This advice that has been repeated to us since early in the pandemic:

• Wear a mask
• Maintain social distance
• Wash your hands regularly

Although this advice smacks of common sense, it is still flagrantly ignored by some. On an almost daily basis, we get patients who complain about having to wear a mask for a whole 30 minutes.   Wearing a mask is not just to help protect you, it’s also to protect others. So yes, we require you to wear a mask.

Facts Support Wearing A Mask

In the USA, COVID is essentially out of control and sadly wearing a mask has become a political issue, even though expert scientists have developed many models and forecast that over 100,000 lives could be saved in the next few months, if everybody just wears a mask. That’s as many US troops who died in fighting from the D Day beaches in 1944 to Berlin in 1945. Deaths that are mourned to this day. And now its ok, and all for the sake of wearing a mask? Really?

Ok, this is not the USA, but look at the size of the numbers and consider this in our own country. Every time I go shopping I see many not wearing masks. We are thus not immune to the same fate.

Double Your Risk

For those who are unconvinced, a recently announced real world study has proven the benefits of wearing a mask. In the state of Kansas, the state governor recommended mask wearing on 3^rd July. Some counties in the state followed the recommendation, others didn’t. Two weeks were allowed to let the change take effect. Since then those counties where masks have been worn have stayed level on the number of new cases. Those who chose to ignore the advice have gone up and continue to go up. Right now, the number of cases in counties not requiring mask wearing is DOUBLE those who do. This is not a small study. It’s based on nearly 3 million people.

The facts are simple.

Not wearing a mask doubles the risk for you and for those around you.

Safety always comes first for you and our staff. We require that anybody in the clinic wears a mask. Our staff wear full PPE all day, so asking you to wear a mask for the short time you are in our clinic to help protect everybody is not an unrealistic expectation. Your help helps keep us open and thus allows us to continue to help you.

We strive to make our clinic as safe as it can be and it’s most certainly safer than the many other environments that we all need to visit to exist.

We are here to help you and we will do our part to be as safe as we can be. We need you to do your part as well, not just by wearing a mask while at the clinic, but also by living as safely as you can by following simple common-sense advice. That way, you keep yourself, your family and your friends safer as well.

In ancient times they didn’t have the medical knowledge of the body or the medicine and technology that we take for granted now. But they still had to deal with the sickness, trauma, pain, stress and all the other symptoms of life that we experience today. 

This forced the ancient doctors to use their observational skills and take account of all aspects of the patient’s health; their food, lifestyle, fitness and mental state, when analysing the source of the condition and thus how best to treat it.

Thus, ancient doctors, called Shamans, were our social workers, psychiatrists, surgeons and nurses rolled into one. They used colourful language to describe conditions, for example, mental stress was described in terms of soul energy and demons. They believed patients who had been through a life altering trauma, whether mental and / or physical trauma, may have lost a part of their soul, or damaged their ‘spiritual force field’. In short, they looked at the whole body and its environment.

In todays world, these colourful descriptions might seem superfluous, as we have the benefit of so much more detailed knowledge. The focus of modern medicine, however, is to look at the smallest part, which can then be treated or cut out and replaced. In so doing, we have lost the observational skills of the whole, considering this to be largely irrelevant. Certainly, it is not part of modern medical training and without the benefit of training and understanding, it is often marginalised as ‘quackery’.

This, I believe, is a weakness of modern medicine and certainly there is a growing belief that other factors, not normally considered in modern diagnosis, are of sufficient significance to warrant consideration. Those practitioners who integrate Shamanic principles into their diagnosis are categorised as Holistic. I personally prefer the term Wholistic, as ‘whole’ signifies looking at the whole body and seems more appropriate.

In today’s world, Holistic [integrative] medicine heals the mind as well as the body. Orthodox practitioners, who are also healers, believe our soul essence has a powerful effect on wellbeing and the ability to survive disease. They can walk both paths, one of modern orthodox medicine, one of ancient wisdom, drawing knowledge and techniques from both.

Lifestyle stressors can cause depression and anxiety and will make you vulnerable to illness and bad luck. This is why when stress is part of the problem, you benefit from seeing a medic or therapist who also has an interest in shamanic healing and looking at the ‘whole’.

4 Keys To Health

Understandably, normal folks are likely to be put off by terms such as Shamanic healing and soul energy, as it’s simply not part of our modern thinking or terminology. That’s why I decided to bring these ancient skills into the 21^st century and describe them in a way which most would comprehend and thus be more likely to believe.

My first book, The 4 Keys To Health, describes the need to look at the whole person, their mindset, food, fitness and lifestyle. This would include looking at their environment, their family structure and support, their work. To make planning easier, I created a simple red, amber and green traffic light system. Clearly, a person recovering from illness or trauma and with 4 red keys, should be more likely to realise that recovery would be slower than if having 4 green keys.

The principles of my book, however, were no more than a modern-day representation of Shamanic healing, a subject I have studied for most of my life.

When a person has become anxious, a serious and increasing problem in today’s world with a pandemic out of control, I have found that without listening empathetically, without allowing a person to be heard and understood and without applying Shamanic healing, then relief from this stress simply won’t be possible. Listening, combined with the physical touch in a healing, caring way is a truly powerful stimulus to the immune system.

I have just written a blog on such a case, which you can find here.

Japanese Reiki

Reiki is a Japanese form of alternative medicine called energy healing. Reiki practitioners use a technique of hands-on healing through which a “universal energy” is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing.

