Great event management can help your health and here's how
At Nicky Snazell Clinic Stafford, we find ourselves treating events staff, exhibitors and conference managers for stress-related issues such as back pain, neck pain, and general niggles, most of which are the result of stress caused by their jobs.
If you are involved with running an event or exhibition, it can be a high-stress situation, one which despite your best efforts is controlled by others. - That is where well-executed event management can help.
So, what should you do?
Firstly, you should carefully select your exhibition partner, someone like Exhibition Designer, custom exhibitions & live events specialists. They take your brief and run it, taking the hassle out of your event management. Event companies like this look after the managed delivery, reducing the stress involved with stand creation. This type of company also understands the best ways to provide breakout areas where event staff and visitors can sit and discuss business in comfortable surroundings.
Secondly, follow Nicky's advice allow yourself to relax emotionally, draw on your spiritual self through the mind and body meditation- It will relieve your anxiousness and negative energy. This kind of self-awareness will make a difference to your output at the event and your health and wellbeing.
Stress and negative energy are dangerous because they affect our bodies physically, upset digestion, which restricts nutrient absorption making us tired, and lethargic and can cause mood swings - all this volatility is not good for our performance.
Headaches, neck stiffness, backache, lots of common issues can be stopped sooner with knowledge and advice. We try to provide this at Nicky Snazell's Pain Relief Clinic because it modifies the causal behaviours that keep a niggle from going away. The mindset of event staff is paramount to stopping this impending stress developing into ongoing issues.
Summary
Think about what you are doing, give yourself time, work with a right exhibition company, remember your mental wellbeing and make time to relax. Stay well hydrated and smile.
We hope that you enjoyed this article and we look forward to hearing how it helped you. Thank you and bye for now.
Dry Needling Is Emerging As An Alternative To
Opioids: Style Magazine Newswire 12/12/2019
Maybe a sports injury is the problem. Maybe arthritis or some other health condition is the culprit. Regardless of the cause, nearly 20 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, worrying every day about flare-ups that interfere with their enjoyment of life. While many people turn to painkillers as their first line of defence, others are finding relief in opioid-free methods, such as dry needling.
“Many people view their pain as being a bad thing in itself, but actually it is nature’s warning system, meant to protect us” says Nicky Snazell, a physiotherapist and author of ‘The 4 Keys To Health’ and other books. “We need to heed that warning and address the real cause of the problem, not just look for ways to mask the symptoms.”
While Snazell says painkillers have their place, she prefers an integrative approach to combating pain, combining the most potent aspects of medicine with complementary therapies. Dry needling is one of the methods she’s a proponent of and regularly practices.
For those unfamiliar, here’s how the Mayo Clinic describes dry needling: A thin monofilament needle penetrates the skin and treats underlying muscular trigger points for the management of neuromusculoskeletal pain and movement impairments.
Snazell practices what is known as the GunnlMS method, which also uses dry needling to treat neuropathic pain.
Some professional athletes, such as NBA star Anthony Davis, have turned to dry needling to help them overcome troublesome conditions such as back spasms.
Research indicates that dry needling improves pain control, reduces muscle tension, and normalises dysfunction of the motor end plates, the sites at which nerve impulses are transmitted to muscles, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. This can help speed up the patients return to active rehabilitation.
“Dry needling is used as part of wider physiotherapy treatment and succeeds where other treatments fail”, says Snazell, who for over three decades has performed dry needling with success on thousands of patients in the UK.
A few points the American Physical Therapy Association says patients should know about dry needling include:
- The technique uses a “dry” needle, one without medication or injection, inserted through the skin into areas of muscle. Other terms commonly used
to describe dry needling include trigger point dry needling and intramuscular manual therapy.
- Although there are similarities, dry needling is not acupuncture, a practice based on traditional Chinese medicine and performed by acupuncturists. Dry needling is based on modern Western-based medicine principles and supported by research. (There has been controversy in this area though,
with acupuncturists in some states trying to block physical therapists from using the procedure, saying they are infringing on the acupuncturists’ turf}.
- Physical therapists who perform dry needling obtain specific postgraduate education and training. When contacting a physical therapist for dry needling treatment, the association says, ask about their specific experience and education.
Beyond dry needling, medication, and other pain relief therapies, Snazell says those battling pain can also ease some of their sufferings through lifestyle changes.
