Surry Hills Chiropractic and Osteopathic Centre

09/05/2025

Levoscoliosis is a type of scoliosis where the spine curves to the left. When the outer edge (convex side) of the curve also bends to the left, it's specifically referred to as levoconvex scoliosis, according to the Scoliosis Reduction Center. This means the spine curves in a "C" shape, with the curve's outer edge pointing towards the left side.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
• Levoscoliosis:
The general term for scoliosis where the spine curves to the left.
• Levoconvex Scoliosis:
A specific type of levoscoliosis where the curve's outer edge (convex side) is also on the left.
• Causes:
Levoscoliosis can be caused by various factors, including idiopathic scoliosis (no known cause), congenital scoliosis (present at birth), and neuromuscular scoliosis (related to muscle or nerve conditions)

26/02/2024

Neck, Shoulder & Arm Pain

Neck pain or cervicalgia is rapidly becoming even more common in the last 15 years with at least 80% of the population suffering episodes of severe neck pain.
The lower neck and upper back joints and muscles support your head and it is here that neck pain starts. Neck pain may include the whole structure of the neck: bones (vertebrae), the discs between the bones, muscles and ligaments. If your neck pain involves nerves, you can feel numbness, weakness or tingling as well as pain in your shoulder, arm or hand.



Neck pain, often with referred shoulder and arm and hand pain, can be caused by injury, trauma, anxiety, stress, awkward sleeping positions, herniated discs. whiplash, muscle strain or tension. Many of us are suffering poor neck posture on our mobile phones, hand-held devices and computer keyboards.

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How to prevent neck pain:
• Learn safe stretching exercises for your neck and upper body. Osteopathic /Chiropractic therapists will intelligently teach you specific exercises.
• If you work at a computer please consult us for a postural examination and we will advise you how to sit properly, maintaining healthy posture. Advice from many ergonomists and so-called experts in health and safety may be incorrect. Learn to sit the way we have perfected which is ideal for the neck and spine.
• Take care of your ergonomics and the future of your neck so when you're 70 or 90 you don't have disc degeneration with a painful neck. Respect your future self so that your old age is happy and pain-free. To save your neck and achieve good

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desk seated posture, an osteopath will give you important ergonomic advice.

• Sleeping: Reward yourself with a high-quality, sprung mattress which needs to be medium-firm to firm to support your lower back and pelvis comfortably, but ideally with a cotton sleeper to soften the surface. Your pillow needs to be soft enough to be comfortable but also firm enough to support your head and neck comfortably. We help you with our experience and impartial advice.
For minor causes of neck pain
• Give yourself a rest from your normal physical activity for a few days - this will help reduce inflammation and calm symptoms.
• Gently stretch the neck muscles, with slow range-of-motion exercises, side to side and up and down.
Sudden and intense ‘acute neck pain’ due to a locked facet joint or a trapped pinched nerve may result in protective muscle spasm and referred pain to the head, shoulder, upper middle-back (between the shoulder blades) or into the arm, depending on which nerve or muscles are inflamed.
There may be underlying problems such as slipped disc or bulging discs, osteoporosis (brittle bones), excessive curvature of the spine (scoliosis) and, very rarely, structural damage due to tumours or infection. Car accidents involving whiplash injury can result in acute or chronic neck pain which takes many months to improve with careful management. Pain lasting longer than
three months is 'chronic neck pain'.
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Treatment only starts after a full patient history, physical examination, review of family history and a thorough health check of the relevant body systems have been completed.
• Tests may include digital X-rays if necessary, CT or MRI scans, EMG, referral for laboratory blood and urine analysis and referral to a specialist depending on each individual patient Reducing pain, improving range of motion and restoring
• neck and back spinal function.
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Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Medical Acupuncture, Therapeutic Massage.
• Chiropractic - specific, gentle spinal manipulation to remobilise and rehabilitate spinal joint function and posture.
• Physical Therapy - laser, ultrasound, electrotherapy, massage, exercise and rehabilitation
• Medical Acupuncture and Therapeutic Massage helps alleviate chronic back, neck and shoulder pain
• Postural treatment and rehabilitation - Advice on ergonomic seating, sit / stand desks, screen height & position
• A combination of these various approaches varies from patient to patient. We always take into consideration your comfort, preferences and past experience as well as your response to treatment and observations made during the course of treatment.
Goals:
• Manipulation of the cervical spine or neck region is a gentle and extremely specialised technique, used by our highly trained and experienced Doctors of Chiropractic for patients complaining of neck, upper back, and shoulder/arm pain, as well as headaches.
• Chiropractic is considered a treatment for a range of cervical spine conditions as well as many conditions affecting the lower back.
• Chiropractors also use adjunctive therapy to treat cervical spine complaints. These include massage, therapeutic heat and/or cold application and gentle stretching and strengthening exercises.
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Danger signs: If any of the following symptoms occur, CALL 000 or seek urgent medical attention.
• neck pain of meningitis - rash develops but doesn't fade if pressed with a glass
• disc prolapse in the neck with loss of muscle power in arms or legs.
• sensitivity to light - photophobia, severe headache or intense pain behind eye.
• neck pain from recent head injury with drowsiness, confusion or vomiting.
• neck pain with severe headache, fever or continuous vomiting.
• disturbances of vision, hearing, taste or balance.
• severe pain on neck forward flexion.

