Whiplash – a pain in the neck, wallet and much much more

Driving and football: admittedly two very different skills. Yet for me they have a common ground: a very low point scoring history. Great for one but not the other. My annual car insurance premium offer has just come through the letter box this morning and it, much like my past glories of attempting long range…

Some deals not up for debate

Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal was my guilty pleasure in University. An early finish on a Wednesday and home for a fix of Noel Edmunds coaxing people to change their mind over the box with the unknown sum of money inside that they had been randomly allocated. Probability and statistics, calculated risks – so…

Not Lifting: The Real Occupational Hazard

Over Christmas the clinic got a much needed makeover; a fresher look and more space allowing for movement and exercise. As it was Christmas I was also getting in as much family time as possible so had plenty of “help”. By this I mainly mean wiping splashes of paint off the wooden floors (not all…

Room to Improve our message with back pain

My television time is limited. Not by choice. I love a good Netflix binge when the chance arises. But long workings days coupled with a busy family life does not afford me that luxury at present. Yet my Sunday is not complete without catching up with Dermot Bannons latest renovation project. The shows template is…

Media making a Bags of Back Pain

  I opened my Twitter feed one morning last week to one of these sensationalist, scare mongering headlines; the type that health professionals trying to help people overcome pain absolutely loathe. It was an article warning of the long term dangers of school going children carrying heavy school bags and how 1/3 of parents thought their…

A healthy, injury free 2017

Motivation is at an all time high. This is the year (again): ‘Couch to 5k’ programmes, attractive gym offers, adventure races, triathlons, your imminent return to team sport after retiring 5 years ago, another long distance endurance event to chalk off the list. We’re all in the same boat with personal goals whatever they may…

You Deserve Some Truth about Back Pain

I came across a startling statistic recently that surprised and also angered me a little bit, and I’m not easily angered. Only 7% of people who attend their GP with back pain will get referred to a physiotherapist. Now I always struggled a bit with maths but doesn’t that leave 93%? So what happens them?…

Stand up to back pain

– “It hurtsh when I sh!t”. – “Sorry, it hurts when you..?” – “When I sh!t”, he quickly interrupted. “You shee? Like thish”, as Adriaan, an elderly dutchman took his seat in the clinic and continued to describe his low back pain. “It painsh in my shpine when I sh!t like thish”. I suddenly remembered a…

Flossing, Exercise and Chocolate Cake

When I go to my dentist she tells me that I need to floss. I hate flossing. To be honest I don’t floss. Not unless I have an upcoming appointment. Then I do. Vigorously. Now she knows I haven’t been flossing. She’s not a mind reader but there are tell-tale signs. The angry indentations on…

Making Time for Sleep and Recovery

It’s 5:25am and I’m already on my second coffee. The agonising wails of my teething 10 month old has the whole family up an hour already. Proper up. Not to mention attending to two ‘wee-wee’s’ during the night, only one of which was legit. The other was a false alarm or in other words a way of getting…