Persistent Pain is a genuine condition

Pain is the primary reason people go to the doctor, but 1 in 3 general practitioners (GPs) reports feeling “unprepared” to treat pain. While this may frustrate you, it’s not their fault because, like most healthcare professionals (HCPs), we receive little or no training around the pain that doesn’t go away as expected during our […]

Seasonal Affective Disorder, and light therapy

It’s September, and the nights are drawing in so quickly it’s reminded me that this is the critical time to put measures in place if you have or are at risk of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Winter depression is the other name for SAD; it’s a type of depression triggered by the change of seasons, […]

Are you at risk of burnout?

While many people, especially those in the corporate world, have heard the word “burnout”, it’s not recognised officially as a medical term. If you read my musings regularly, you know that education and myth-busting are my primary passions inside and outside of my treatment space. In healthcare, burnout is called mental exhaustion or mental fatigue; “it is […]

Pain, why does it hurt so much?

Physical pain is essential to the human experience; it’s the body’s protective alarm system. It’s a subjective experience that is challenging to convey to others. Especially if there are no obvious outward clues, our ability to tolerate pain is as individual as our fingerprints and shaped by many factors: genetics, previous pain experiences and our […]

Do you understand the “core”?

The “core” is scientifically called the lumbopelvic-hip complex (LPHC). It’s everything our head, arms and legs attach too, the torso or trunk of the body. Most often its acts as a stabiliser and force transfer, yet people focus on training it in isolation as a prime mover, with exercises like sit-ups, crunches, and planks. If […]

Fibromyalgia explained

Fibromyalgia is a mysterious long-term condition involving widespread chronic pain without a known cause; it’s more frustrating than a diagnosis. Some people will eventually discover a specific reason. Still, most times, the condition appears triggered by a physically stressful event, such as an injury, infection or having a baby. Or an emotional upset, such as […]