New Book Out Soon!
My Book on Low Back Pain.
I am excited to say I have written a book on low back pain which should be out in the next few weeks. My website low-back-pain.co.uk has more information but the book shows people exercises and things they can do to help their backs.
I was given a preview copy of the book last week so I am just making a few last minute alterations before it is officially published.
The book will be available to purchase from the clinic, the endless bookcase or amazon.
It is important to look not only at how you can improve the physical health of your back but your mental health is extremely important too. Addressing factors in your life such as stress or doing too much can be just as important in your recovery.
‘Communication is key when it comes to ensuring that patients are able to access clear and reassuring information, this resource simply explains to patients how they might best understand their back pain.’
President of the British Chiropractic Association Catherine Quinn.
I will be holding a launch party soon so watch this space.
We’re in the Final!!!
Best Business Women Awards 2018 Finalists announced.
The Best Business Women Awards have announced their finalists today for 2018. The business world is full of talented and dedicated female entrepreneurs who not only run successful businesses but in many cases also juggle the needs of their families. The Best Business Women Awards are designed to recognise the achievement of those women across a wide range of business categories and is open to any female business owner UK wide.
Local businesswoman Louise Hampton from Attend2Health has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Health and Wellness and Customer service categories. Louise stated ‘I am so excited to be shortlisted in two categories this year. Not only is the clinic up for the award of Best Health and Wellness Clinic but also for the Best Customer Service. We really try our best to provide the greatest experience for our patients and it is so nice when this is recognised.’
Debbie Gilbert, organiser of The Best Business Women Awards said ‘Now in our 4th year we have seen the number of entries triple since we launched. The standard of our finalists is exceptionally high. We are delighted to receive entries from female entrepreneurs from throughout the UK, from women who are real trailblazers in their industry. This is a tough competition judged by business experts. To be a finalist is a major achievement. Finalists have been selected for their business acumen, determination, creativity and tenacity. Almost 90% of start-ups fail in the first 3 years and all our finalists are all shining examples of being successful entrepreneurs who have proved their success to our judges.’
The gala final of The Best Business Women Awards will be held on 11th October 2018 at Tewin Bury Farm, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, the winners will be announced at the final.
Understanding pain…
Pain is a symptom we are still trying to understand. At a cellular level nerve cells called neurons transmit impulses down a nerve. The inside of the cell is usually negatively charged however, when an impulse is sent from a cell body, sodium ions flood into the cell and the impulse is transmitted down the nerve through a series of action potentials. Usually neurons do not fire an action potential unless stimulated to do so.
When a nerve is injured however, it can repeatedly fire and become hypersensitive. Or it can sit just under the threshold, so that the slightest thing makes the neuron fire, such as a small movement, extra stress or heat.
Many things play a part in the pain process. You may have pain in your leg one hour but not the next. Or sometimes you can be tickled and sometimes not. There are so many things that can affect the outcome.
Pain can be seen as a circular model, where the pain can start anywhere along the circle and can be changed by the different inputs and feedback. The following figure shows how so many things impact pain.
Due to the circular nature this is how chronic pain can ensue long after a tissue injury. Not only do you need to look at healing the physical injury, stress and your mental health can also have an affect on pain. Things like doing meditation or mindfulness can really help pain levels as well as addressing any tension in muscles such as trigger points. Massage or using a massager can really help to reduce these.
To book a free chat or for more information call 01763 878087.
Things that might aggravate your back…
Low back pain is a symptom and is usually taken to be where you are getting the pain, from the lower rib margins to the buttock creases and can also include pain into one or both legs or include neurological symptoms in the lower limbs. It is rarely possible to find the main cause of the low back pain. Low back pain tends to have many dimensions from the biophysical component to the psychological and then the social impact as well.
Risk factors for reporting low back pain:
- Diabetes and chronic conditions
- Smoking
- Low levels of physical activity
- Being Overweight
- Physically demanding job
- Genetic predisposition
- Being tired
- Suffering from anxiety or depression
Information taken from Lancet low back series working group, 2018.
