Great news. The sun is shining, and it’s holiday time!
Most of us have been couped up for the best part of a year, probably getting a lot less exercise than normal and possibly desperately needing some treatment for pain. Every year we get a surge of clients who have put their back out and need urgent help to resolve back pain before their holiday. This year it’s likely to be a bigger surge due to the relatively low activity due to COVID dragging on.
We are here to help and we will no doubt be able to get you out of pain in time for your holiday. But it’s important to realise that in most cases we won’t have enough time to completely fix the problem, so you will need to be a bit careful on your much looked forward to holiday.
Here is some simple advice to help you avoid ruining your holiday
First, let’s understand pain a little. When we are in pain, it’s difficult to get it off our minds. But once it’s gone, you can’t remember it, can you? You can remember you didn’t like the pain, but you can’t recreate the pain in your mind. There lies the risk.
Once the pain is gone, it’s forgotten and we feel good. Then we do stupid things and the pain comes back with a vengeance. What is one of the main culprits? Suitcases.
If you think about basic health & safety when picking things up, the rule is bend your legs, not your back. It makes sense, but not easy to do when putting a heavy suitcase in the boot of the car, or fighting to get the suitcase off the conveyor at the airport. Worse yet, one sure way of putting your back out is to lift and twist as the same time. What do you do when you take a suitcase out of the boot? You are in the way, so you twist and put the suitcase down! Ouch, home goal. Now for the Physiotherapy
Stop and think
Try two lighter suitcases instead of one heavy one. Bend your legs putting the suitcases in the boot, or even get two of you to do it. When you take a suitcase out of the boot, avoid twisting, instead rotate on your feet, like a robot.
Be extra careful with airport conveyors. They tend to be a free for all, and fighting to get a suitcase off before it goes past is a sure way to put excessive lifting and twisting loads on your back.
We have had many clients who ruined their holiday before it started. Don’t let that be you.
If you are in pain, we can help
Call 01889 881488 Now
Jean, Erica & Charlotte will be happy to help
A big thank you to those who bought one of Nicky’s books or some of our bespoke jewellery in April. You generated £60 which will be paid into the Red Cross and Blue Cross Charities specifically to help Ukraine.
For those who would still like to help, then we are selling Nicky’s books and bespoke jewellery at bargain basement prices until we no longer have anything to sell.
We guarantee 100% of payments taken will go to these charities to
Help Ukraine
What services are provided at the pain relief clinic?
If you have reached this page, then you have most likely Googled "where can I get a massage near me", this is a common question that is typed into Google every day.
If Google has done its job and we hope that it has, then you are most likely located within a radius of about 60-mins to Stafford, and we are worth the travel!
We have a beautiful clinic, with parking.
What areas do you cover for massage therapies?
Here at Nicky Snazell Pain Relief Clinic, we provide massage services to our clients who very often are prepared to travel to see us. We have had clients from the USA and from the United Arab Emirates travel over to see Nicky and the team for treatment.
The main bulk of our fantastic centre is for Stafford massage customers come from areas such as Stafford, Litchfield, Cannock, Rugeley and Uttoxeter for our massages and other pain relief treatments.
Is massage right for me?
There are a variety of massage types that are all designed to help, 95% of our customers who are looking for massage really do need it and value our support and massage service. We recommend checking out our testimonials and seeing what others think. But also by visiting the team you will find out what variety is best suited to your requirement.
Who has massage?
Anyone that understands the benefit but here are five patient types that are suited to our popular treatments:
- Business owners and managers - Those with high-stress roles often benefit from shoulder and neck treatments.
- Sportsmen and sportswomen - We often provide slightly more vigorous sports massage for this group. This helps condition the muscles and can aid muscle recovery. Cyclists, horse riders, football players, tennis players and rugby enthusiasts are just some of the sports we help.
- The elderly - Massage can help promote movement and circulation benefits, so we find that our older patients appreciate our services - Especially important if you are less mobile or sit for more extended periods.
- Nurses & Doctors - Long hours, stress, and shift work means that Doctors and Nurses will choose to come and see us privately to help them cope with the job's physical demands.
- Manual Labourers - Builders, factory workers, bar staff anyone that is repeating tasks will understand the physical hammering this can give to their bodies, joints and soft tissues.
Does massage work?
Yes, it does, and our reviews support this, but long before Pain Relief Clinic, people have practised this type of therapy for thousands of years.
If you are still not convinced then consider Physiotherapy, but either way,
Call Now 01889 881488. Erica & Jean will be happy to help
What are the different types of pain?
