of the nerves in the neck.

Although the concept had been around for a long time, it wasn’t until the 1980s that researchers began to formally suggest that certain types of headache were actually being caused by problems in the neck, rather than the skull or brain. They went on to validate this theory by doing experiments where they blocked (numbed) specific nerves at the top of the neck and then noticed that the headaches were relieved.

You might think that spending time in space with no gravity would be a nice rest for your back, but you would be wrong. Studies have shown that over half of US astronauts experience back pain during their missions, and that overall they have more than 4 times the risk of getting herniated discs compared to the general population.

Why Sciatica Recovery Can Be a Slow Road: Understanding the Healing Process

Sciatica is a condition that osteopaths see frequently. It consists of pain, numbness, and/or tingling that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back through the buttocks and down the back of each leg. In some cases, the unlucky person will also experience a weakening of their leg or foot muscles.

Why Sciatica Recovery Can Be a Slow Road: Understanding the Healing Process

Sciatica is a condition that osteopaths see frequently. It consists of pain, numbness, and/or tingling that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back through the buttocks and down the back of each leg. In some cases, the unlucky person will also experience a weakening of their leg or foot muscles.

In my previous blog I talked about the merits of using either paracetamol or ibuprofen for back pain relief. For those people who would like to try natural alternatives to these drugs, today I’m going to highlight two natural pain-killers which have some scientific evidence supporting their use for alleviating back pain.

Paracetamol or Ibuprofen for back pain?

If you have nerve damage and are looking to optimise your recovery, there are a few supplements that have shown promise with regard to either protecting or repairing nervous tissue

Sore jaw after the dentist?

Apple Cider Vinegar

Quite frankly, everyone needs to be filtering their drinking water. Why? Well, to be blunt, the stuff that comes out of your tap includes water that has come out of other people. Our bodies can only metabolise a fraction of most drugs we swallow, so the rest will end up being excreted in urine or faeces, and therefore entering into the wastewater system.

Turmeric is a great natural and inexpensive tonic, exhibiting proven anti-inflammatory effects across the body. Most of the beneficial effects derive from turmeric’s ability to decrease oxidative stress, and as a result, inflammation.

From now on I will be offering a £5 discount on every treatment for cash payers. This means my cash prices will be £50 for new patients and £40 for returning patients.

As a lifelong coffee drinker I’m always watching out for research that justifies my caffeine habit. A recently published study looked at how coffee consumption influenced the health of around half a million people in the UK over a period of 12 years.

Actually, no cardboard box is required, as ‘box breathing’ is just a simple, but powerful technique that can be used to slow your breathing rate, and reduce your stress levels.

When people get stressed, their breathing rate tends to get faster and shallower, and despite this, they actually end up with less oxygen in their bodies. For anyone trying to recover from an illness or injury, maximising the amount of oxygen getting to your tissues is very important.

Chronic pain is classified as any pain that has persisted for more than 3 months, and is often encountered by osteopaths when they work with their patients. In the case of back pain, often the original injury may have resolved, and the spine may be moving well again, yet some pain stubbornly remains.

Red light therapy has been shown to reduce inflammation and promote healing in bones, muscles and tendons.