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13/02/2024

Soft Tissue Massage

Soft Tissue Massage can help to reduce fatigue, alleviate swelling, reduce muscle tension, promote flexibility, prevent injuries and prepare the athlete for optimal performance.
Irrespective of the level at which one competes, anyone who is looking to improve their performance does so by adopting a training schedule specific to their sport. Such stresses and overuse can often lead to muscular imbalances, which may impede performance and cause discomfort. If ignored, these problems can become chronic and lead to more serious injuries, which may ultimately prevent an individual from training and competing at all.
Applied skillfully, sports massage can be a very effective technique for releasing tension and restoring balance to the musculo-skeletal system. It can play a valuable part in any athlete’s preparation and recovery, preventing injury and helping to achieve optimal performance.
Surry hills Chiropractic and Osteopathic Centre provides professional and skillful massage therapists.

20/12/2023

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a rare acquired neurological disorder that most often causes progressive muscle stiffness (rigidity) and repeated episodes of painful muscle spasms. Muscular rigidity often fluctuates (i.e., grows worse and then improves) and usually occurs along with the muscle spasm

14/12/2023

Don’t sleep face down!!!

One of the most common causes of cervicle pain is caused by sleeping on your stomach. It causes cervicle and thoracic spinal rotation and causes misalignment of vertebrae and muscular pain.
“If you sleep 8 hours a night that’s a 1/3 of your day, so you’re spending a 1/3 of your life with your spine completely rotated,” This can cause severe cervicle pain.

Resting on your stomach is widely regarded as the worst sleeping position. It flattens the natural curve of the spine, which can lead to lower back pain as well. Try to change to sleeping on your side by using pillows and gradually train the body to sleep on one side.

04/12/2023

04/12/2023

Tension Headaches
What Is a Tension Headache?
Pain Management
Prevention
More Prevention Tips
Keeping a Diary
Tension Headache or Migraine?
Tension headaches are dull pain, tightness, or pressure around your forehead or the back of your head and neck. Some people say it feels like a clamp squeezing the skull. Often called stress headaches, they’re the most common type for adults.
There are two types:
Episodic tension headaches happen less than 15 days per month.
Chronic tension headaches happen more than 15 days a month.
These headaches can last from 30 minutes to a few days. The episodic kind usually starts gradually, often in the middle of the day.
Chronic ones come and go over a longer period of time. The pain may get stronger or ease up throughout the day, but it’s almost always there.
Although your head hurts, tension headaches usually don't keep you from your daily activities, and they don’t affect your vision, balance, or strength.
Who Gets Them?
Up to 80% of adults in the U.S. get them from time to time. About 3% have chronic daily tension headaches. Women are twice as likely to get them as men.
Most people with episodic tension headaches have them no more than once or twice a month, but they can happen more often.
Many people with the chronic type have usually had them for more than 60-90 days.
What Are the Symptoms?
A few common ones include:
Mild to moderate pain or pressure in the front, top, or sides of the head
Headache that starts later in the day
Trouble sleeping
Feeling very tired
Irritability
Trouble focusing
Mild sensitivity to light or noise
Muscle aches
Unlike migraine headaches, you won’t have other nerve symptoms, such as muscle weakness or blurred vision. And they don’t usually cause severe sensitivity to light or noise, stomach pain, nausea, or vomiting.
Where Does It Hurt?
This type of headache can:
Start at the back of your head and spread forward
Become a band of dull pressure or squeezing pain around your entire head
Affect both sides of your head equally
Make the muscles in your neck, shoulders, and jaw feel tight and sore

04/12/2023

What is chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a regulated primary healthcare profession. Chiropractors are trained to diagnose, treat, manage and prevent disorders of the musculoskeletal system (bones, joints, and muscles), as well as the effects these disorders can have on the nervous system and general health. They have a specialist interest in neck and back pain, but when they assess patients, they take their entire physical, emotional and social wellbeing into account.
Chiropractors use a range of techniques to reduce pain, improve function and increase mobility, including hands-on manipulation of the spine. As well as manual treatment, chiropractors are able to offer a package of care which includes advice on self-help, therapeutic exercises and lifestyle changes. Although chiropractors are best known for treating back and neck pain, which they do very well, patients also consult chiropractors regarding a range of other, related physical conditions.
Chiropractic treatment mainly involves safe, often gentle, specific spinal manipulation to free joints in the spine or other areas of the body that are not moving properly. Apart from manipulation, chiropractors may use a variety of techniques including ice, heat, ultrasound, exercise and acupuncture as well as advice about posture and lifestyle.

28/11/2023

OSTEOPATHS-What do they do?
Osteopaths are allied health professionals that offer patient-centred approaches to healthcare and functional improvement which recognise the important link between the structure of the body and the way it functions. Osteopaths focus on how the skeleton, joints, muscles, nerves, circulation, connective tissue and internal organs function as a holistic unit.
Osteopaths use a range of approaches to enhance function, including manual therapy (mobilisation, stretching, massage and manipulation for ligaments and joints), exercise therapy and programming, equipment prescription, lifestyle advice and patient education. Osteopaths determine the mix and frequency of treatment and management approaches using skilled clinical evaluation and diagnostic approaches.
In Australia, osteopaths are government registered practitioners who complete minimum accredited university training in anatomy, physiology, pathology, general healthcare diagnosis and osteopathic techniques.
Osteopaths are primary healthcare practitioners and are trained to recognize conditions that require medical referral. They are also trained to perform standard examinations of the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory and nervous systems.