Acute pain is when you have an accident or injury and the nociceptors (pain receptors) trigger an alarm impulse. This is useful pain – it’s protective and necessary for survival.
Chronic pain is when the signal has stopped serving a useful purpose. Pain travels through nerves, and these can be damaged due to repeated trauma or poor posture resulting in compression, however brief this may be.
Limbs are just an extension of your spine. When we were a ball of cells developing in the womb, we had cells dedicated to specific zones, such as the skin cells (dermatomes), the muscle cells (myotomes), and the organs (sclerotomes). These flow out from the spine to the limbs and are numbered according to the spinal segments to which they belong. Often, therefore, painful chronic problems will not switch off because a nerve is faulty, for example, with tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, whiplash, and sciatica.
Poor posture repeated injury, and wear and tear of the spine (spondylosis) can all cause the phenomenon of neuropathic pain. This is when the nerve becomes super-sensitive, which leads to false chronic pain stimuli, as well as palpable muscle contractures and chronic degenerative tendonitis/tenosynovitis (where the muscle attaches to the bone via the tendon).
We feel pain long after the cause has happened. Unhelpful, unpleasant pain. Ring any bells?
Of course, everyone has a reasonable idea that they need to exercise and eat healthily and have purposeful thoughts to do this, but you don’t always do it, do you? You procrastinate. “I’ll start tomorrow… I don’t have the time…It’s not my responsibility… I’m far too busy… I don’t believe things will get better… I can’t make a difference, not me, not just one person out of billions… I have more important priorities…” The excuses go on.
What you have to remember is that, actually, your health is your number one priority, and nothing should come before it. If you want to have a happier, longer, pain-free life, where you can be around for your family and friends, you need to put your own health right at the top of your list. Everything else comes after.
I must confess: I’ve been in your shoes, many times, and yes, it’s a constant battle. I remember how I felt about my mother’s severe chronic back pain. My endless anger and disappointment. Hating the fact that no one could do anything to help her.
Well, she’s conquered her problem now. In fact, she hasn’t had it for about 40 years.
I strongly believe that integrative medicine is the way forward, combining the most potent aspects of modern medical practices and complementary therapies. My interest in ancient medicine and wisdom has taken me around the world, meeting shamans and healers who still use the ways of their ancestors.
I also believe in – and use – modern technology; and can I just ask: where does it say that we can’t use both in our modern medical treatment of pain? I use techniques from all of these ancient and modern types of healing, and I think that we should all be more open to the different ways in which we can help our bodies and, therefore, help ourselves.
There is so much more that you can do – without the help of a doctor or a pill or surgery – than you may realise. In fact, there is a whole host of things you can put into practice to give yourself a longer, healthier life. And who wouldn’t want that?
With my background,in biology, psychology, alternative medicine and physiotherapy; I am very aware of the power of the mind, and I feel privileged to be in the driving seat of the physical medicine of tomorrow.
I strongly believe that analysing any block to a patient (in terms of pain) and getting the healing results they want is incredibly important. In the future keeping accurate records of both an intuitive and scientific approach to tackling health issues, we will be able to experience a broader understanding, something which will pave an exciting way forward in terms of healing for our future generations.
Physiotherapy – A Brief History
The beginnings of Physiotherapy date back to the late 1894 when four nurses formed the Society of Trained Masseuses. A Royal Charter was awarded in 1920, in recognition of the profession’s high education and professional standards. It evolved over the following years until it became the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) in 1944.
The CSP has been the controlling body for physiotherapy since 1944 and they work to the guidelines as dictated by NICE (The National Institute for Health & Care Excellence – a government body). The CSP is predominantly geared towards the needs of the NHS and this is where the great divide has it’s origins.
Physiotherapy Within The NHS Today
The NHS is a massive entity and has to constantly make difficult decisions on how and where to best spend the budget it is provided by the government. The lack of a sufficient budget has been a permanent factor in our lifetime, and as we all know, it is without fail subject to political football every election.
In recent years the NHS has moved towards ‘hand off’ physiotherapy. You will get a good diagnostic assessment if a face to face appointment is granted. However, hands-off exercises seems to be the normal ‘treatment’. Follow up appointments, if really needed, are 15 to 20 minutes and are spaced 8 or more weeks apart.
Perception Is Reality
Understandably, the general public will think of the NHS first if they perceive they need some physiotherapy. After all, they have already paid for it in their taxes, so there is no extra cost. This of course ignores the fact that wherever you go, there is a time commitment which could mean time off work or even taking holiday. I reality, nothing is free.
