Frequently Asked Questions
Click on a question to take you to that section
How do we track progress?
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Progress can be tracked in a few different ways:
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​Your symptoms reduce in their severity or go completely
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It takes more time or more stress (physical, emotional, chemical, nutritional) before your symptoms appear. ​
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Your symptoms recover quicker than before. For example, if you had pain in your knee after walking that tended to throb and ache for 24 hours after. This may reduce to simply a little pain whilst walking but after resting for a short time after, there is none.
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The journey away from pain or burnout usually entails a combination of all three of the above examples. Paying close attention to your symptoms, how you feel, any changes for good or bad is an important part of the process.
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I am very much a patient led practitioner and what you experience and how you experience things is important to me and can be incredibly useful in helping to guide future treatments.
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What do I need to wear for treatments?
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So that a full assessment can be made, you ideally need to wear loose fitting clothes that allow a good range of motion in your joints. Anything that is comfortable for you is generally fine as practically all the work we will do can be done through clothing.
How close/far apart should treatments be spaced?
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In a perfect world (especially if you are a new patient) I prefer to not to leave longer than 7 to 14 days between treatments. The reason for this is so that we can build momentum in desensitising the nervous system and improving movement patterns. Sometimes I prefer to leave larger gaps between treatments, advised on a case-by-case basis. Maintenance type treatments are generally 3-5 weeks apart.
A lot of patients do travel quite some distances, so if that is you, we will endeavour to fit treatments in around your travel/work schedule.
What should I do/avoid after treatments?
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Everybody reacts different to treatment. The most common side effects from treatment (if any at all) are tiredness or general fatigue. This can last from just the following hours after treatment, through to a couple of days.
The aim of desensitising the nervous system and improving movement takes up resources to allow changes to integrate. Generally I advise against most forms of exercise on the day of treatment just to allow your body time to settle. This is especially true for pain symptoms.
Thereafter I just advise you use your common sense. If you feel symptoms have improved, don’t be afraid to challenge yourself if you feel up to it. But don’t feel like you have to. This is a discussion we can have in greater depth catered around you as an individual.
What can I expect in my first appointment?
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The first treatment is an important one for many reasons.
Firstly, my aim is to help diagnose as accurately as possible the reasons for your symptoms. Are they hardware related (damage to bones, muscles, tendons etc) or more software (the brain perceives there to be damage or threat to hardware when there is none).
We will assess your neurological responses to stimulus related to sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), stress, movement inefficiencies and a whole host of subconscious processes related to how you experience the world around you that may be processed by your brain as hypersensitive. We do this by the use of manual muscle testing, movement and orthopaedic tests.
This leads to the second part of the treatment where we will work to desensitise the nervous system to possible areas of hypersensitivity. These are areas of the body where certain stimuli the brain perceives to be a threat, but in reality there is none.
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Treatment in the most part takes the form of a neurological re-sequencing where stimulus is applied in a particular order and a deep tendon reflex is applied.
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Other forms of manual soft tissue work, red light therapy or movement based therapy may be required depending on your unique symptoms and circumstances.
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Laying a solid neurological foundation is critical for future success and my hope by the end of the first treatment is to free up some available resources to your subconscious and lower the perceived threat response, so that you leaving in a more, relaxed manner where pain sensations are reduced and you are in an improved state of healing.
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For more information on how we progress your treatment over the sessions, take a look at the Four Step-Treatment used here.
How are the treatments tailored to be unique for my individual symptoms?
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Unlike a lot of conventional rehabilitation methods, your case is treated as unique as you are as an individual. You won’t receive a set plan of manipulations, stretches or exercises as the reasons that brought about your symptoms will be completely unique to you.
Things like your bone structure, historical injuries or trauma, your movement or sporting backgrounds, whether you have worked in manual labour your entire life vs a stationary desk based job, your sleep patterns, nutritional intake, hormones, emotional stress or trauma, medical conditions, surgeries are all taken into account when assessing and treating you.
All of these and the combinations and interactions between them contribute to your current place in time.
This is why everything is relevant, nothing is discounted and what we look at, assess and treat will be tailored specifically for you.
Will I be required to do any homework?
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If your visit is for a movement or sports related issue then you can expect to receive some recommendations. The same applies for post surgical care for knee, or hip related surgeries.
If your visit is related more to burnout, fatigue or in response to other illnesses you may not receive any homework recommendations at all. The recommendations in these cases are much more lifestyle, nutrition or supplemental suggestions.
I treat each case individually. You won’t ever receive a generic list of exercises to do.