If you experience back pain it is important to look at what you do in your everyday life that might be aggravating your back.
- Do you spend a lot of time sitting?
- Do you have to carry heavy loads?
- Do you have to bend a lot?
- Do you spend a lot of time driving?
- Are you overweight?
- Do you sleep on your front?
- Do you look after small children?
- Have you had an accident or jarred your back in the past?
- Do you play any impact sports?
- No time for myself?
- Am I stressed?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, that might be what is contributing to your back pain. See if you can make little changes to your life to help your back. Doing some exercise like pilates or tai chi could help strengthen your back and enable it to cope with everyday tasks.
For more information or to book a free chat call 01763 878087 today.
What is sciatica?
Ever wondered what sciatica actually is?
Sciatica is usually the name given when the sciatic nerve is irritated or compressed in some way, causing pain down the back of the leg where the sciatic nerve runs. There are lots of different causes of sciatica but the main ones are either a disc pressing on one of the nerve roots or piriformis syndrome where the piriformis muscle presses on the sciatic nerve.
Here is a picture showing where the sciatic nerve runs and why pain, tingling or numbness can be felt all the way down to the foot.
Is a disc involved?
A disc would affect a nerve as it leaves the spine and depending on how much the disc is bulging effects how far down the leg the pain is felt. Discs can also cause weakness in the muscles and the loss of reflexes. If you ever experience pain down both legs with problems going to the toilet you must seek medical attention as soon as possible as it could be something called cauda equina.
The piriformis muscle
This next diagram shows where the piriformis is and how close it lies to the sciatic nerve. Therefore if this muscle is in spasm it is more likely to affect the sciatic nerve.
If you suffer from pain in the back or leg why not give us a call and see if we can help. We can do some orthopaedic tests to help us work out where your pain is coming from and the bast way to treat it. You will then know how to manage your pain and how to prevent it coming back with advice on the best exercises to do along with treatment such as massage if a muscle like the piriformis is involved or treatment to reduce the inflammation in the spine.
To book your free chat call 01763 878087.
Results of our survey…
At attend2health we like to make sure we are doing all we can to help our patients and to make improvements where we can. We really appreciate the feedback our patients give us and recently we conducted a survey which 100 people filled out.
I wanted to share just some of the results:
We were pleased to see that between 80-90% of the patients surveyed rated the practitioner as excellent in how they listened and explained what was wrong.
It was also good to see that patients could understand their problem better and could cope better after seeing the chiropractor or other practitioner.
We also received some really lovely comments. We are very proud of our clinic and how hard we all work to help our patients.
If you are in pain and would like to chat to someone about how we could help, give us a call on 01763 878087. We look forward to hearing from you.
5 Reasons you should have a Sports Massage…
Did you know a Sports Massage isn’t just for sporty people? Anyone can have a sports massage, it just means the therapist is trained to a high level and here’s 5 reasons why you should have one:
- To relax. The stresses of everyday life can take their toll on our bodies without us realising it and it is very easy for the tension to build up in our bodies. A massage is a great way to help us relax.
- To restore balance to the body. If you are right handed say you may use you right hand more than your left causing an imbalance in the muscles with a massage can help address.
- A massage can highlight any potential problems and therefore help prevent an injury.
- Improve the circulation – a massage stimulates blood flow to the body.
- Helps your mental well-being. A massage makes you feel good and is a great way to de-stress.
Natalie Pettitt Sports Massage Therapist
Here’s a testimonial from a patient explaining why she likes to have a massage.
Have you seen our testimonials?
At attend2health the main thing we are concerned about is helping people get better. We want to provide the best service possible and strive to do this everyday. We hold group training sessions to learn from each other and discuss any tricky cases with the patients permission. By working so closely together we feel we can provide the best service for our patients.