Hands on healing is understandably a difficult concept to understand or even believe. A Reiki practitioner, to be effective, is most likely gifted with an innate healing touch. When being treated by such a practitioner, the patient will sense a calming presence and soothing touch. That connection builds a trusting relationship and a feeling of being looked after and anxiety melts away.

Reiki can be combined with ancient shamanic healing.

If you, or somebody you know, is suffering with anxiety or possibly pain that just won’t heal or is slow to heal, then we can help. Ask for an appointment with Nicky or Dean.

Call 01889 881488 and Erica or Jean will be happy to help

Due to changes announced by the Government on 3rd June, we will now be able to offer treatment by David, Dean or myself from 1st July.

There are changes to be COVID19 compliant so please read this.

But you no longer need to be in pain.

CALL NOW! 

I am pleased to let you know that I plan to re-open my clinic for a limited number of either face to face or virtual (video) consultations from Wednesday 1st July. This will be in line with guidelines set out by Public Health England (PHE), COVID-19 Infection, Prevention & Control (IPC) and my professional body, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP). 

We have installed a new system in the clinic to allow virtual consultations. These have been tested and shown to be an acceptable alternative, in some cases, to face to face treatments. 

The clinic will be initially reopening with myself, David or Dean on Mondays and Wednesdays. Opening times and staff availability will expand as demand increases. 

Please be advised that Sarah has sadly left us and taken a position outside of physiotherapy. We wish her well. 

As you will expect, both for your safety as a client and for the safety of my practitioners, considerable measures must be put in place which will greatly change the way that face to face consultations are carried out: 

1. COVID-19 Symptoms Check 

Clients must not attend if they are suffering, or have suffered, from any symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 7 days, or have come into contact with anyone suffering any symptoms in the last 14 days. 

2. Screening 

Every new client will be required to follow a 2-step process before a face to face consultation can take place: 

• Telephone triage – a short free call to establish what the problem is and confirm that neither you or anybody else in your household is suffering from COVID-19 symptoms. Questions like: are you feeling unwell, have fatigue, a fever, lost your sense of smell. 

• Virtual assessment – questions to establish if you are deemed in a high-risk group to this virus; questions like, are you very overweight, a diabetic, have cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, any medical reasons why your immune system will be depleted. 

Then we would be asking specific questions about your problem to make a provisional diagnosis and develop a treatment plan that may include coming in for hands-on treatment. 

For existing clients, a brief screening questionnaire should be answered over the phone or during your virtual consult, before booking a face to face appointment to confirm if you or a member of your household have COVID-19 symptoms. 

Questions like, are you feeling unwell, have fatigue, a fever, lost your sense of smell. 

For those clients not currently in pain, but would welcome advice on Wellness, a virtual consultation may be an attractive alternative, as it requires zero travel or risk. 

3. Appointment Duration: 

Face to face consultations will be 25 minutes, or a double session 50 to 55 minutes. The treatment time will be shortened slightly to allow time for cleaning. This will avoid increasing prices to cover extended sessions purely for cleaning. 

4. Maintaining a Safe Environment. 

When you attend a face to face consultation, please note: 

• Hand sanitizer or handwashing must be used on arrival and departure. 
• You will be required to wear a face mask to further protect you. 
• We will be treating in PPE (mask, apron, gloves). 
• You will not be able to wait within 2 metres of another client inside the clinic whilst social distancing is in force. Alternatively, you may wait in your car. 
• Only one person will be allowed in the clinic room at a time with the therapist (carers/guardians attending the clinic only by prior agreement). 
• Where another person is required to provide transport for the client, that person will be required to wait in the car. 
• Clients cannot bring children with them. 

5. Prices and Payment 

• Our prices remain unaltered, although there will be slightly shorter treatment times to allow for cleaning. 

• All virtual consultations will be charged at face to face rate per 30-minute session. 

• I regret your virtual or face to face appointment will not be confirmed without payment in advance by card or BACS. This is due to the limited number of appointments on offer when we start phase one of opening. 

• No refunds on missed appointments or cancellations without 48 hours’ notice. 

• Any cancellation by the clinic will be fully refunded. 

6. Treatment 

We will be offering the following treatments: 

• Acupuncture and Gunn IMS dry needling for pain 
• Shockwave for painful tendons 
• Laser for pain relief 
• Joint mobilisation/manipulation for stiff painful joints and spinal discs 
• Pulsed short wave for inflammation and pain 
• Deep Oscillation Therapy for pain relief, swelling, stiff joints & tissue 
• Exercise Prescription & Sports Rehabilitation & Biomechanics 

7. Post Treatment 

Ongoing appointments will not be booked on site. They must be booked by telephone during the opening hours of the clinic, starting as Mondays & Wednesdays only as of 1st July. As the appointment has been prepaid, this allows you to leave the clinic as soon as your treatment is finished. 

Should you require a face to face consultation with myself or the team and agree with the conditions set out above, we will start with a phased return taking provisional bookings from Wednesday July 1st. Please contact me via email or telephone; 

info@painreliefclinic.co.uk 01889 881488 

Virtual consultations may be booked instead of live face to face if we deem it unwise for you to attend due to poor health. 

Keep safe, healthy and active. 

Remember your 4 Keys To Health: healthy mind, diet, body and lifestyle. 

Warm Wishes 

Nicky Snazell 

BSc(Hons), BSc, FiSTOP, AACP, PE, MCSP, HCPC Reg 

Consultant Pain Physiotherapist 

For more information and address; 

www.painreliefclinic.co.uk