“We need to realise that many causes of pain are self-inflicted and can be easily avoided,” she says. “Find ways to lower your stress level. Change your diet to avoid such things as processed foods and excess sugar. Exercise regularly. All of these activities can play a role in helping you to reduce your pain and get more enjoyment out of life.”
Author, teacher and Harley Street Physiotherapist Nicky Snazell on AACP training.
Over the years, Nicky has developed her own approach and has written five books on this. Central is the use of acupuncture and IMS and in Nicky’s opinion ‘the needle is an essential diagnostic tool’.
The clinic sends the team on AACP foundation and training days, which they find very beneficial. All four of the established physiotherapy team are AACP members and a new member is about to begin her AACP foundation course. Nicky encourages her staff to maintain AACP membership, as she “feels so much support from an organisation that has my back and that of my colleagues”. Nicky also encourages her team to gain valuable CPD via attendance of the AACP conference and courses, which are guaranteed to include evidence-based medical acupuncture.
Nicky still treats patients four or five days a week, using her own approach, which includes skills learnt with the AACP. She is also writing her sixth book specifically for therapists and is offering in-house advanced needling skills internships.
She can sometimes be found offering guest lectures at AACP events.
The Practical Application of Nicky Snazell’s Advanced Needling Skills
Nicky Snazell is one of the worlds leading GunnIMS dry needling practitioners, having reached the highest training level and awarded a fellowship of ISTOP. She has treated thousands of patients over nearly 30 years, taught IMS and presented on pain and health internationally, and written 5 books on pain and health. Nicky is a recognised authority who attracts patients from all corners of the globe.
This internship will take you from previous theory and practical courses in which you were taught WHERE to put needles, to the essential and more important step of WHY and HOW.
Internships will involve one on one with Nicky Snazell, observing while she treats complex neuro-musculoskeletal cases.
She will elaborate on:
- How you diagnose with a needle
- The difference between Eastern-based acupuncture and GunnIMS dry needling
- Physiological theories and anatomical placement of needles
- Provide an initial understanding of the WHY of treating and HOW to mix with Eastern practice.
Nicky will also provide an understanding of how her 4 Keys approach gives a baseline to both assessing the patients healing time, plus the overall health of their immune system. This will guide the most appropriate type and intensity of treatment. In other words, the dosage.
Previous experience required:
- Foundation BMAS or AACP course
- Minimum of 3 years acupuncture practice
- Chartered Physiotherapist or
- Medic with post-graduate training in MSK and acupuncture
Internship days will start at 9:30 am and finish at 3:30 pm, with a 30-minute lunch break (please bring your own lunch), and will be held at Nicky Snazell’s Clinic near Stafford.
Internship cost £250 per day
For more information, please call Nicky Snazell’s Wellness & Physiotherapy Clinic on 01889 881488.
The clinic is in central England and has rapid access to most of the country, with an excellent motorway network nearby. Stafford is only 1hr 15min by train from London.
Back pain is the most common cause of disability, so how do you get back pain relief?
In this page, we look at back pain relief and how this effects you. We also discuss the best solutions and make recommendations for those who are suffering. There is also a case study example of how this can help you and what the takeaways are.
All I want for Xmas is a new back & back pain relief
Are you a back pain sufferer? Do you want to recover naturally and quickly from chronic spinal pain? Be able to sit, stand, walk and play without the nagging fear of pain? Do you also want to avoid any side effects of long-term painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs?
The spinal column protects our spinal brain and our wiring system, the nerves. Need I say more as to how important that is? Unyet, back pain remains one of the leading causes of disability, with the main culprit being Mr. Disc. This innocent looking cushion is filled with a sturdy jelly-like substance in a whirl not whip configuration of protective fibrous bands.
Better posture helps with back pain relief
Worn out discs are made worse by our old friend poor posture. Poor posture compresses not only the discs, but also small muscles, and nerves and capillaries, slowing up the supply of nutrition and oxygen to the spine. Worn discs are unable to protect the little spinal facet joints, and inflammatory osteoarthritis moves in. Arthritic facet joints are painful in their own right in 30 % of back pain and need strong muscles to support them.
If you have worn discs look to your muscles. Weakened back, stomach and butt muscles along with tight hamstrings all squash discs. Improving your fitness with back specific strengthening and stretching exercises will help to lessen the degeneration of your spinal joints. That’s why father Xmas will be limbering up before attempting those chimneys.