If an individual has no former experience of physiotherapy, their perception of what physiotherapy is will be governed totally by their NHS experience and their perception, in the words of most of our clients coming from the NHS, and there are a lot of them, is it’s a waste of time.
Now this is not good for the profession of physiotherapy, because all physiotherapists, whether they work in the NHS or not, are highly trained to provide excellent diagnostics and effective hands-on treatment.
Long term, this is not good for the physiotherapy profession
The issue is not the physiotherapist, it’s the environment they choose to work in. And if that’s in the NHS, then the shift is towards ‘hands-off and in reality, how can you effectively treat if it’s ‘hands off’?
The real risk is that many will have their first and last physiotherapy appointment in the NHS. From their perception, this lacked any real benefit, and consequently, they will post physiotherapy to the dustbin for the rest of their lives and seek out alternatives like chiropractic and osteopathy.
Long term, this is bad news for the physiotherapy profession.
An Alternative Perception – An Alternative Reality
Many physiotherapists choose to work in the private sector because they are primarily motivated to make a real and positive difference to a client’s life. In reality, they know they can only do that by being allowed to give as much treatment as is needed. That means sufficient time to be effective and the ability to follow up as frequently and as often as is really needed.
Skills Availability
As written above, the CSP has to work within NICE guidelines and this sometimes causes problems that can be avoided in private clinics. As an example, a few years ago, NICE awarded acupuncture the gold standard for treating back pain. Then they made a complete U turn and said it was ineffective. The impact of this decision was that acupuncture was categorised by many in the NHS as quackery. Some of our part time staff, who also worked full time in the NHS, reported they were banned from using acupuncture, which they found very frustrating as they were using acupuncture very effectively in our clinic at exactly the same time.
Some years later, NICE performed their second U turn and approved acupuncture for back pain again. Without doubt many patients in the interim, who could have been helped from suffering severe pain, were probably left to taking pain killers and talked to about how to manage their pain.
Now compare this to what happened in our clinic. We had massive experience in using not only acupuncture, but also much more advanced techniques, and we had achieved substantial success in helping people get out of pain and be more mobile. Thus when NICE stated acupuncture as being ineffective, we simply ignored it because we knew it was incorrect and carried on helping clients, day in day out. Many clients even traveled from abroad for our skills in this period and that simply would not have happened if our treatments didn’t work.
Technology
It may come as a surprise to many, but private clinics tend to invest much more heavily than the NHS into technology which can really help clients in pain. We don’t have the restrictions of conforming to NICE dictates, and thus we have the freedom to look more broadly and move much faster. We also employ evidence based decision making and take account of clinical experience and client preferences.
We know this because when we employ physiotherapists from the NHS, we have to train them in new skills and new technology which they have never seen before.
What Does This Mean For You
Not surprisingly, we have many clients who start with us and then go to the NHS thinking they will get the same intensity and breadth of treatment as we provide, only to return weeks or months later expressing their frustrations of how little, if any, treatment they received.
Their perception was that physiotherapy was based on what we provided, and it seemed logical to go to the NHS and get the same thing for free. The reality was they experienced the great divide between private and NHS physiotherapy.
We doubt that future clients new to us will be any different. The truth is clients just don’t believe us when we try to explain the differences.
You, however, are only getting this blog because you have already been to our clinic and hopefully you will thus better comprehend the great divide. That may not stop you from wanting to try the free option first. If you do decide to give it a go, hopefully it will work for you as you will get a good diagnostic assessment, but the chances are you will end up waiting weeks to get an exercise prescription.
Your Choice
Ultimately it’s your choice what you do. We can only advise as best we can and if you are in pain now, that would be to get to a private clinic as you will get out of pain a lot faster.
If you are in pain, we can help.
Call 01889 881488 now. Erica, Jean or Charlotte will be happy to help.
Picking up the kids? Over-exercising? Hunched over a desk all day? Lack of sleep? Lifting heavy loads endlessly throughout the day? and the greatest impact of all… stress!! Does this sound relatable to you??
Living is stressful, causing pain and discomfort
These are just a few of the reoccurring influences that impact patients’ day to day lives and most likely, at least one of these issues impacts you some days. Understand this and you will understand why you carry tension where you do. This is a vital first step into living a pain free and less stressful life.
Read more to learn how you can feel better than you have for years and find out about our special offer…….
Stress is an unfortunate but often unavoidable side effect of your busy life. Not only does it impact you emotionally, but it can also manifest physically all over your body. Your muscles will cling on to this tension, making it hard for you to relax and over time, adhesions (bands of scar-like tissue, that can cause tissue and organs to stick together) start to form and slowly cause pain and discomfort.
