So many people we see struggle with the effects of poor sleep, so, in aid of National Sleep Awareness Week, we thought this would be an excellent topic to talk about! A good night's sleep is as vital to your health as eating the right things and exercising. Your physical and emotional wellbeing depends on getting enough, yet we're living in sleep-deprived times. Some people like to be competitive about how much sleep they get, like being sleep deprived is a badge of honour, but it's not good for our bodies. Scientists say we're now getting an hour or two less sleep each night than we were some 60 years ago. Each person has different needs when it comes to how much sleep we need. We should be waking up feeling refreshed in the morning, and the ability to wake without an alarm is a good indicator that you're getting enough sleep. If you don't get enough sleep, you may be irritable or agitated, be unable to concentrate properly, have blurred vision, be clumsy and disorientated or slow to ...

Spring and summer are a wonderful time of year. Back are the lighter nights that provide us with beautiful displays of colour as the sun sets. Nature wakes up from the long winter months; birds sing, and animals start to shed their thick winter fur. Trees and plants finally begin to grow leaves again and start flowering as the weather warms up, but alas, this means only one thing for some of us: Hayfever. Hayfever is an allergic reaction by the body to the inhaled dust and pollen from trees, flowers and grasses that causes the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose to inflame and causing running of the eyes and nose; and let me tell you, it's downright miserable! The most common Hayfever symptoms include:• A runny nose• Red and itchy eyes• Scratchy or sore throat• SneezingWe can also experience wheezing and shortness of breath alongside the above symptoms. Almost all sufferers have generalised feelings of fatigue, much like a cold is beginning.How long do the symptoms last for?For some ...

​We all look forward to going on holiday, often we've had it planned for months. The last thing you want is for back pain to ruin it for you. We all try hard to avoid doing anything to aggravate existing injuries, but when you're out of your usual routine – i.e. travelling, sleeping in a different bed and sitting for long periods – back pain can play havoc for you. To help you plan ahead, have a read of these hints and tips and make sure your holiday is happy and healthy! Before You Go:• Suitcase selection - buy the lightest case possible and ensure that it has wheels; hard cases can sometimes weigh a lot before you even start to fill them with travel essentials.• Two cases are better than one - you can distribute the weight more easily and equally.• Push your case, don't pull! Pulling cases makes the upper body and back twist to one side. If possible, push the case in front of you.• Get a good night's sleep. Travelling when tired increases your chances of injury, ensure you sleep well...

It's no surprise that sports injuries go hand in hand with participating in our chosen sports, but did you know that osteopathy can play a key part in keeping you fit and functioning at full capacity? We often (mistakenly) hear that osteopaths can't treat sports injuries and that the athlete needs to see a sports massage therapist or a physiotherapist, but you may be surprised to find out that when it comes to sports injury treatment osteopaths can hold their own! Here at Nene Valley Osteopathy, we work with many sports players from all disciplines and levels with great results. Osteopathy not only looks at the injury and how that itself can be improved but also assesses your general health and how your body performs to treat you accordingly. Similar to a Sports Massage Therapist, we can use a variety of soft tissue techniques including massage and trigger point therapy plus some specialised extras like mobilisation, stretching and manipulation (the 'clicking') which, together with oth...

We commonly see patients in clinic presenting with sciatic pain that is often described as a deep, gnawing pain from the back or the buttock and into the back or side of the leg that is sometimes electric, shooting or stabbing. It can occur without lower back pain, and sometimes it can cause a limp when walking. Sciatica is a very painful condition that can be grouped with a family of pains called neuralgia. Neuralgia literally means "pain with a neurological cause", or pain that is due to nerve problems – but that's not enough to make a diagnosis. We commonly see many primary health care practitioners use the phrase 'sciatica' as a diagnosis, but the word sciatica merely means the patient has pain in the leg, rather than be a proper analysis of the cause of the pain. To get to the root cause of the pain, we need to look at what can cause sciatica? Is all sciatica the same? Several different things can cause sciatica. Possibly the most common cause of sciatica is when one of the nerve ...

 A question we hear time and time again, but it's a very valid one and can be a little complicated too, so please bear with us, and we'll try and demystify it for you. Osteopathy, Chiropractic and Physiotherapy all fall under the umbrella term of Manual Therapies. This means we all use hands-on, or manual, techniques to help treat and prevent pain, along with exercise rehabilitation. The way in how we apply those techniques differ slightly which is often where the confusion lies. Osteopaths use hands-on manipulation techniques that include a combination of muscle work (such as massage, stretching and exercise rehab) alongside joint mobilisations (taking the joint through its natural range of movement and encouraging stiff joints to work better) and spinal manipulations that can involve clicking and cracking. The intention is to improve joint mobility, release muscle tension, improve circulation and to promote healing. Osteopaths also seek to improve the patient's posture which can...