Detecting a slipped disk
How do I know it could be a disc I hear you say? Well, let’s self-diagnosed, it may be a disc problem if slumping in a chair makes it worse, or pulling knees to chest on your back, or picking stuff off the floor, or putting on shoes. Moreover, walking and leaning back relieves the pain.
If you are finding it harder getting out of bed, putting your shoes on, or sitting for periods of time, you need to look after your back. The magical thing about backs is that ageing does not have to be a pain, backs respond quickly to expert treatment and a self-help guide to lifestyle change.
Let me tell you about lady who came to me a month ago, I will call her Jo. Jo struggled to walk up the pathway to my clinic and sat with tears in her eyes looking as if someone had given her a death sentence. Jo had been told the same old story, “you have wear and tear in your spine, it will only get worse, learn to live with it. We will send you for some hands-off, exercise physiotherapy; you will need to wait a few weeks or months, as you are not deemed urgent. We may consider a surgical opinion, and take these painkillers and anti-depressants for the foreseeable future.”
Those words said in all innocence wiped out this ladies future, how could she care for her garden and house, and look after, play and hold her grandchildren?
You will be pleased to know Jo responded quickly to treatment and lifestyle advice and came into my office beaming yesterday, her pain was considerably better, the joint movement was fluid, Jo could stoop down and tend to the house and garden, and did not feel drowsy as she no longer needed her painkillers. That morning she had jogged half a mile with her grandson. She was living proof that with an integrative medical approach and a healthy lifestyle, that she could be fit and pain-free. The good news is that we know with 25 years of experience, that a synergistic approach of therapies, including the use of specialist technology, prevents a lot of the discomfort ageing can bring. I recently presented this in Spain at the z factor, and I strongly believe a long healthy pain free life is the best Xmas present you can receive.
For free info on backs browse my website, or let me know if you wish me to give a talk, together let’s get over this epidemic of back pain. Xmas treatment gift vouchers available. www.painreliefclinic.co.uk. FB,twitter. 01889881488
Spinal Disk Bulge Physiotherapy For A Spinal Disc Rupture
Can a disc slip? The simple answer is no. It’s a layman’s term that is unfortunately very misleading to the general public.“My disc has slipped out, can you put it back in” is not an uncommon conversation opener on the telephone. Of course, it’s quite difficult then to get the caller to understand that this can’t actually happen, which is why Spinal Disk Bulge Physiotherapy is key to recovery.
Let’s look at the spine’s anatomy and in particular the role of the disc.
The spine is made up of 7 cervical (neck) bones called vertebrae, 12 thoracics (middle) vertebrae and 5 lumbar (lower) vertebrae. The top 2 vertebrae in the neck are a little bit different, so putting those to one side, between each pair of the remaining vertebrae there is a disc, the purpose of which is to provide shock absorption and allow movement. The disc itself is attached strongly to the vertebrae and cannot slip out.
A disc is made up of a tough fibrous structure on the outside, layered in exactly the same way we make cross-ply tyres. On the inside, there is a soft, crab paste-like moist material. As we age this tends to dry out. There are also endplates in contact with the vertebrae. The spinal disc is 70% to 90% water, so making sure you are well hydrated is very important to disc health.
There are two major types of damage to these discs. The first is when the disc is overloaded sufficiently to cause a protrusion, or bulge in the outer wall, as in the diagram above. This is similar to what you see on the side of a car tyre when it has hit a curb. Sometimes this is referred to as a slipped disc. It’s not possible to just push the bulge back in, but specific exercises can help to relocate this and over time the disc may heal itself.
The second and more serious damage is when the overload has been sufficient to rupture the outer fibrous structure and force the inner material to squeeze out. This is called a herniated or ruptured disc.
What Are The Implications Of A Disc Bulge Or Herniated Disc?
A disc bulge will cause pain if it is central and compresses the central spinal column, or if it bulges to one side into the exiting nerves. In either case, if the compression is significant enough, it will cause pain and/or numbness and weakness and possibly loss of control in the limbs.
If the disc bulge is central it could cause problems down both sides of the body. If the bulge is on one side, it will only cause problems on that side.
If the disc has been ruptured or herniated, the same problems with compression of the central spinal column and exiting nerves can occur. In addition, if chemicals from the inside of the disc come into contact with the nerves, it can cause severe pain even without any compression of the nerves. In such cases, a course of anti-inflammatories will most likely be prescribed.
Can Spinal Disk Bulge Physiotherapy Treat A Disc Bulge or Herniated Disc?