Adhesions disrupt circulation and cause inflammation, and if left untreated, will steadily increase your pain and limit your ability to move freely, potentially anywhere and everywhere in your body. It is thus vitally important to get rid of adhesions.
In some countries GP’s prescribe a course of deep tissue massage as their first line of defence
As an example, many patients find that their stress settles in their upper back and neck. It can sometimes feel as though your muscles are playing a ‘tug of war’ against your head leading to tension headaches and migraines.
We all instinctively know about the relationship between everyday living and pain plus restricted movement. For those of us who have experienced good quality massage, we also know that regular massage can have a massive impact on limiting these symptoms. It should thus come as no surprise that in some countries GP’s prescribe a course of deep tissue massage as their first line of defence. They estimate that if their patients had regular deep tissue massage, then their waiting lists would be halved. That’s a pretty strong, well qualified supporting argument for the benefits of deep tissue massage.
A deep tissue massage is beneficial in reducing physical stress and relieving emotional stress, as it aids in relaxation by slowing the heart down and encouraging the release of the ‘happy hormone’ serotonin. Deep tissue massage works into the deeper layers of fascia (connective fibrous tissue beneath the skin) causing them to loosen, lengthen and relax. This is why after a massage it is quite common to feel much more relaxed and in turn get a better night’s sleep which also helps to alleviate symptoms.
Massage is not new
Massage therapy began around 5000 years ago in China, India and Greece where it was considered as a sacred system of healing. Fast forwarding a few centuries, in Greece athletes used massage to condition their bodies before competitions and doctors would often apply herbs and oils in combination with massage to treat various conditions. This is no different today. Many athletes across many sports will have regular sports massage to maintain flexibility and minimise pain.
The public only has to look at sports athletes to see evidence of the benefits of regular massage
Romans would travel to the baths for ‘spa’ treatments and full body massages, to stimulate circulation and loosen their joints- a remedy we still use to this day. So, massage and its positive benefits have been around for a long time.
What are the benefits of regular deep tissue massage for you?
Simply put, there are a lot of benefits, and they all add up to less pain, more flexibility, more enjoyment and a better quality of life.
Breaking down the benefits:
- Improve your quality of sleep
- Reduces your stress and lowers heart rate which provides an enhanced feeling of relaxation
- Improves your mental alertness
- Speeds up your recovery to soft tissue injuries
- Improves your circulation
- Stimulates movement of your lymphatic system, helping our body expel toxins
- Improves your joint flexibility
- Boosts your immune system by promoting white cell production
- Eases muscle pain
- Breaks down adhesions
- Reduces your symptoms of long term or chronic pain
- Releases your ‘feel good’ hormones which improves reduce stress, anxiety and depression by increasing levels of serotonin, dopamine and decreases levels of cortisol. This stimulates your feelings of relaxation and happiness and helps regulate your mood.
It Works
There is a reason that top athletes have regular massage and the reason is it works. It helps them achieve their best with less pain and more flexibility. The same goes for the GP’s in countries like Germany, where a course of massage is prescribed before drugs. Why? Because it works.
Why not let regular deep tissue massage work for you. Let it make you feel better, more relaxed, more able, with less pain, and enjoy a better quality of life.
If you would like to get these same benefits for yourself, then please call the clinic now and book an appointment with Katie. You won’t regret it. In fact, after a few massages you will feel better than you have for years.
Call 01889 881488 Now
Erica, Jean and Charlotte will be happy to help
The key to gaining the real benefits of deep tissue massage is by having regular massages. The first massages have a lot to do, breaking down old adhesions and getting tired and inflexible muscles to move properly again. After that you will really start to feel meaningful benefits.
To help you reach that point, we are including a special offer in this blog. Book and pay for a bundle of four massages and get the fifth one FREE.
Help For Ukraine
Our world is going through troubled times, the likes of which most of us have never had to witness so close to home. The degree of suffering in Ukraine is inhumane. Watching TV night after night with the increasing levels of destruction and suffering made us feel that we had to help in some way and the most rapid and effective way we saw was by donating money to those who could provide immediate on the ground help to those most in need. And this help is going to be needed for a long time to come.
We have thus started to contribute to two charities, the Red Cross to help people and the Blue Cross to help the animals also caught up in this tragedy. We will continue to contribute long after the war ends as this will take years to make good the damage done.
You Can Help Us
We have also decided, until our whole stock is exhausted, to contribute 100% of the value of sales of both Nicky Snazell’s books and her bespoke sterling silver jewellery to these charities. All books have been reduced to £5, the large jewellery to £10 and the small jewellery to £5.