We have questionnaires for patients to fill in to make sure we are doing all we can to help and love it when we also get testimonials from patients saying how well they are doing. Currently there are 54 reviews on google which can be seen here.
We also have 51 reviews on Facebook and 20 on Whatclinic.com
A couple of patients have given us a video testimonial which is great for other people to hear their experiences. One can be seen here.
If you experience any aches or pains don’t wait for them to get worse call us today on 01763 87 80 87 and see how we can help. We are open 7 days a week to make it easier to get an appointment around work.
Doctor of Chiropractic Louise Hampton – My Story
From a young age I knew I wanted to help people. When I was 15 I went to observe a Chiropractor and was very impressed by the results she was getting. People were very happy with the treatment and I thought I want to do this.
It takes 4 years to train as a Chiropractor plus you then must do a post graduate diploma to then call yourself a Doctor of Chiropractic. It was a tough course but very enjoyable as you knew everything you were learning you needed to know.
After I qualified I first set up a clinic with a friend in Birmingham. We rented two rooms in a health clinic and did really well.
I then decided I would really like to relocate back to Hertfordshire where I grew up so I sold my share of the clinic and started the clinic in Buntingford Herts.
It was daunting setting up a clinic on my own. I was 26, had just got married and was now trying to relocate our house and businesses. I found a shop for rent in Buntingford and it was perfect. We could fit 3 treatment rooms into the building so there was room to grow.
To start with times were hard especially as I had my first child in 2009 just over a year since I had started the clinic so it was not the best time to have to take on an associate. For the next couple of years we made a loss and I remember thinking how long can I go on like this. I knew it had the potential to be successful but trying to juggle children as well was very hard. I am so glad that I stuck at it and over time the clinic started to grow. In 2010 I was awarded a Fellow by the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) for the work I had done on the BCA Council.
I was very keen that the clinic had to give patients the best possible experience. I wanted to make sure patients were given a lot of time to discuss their problems and that we could give treatment and exercises without feeling rushed. Patient satisfaction is so important to me.
Now I have a wonderful team of practitioners and receptionists providing the best experience possible for our patients. Everyone is passionate about helping people and we all work so well together. I am so proud of my clinic.
Chiropractor wins Award!
Attend2health is very pleased to announce we have been awarded Best Chiropractic Clinic in East Herts by GHP Private Healthcare Awards 2018.
To win this award patients voted for us and we also had to submit evidence of why we deserved to win this award. This was done back in November and we are so grateful to everyone who took the time to vote for us.
This was my post back in November!
Once all our evidence was also submitted the entries were judged and we found out recently that we had won Best clinic in East Herts! It was lovely to be recognised for all our hard work.
Discussing the success of their winners, Sam Jordan-Turner, GHP Awards Coordinator commented: “As the industry is filled with individuals, teams and companies, we recognise and support all who work tirelessly to provide the best practice and innovation as they strive to provide the highest levels of compassion transforming healthcare for the better. As such, I am proud of the success of all of my winners and I wish them the very best of luck for the future.”
GHP prides itself on the validity of its awards and winners. The awards are given solely on merit and are awarded to commend those most deserving for their ingenuity and hard work, distinguishing them from their competitors and proving them worthy of recognition.
Attend2Health is very proud that it can help so many people and our 50 Five Star Reviews on both Google and Facebook show how well received we are in the community.
We strive to do the very best we can for our patients. The Clinic was 10 years old back in October and is going from strength to strength with a wonderful team of practitioners. With a staff of 15 people at Attend2Health all working together if one treatment type is not suitable there are many more to try.
Louise explained that when the clinic started in 2007 we were just coming into a recession and times were tough. By concentrating on providing the best possible service the clinic has been able to come through the hard times and flourish into a fantastic place helping to ease peoples pain and provide them with a better quality of life.
If you would like to know more about what we do or how we could help, give the clinic a call on 01763 878087 and book a free chat with one of our practitioners. We look forward to speaking to you.