In many cases, a bulging disc and a herniated disc will over time heal themselves. The time required may depend on the severity of the problem and may take from weeks to months to resolve. Physiotherapy treatment can help reduce the pain much more quickly. The key is to get an accurate diagnosis through a physiotherapy assessment, possibly needing an X-ray or MRI. Treatment can include specific exercises to help reduce the disk bulge, Gunn IMS dry needling, electroacupuncture, laser, shockwave, core stability rehab and postural rehab. In severe cases, surgery may be needed.
If you have suffered a recent back injury or had a long-term problem then it’s advisable to get your condition assessed and treated. We have extensive skills in treating spinal pain and clients travel from all over the UK and abroad to seek our help.
Call 01889 881488 now.
“Nicky Snazell is the only practitioner I will allow to treat me”
Jon Hobbs Chairman UK Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, Vice President of Federation of Holistic Medicine.
The majority of patients who come to my clinic, or maybe who are just considering it and even those who I have personally treated, are totally confused about what GunnIMS is and also how it differs from Acupuncture. The general assumption is that GunnIMS uses needles, so it must be acupuncture, right? Wrong.
What is the Difference Between Acupuncture and GunnIMS
Acupuncture is an Eastern technique, originally developed between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago, without the benefits of modern anatomical knowledge we have today. Chinese Medicine is based on the assumption that energy, or Chi, flows around the body along defined meridian lines. The belief then is that by inserting needles into these meridian lines, it will affect the chi to bring the body back into balance. As a general rule the chi flows in fascia below the skin level, which is not too deep in the body. Typically needles would be inserted into the fascia and left in place for up to 30 minutes. Western acupuncture is a subset of Eastern acupuncture and follows similar principles.
GunnIMS was developed much more recently, over the last 40 years, by Professor Gunn, a Vancouver based Doctor, using western knowledge of the anatomy and uses needles as a micro surgical tool, cutting and directly into muscles which are not reacting properly to nerve signals and causing excess pressure on nerves, leading to long-term, or chronic pain. It thus bears almost no resemblance to acupuncture other than the fact that both techniques use a needle. It’s about as relevant as saying surgeons and cake makers both use knives.
Who Can Benefit From GunnIMS
Many people who have, or are suffering long-term unresolved spinal pain, can be helped much more by GunnIMS than any other technique currently available. In fact, GunnIMS is unsurpassed in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic muscular-related nerve (neuropathic) problems.
I’ll explain that with an analogy. Think of your car: if your headlight bulb keeps blowing because of a faulty wire in the fuse box, then you need to fix the fuse box, not keep replacing the headlight bulb. This seems blindingly obvious.
The way that human anatomy is formed in the womb means that the limbs can be considered an extension of the spine. So, specific parts of the body are controlled by specific nerves, their roots emerging at the spine. Just as in the car analogy, you could have pain in your foot because of a nerve problem in your back, or an elbow problem because of a nerve problem in the neck.
This is why people who suffer pain in the leg or foot get no relief from endless treatments on their leg or foot. Keep changing the light bulb and it won’t fix the problem.
Didn’t we just agree it was blindingly obvious to fix the fuse box? Yet I’ve lost track of the number of times patients have arrived having suffered long-term pain which they have been told was permanent and nothing could be done and just get on with it.
This Is Simply Not True
Even worse, they have had many, many treatments on the symptom area, rather than the root cause of the problem in the spine.
“A non-surgical, non-invasive alternative for pain relief and musculoskeletal repair.”
Shockwave therapy is a modern and highly effective treatment option in orthopaedic and rehabilitation medicine. The term shockwave refers to mechanical pressure pulses that expand as a wave in the body.
Radial shockwave was extensively used in mainland Europe for many years before being introduced to the UK. Due to this, radial shockwave is still not commonly available here, but its acceptance is growing, in part helped by gaining NICE approval for some conditions. Our clinic was at the forefront of radial shockwave introduction, following training for Nicky & Alan by an Orthopaedic Consultant who runs a major shockwave clinic in Luxembourg.
Extensive research around the world is continuing to push the boundaries at a rapid pace and many new applications are constantly being developed, so expect more updates in the future.
How does it work?
The shockwave is created by firing a high energy projectile into the back of a transmitter, the front of which is in contact with the patient’s body. The projectile is fired repeatedly at a frequency to suit the particular condition being treated.
The transmitter sends a high energy acoustic wave into the body. The energy promotes regeneration and reparative processes of the bones, tendons and other soft tissues. Shockwaves are characterised by large changes in pressure.