These are fantastic prices for high quality books and jewellery and you can buy these for yourself or as gifts for others. Why not put away for future birthdays or Christmas or for a future therapists education.
Please help us help Ukraine. We guarantee 100% will go to these charities.
Thank you
Nicky & Alan
So, how do you choose your physiotherapy clinic in seven easy steps?
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Physiotherapy skills and qualifications
The most important question - is the physiotherapist appropriately qualified and is there any evidence of ongoing learning and development? Although principals remain consistent, the skills and style of approach can be different as can the aftercare. Please make sure you get reassurances of qualifications and can see ongoing development of therapists.
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Clinic Location
If you need physiotherapy, it is important to consider a local physiotherapist or one that is convenient to you. At Nicky Snazell Clinic we do provide specialist physiotherapy to clients from all over the world who come to Nicky for healing, but in general, we would recommend that you consider a therapist who is within a commutable distance of your work or home location. A commutable distance is 40-60mins for the right care, Nicky Snazell Pain Relief Clinic service; Stafford, Lichfield, Cannock, Rugeley & Stone.
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Style of approach
Like people, physiotherapists are all different. While we hope that they all subscribe to the highest possible standards and approaches, it is important that you make sure that from the initial consultation you feel connected with your therapist and their unique style of approach.
Consider the following:
- Have your questions been answered?
- Did you feel a connection with the therapist?
- Are you clear on the next steps?
- Did the therapist explain costs?
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Getting to the root cause
Spending time to find the root cause of pain is more important than the treatment itself. We find some clients have pain that is the result of unresolved childhood issues, bereavement and work-stress for example. Without spending the time to really understand your unique situation, often it can be like treating the surface of the problem and not the long-term view of the issue.
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Ongoing Physiotherapy care
Once your initial condition and pain are 'fixed', ongoing care is essential. As they say, prevention is better than cure, so periodic check-ups and follow-ups will help ensure that you are maintaining your health. We quite often treat sports injuries and also recommend massage for clients which can relax and rejuvenate you avoiding the aggravation of the problem area.
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Other services
Sometimes you may receive physiotherapy which can show that you would benefit from other services such as electro-acupuncture, the aforementioned massage. Does your therapist offer other services to support your wellbeing?
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Customer service
A good physiotherapy clinic has a team who can facilitate customer support and great customer service, like helping you to book your appointments, reminders and periodic communication in the form of useful insights, tips and observations to help.
If you are looking for a Physiotherapist why not give our team a call: 01889 881 488
This is the fifth part in a series of blogs looking at the process of a physiotherapy assessment and treatment plan. If you have missed the 4 earlier blogs, then here are the links:
A Different Perspective On Your Physiotherapy Assessment
The Subjective Physiotherapy Assessment
The Subjective Physiotherapy Assessment – Part 2
Your prescription is the final part of the physiotherapy assessment process. After we've got a connection. We have learned who your authentic self is. We’ve gone through the four keys analysis, to assess your immune system and general health. We have worked out what’s going on with you in terms of food, movement, stress, lifestyle and the way that you use your mind. And we’ve looked and listened to your physical being, all the sensations that are going on your physical being. How sensitive you are. How much warmth, your circulation. The hesitancy when we move part of the body, the link with your eyes and your brain. The tone in that part of the body. And we've worked out what's going on, at that moment, to the best of our knowledge.
Only then do we decide on a tailor-made prescription for you, which can be a combination of many things. These may need to be in my clinic, or there may be a lot of things you can do at home as you don't really need us to be there for you, apart from just encouraging you along the way. It may also involve physical treatments, via just laying on hands, massage, that connection, dry needling, acupuncture, shockwave, manipulation, exercise advice. You name it, there's a myriad of physical hands-on treatments that we do.
We will write a prescription that's tailor-made just for you. It will be based on that moment in time, your immune system, your mind, your lifestyle and your available time. It will then progress to help your body get to the best you can be for your age, with whatever problem that you have. That is what tailor-made means. It means being listened to. And it means prescribing that medicine, be it in terms of a pharmaceutical drug, be it in terms of herbal medicine, be in terms in what we do, which is physically treating you and listening to you and looking at you holistically.
That's what we do.
If you are in pain right now and you feel confident we can help, then why not call. Erica, Jean and Charlotte will be happy to help.
Call 01889 881488 Now
p.s. Don’t try to book online at this time as that is only suitable for existing clients already being treated for an existing problem.