Shockwave is particularly effective in the treatment of:
- Plantar fasciitis | Policeman’s foot
- Tendon calcification
- Adhesive Capsulitis | Frozen shoulder
- Achilles tendonitis
- Lumbar spasm
- Shin splints
- Piriformis syndrome
- Tennis / Golfer’s elbow
- Iliotibial Band Syndrome
- Osteoarthritic joint mobility
Many patients have come to us with osteoarthritic joints and have felt an immediate improvement in joint flexibility. For those who choose not to undergo joint replacement surgery, shockwave offers a maintenance alternative.
There is no extra charge for using radial shockwave.
If you feel we could help you with our radial shockwave technology, then gives us a call.
One autumn morning last year, a quiet, middle-aged clinical professor came to see me because he found his gym workout was badly irritating his elbow and ankle.
I went over my 4 Keys (see my book) healthy living questions to which he scored green in food/ water/ supplements and fitness. He scored amber in lifestyle – he was working a little too much. Family life had been fraught with problems until recently, and on the whole, he loved his work. He just couldn’t quite get his life/ work balance right. His mind was amber and at times red, as he found teaching at university stressful, and he also found it difficult to switch off. I intuitively sensed some deeper issues, and it made sense that keeping fit calmed his mind.
“I haven’t injured myself or upped my workouts or done anything to cause these pains; they’ve just crept up on me. My pain is deep and aching, not sharp, and I haven’t done anything to cause it,” he stated, at a loss as to why this was happening to him.
This made me decide to explore his physical body for chronic [neuropathic] pain and to explore the deeper spinal muscles and relevant joints and ligaments. It seemed wise to leave the alternative discipline of shamanic reiki till later. This aspect of healing needs a deeper level of understanding and trust between practitioner and patient.
I could feel that his lower back was tighter on one side This could have been disc irritation, or it could have been his biomechanics; the way he sits and walks, and either a fixed or habitual posture. Telltale signs of collagen lines at the base of his neck and back suggested a thinning of the underlying discs. His buttock was acutely tender. His hamstring was slightly more tense, with sensitivity being increased again over the division of the sciatic nerve at the back of the knee, tight bands in his calf muscles, and a moving tenderness where his ankle flexors wove around his ankle.
This was all pointing to neuropathic changes to his L5 nerve root at the base of his spine. That means the sensitivity of the nerve root due to poor posture or ageing disc, as well as mild peripheral nerve changes, causing small contractures down the limb and his ache.
This type of problem is insidious, and is often a normal part of ageing-related to postural issues, causing disc narrowing, called spondylosis, and subtle changes to nerves, from very mild to severe neuropathy.
The symptoms can be anything from mild stiffness to pins and needles, numbness and various degrees of sharp burning and aching pains, often made worse on exercising.
Edwin needed a combination of treatments and skills to help resolve his problems. Over two treatments I gave him GunnIMS to relieve the deep-seated muscle problems at the base of his neck and back, plus acupuncture, laser, joint mobilisations and deep oscillation. I also used NLP and subtle mind mapping to get his head in the right place.
Ideally, I would have gone on to add shamanic reiki to heal issues in his auric body, balance his chakras, and use key acupuncture points in his fascial plane. However, after two treatments he was physically pain-free and elected to get on with his life.
Deep Oscillation Integrated Use
I have introduced to this again recently whilst presenting at the AACP conferences in 2016 and 17.
Just after this event, in part due to too much talking, bronchitis hit me big time and I was amazed at the effect of this technology on my lungs; I could breathe afterwards and slept much better.
It is so easy to use especially for those skilled in massage, the results include pain relief, anti-inflammatory effects, the reduction of swelling [oedema], the acceleration of wound healing and can be used straight after an injury.
I love the ability to wear the technology as gloves thus giving a deep connection between therapist and patient. With some sensitive [neuropathic] painful conditions strong hands-on massage can just make the pain worse, however, this soothing treatment helps. It’s a lovely way to also combine with stress relieving shamanic reiki to kick-start the immune system. Furthermore, it’s great to be able to ease fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, swollen painful muscles to name a few, whilst manipulating the joints and acupuncture needles at the same time.
I came across three good pieces of research on this, though there are a lot more out there: Jahr et al., 2008, Aliyev, 2009, and Aliyev, 2012.Much more on our website www.painreliefclinic.co.uk
