Baker Holland Osteopathy

06/04/2026

Took the very dirty and ‘missing several important bones’ skeleton in The Northampton Clinic home with me today, as part of the on-going refresh of the Osteo room there. Gave him a nice hot bath. Maybe too hot, as some of his discs fell out while he was soaking! What fascinated me when reassembling him was how each disc (when I got the right level for each disc) slotted into its home perfectly. Very easy to feel when I had not got it in the correct place. A place for everything, and everything in its place.

01/04/2026

Great graphics and a useful summary of how bones respond to strain/strength training.

26/03/2026

From April 1st, the ‘rules’ on how a GP (primary care) can refer you into secondary care in the NHS are changing. In simple terms, the initial referral will not result in you automatically visiting a specialist (in many cases this has been so for a while), it will be an email exchange between GP and specialist, providing advice and guidance. The aim is to reduce outpatient waiting lists. The specialist may decide, of course, that they do want to see you, but if your symptoms can be managed with the GP being guided or advised on steps to take, the specialist may not need to see you. This saves everyone time and reduces demand in a system that is heavily burdened.
This might also mean that you need to take a more proactive role in ensuring that your concerns are represented accurately by the GP, especially if you are have a complex health history, or if you and the GP do not necessarily see eye to eye on your situation.
Osteopaths will be happy to write a letter for you when referring you to your GP - don’t be afraid to ask for this. They can summarise the key points of your issue, and present why this matters to you in particular, which may help you feel more confident undertaking the discussion with the GP.

12/03/2026

Hi everyone,

I’m sharing the flyer for the Black Men’s Wellbeing Festival that my Northampton Clinic colleague, Taffy, has been involved in organising. It’s an online series running over 8 weeks and focuses on mental health, wellbeing and community conversations.

As many of you will know, Black men tend to be underrepresented when it comes to accessing therapy and early help seeking, so this is an important area to publicise.

I’d really appreciate it if you could share or forward the flyer to any individuals, groups, or organisations you think might benefit from it. It’s open to anyone, but particularly aimed at Black men across the UK.

Thank you.

Milton Keynes Talking Therapies, together with our community partners, invite you to the Black Men’s Well-Being Festival.

09/03/2026

More interesting nuggets on the paper I linked in my previous post. TLDR: running can help rejuvenate degenerative discs. Extra discovery: BMI (body mass index) did not negatively impact the rejuvenation. So it doesn’t matter what size you are, a moderate amount of running can be effective . Talking of which, the amount of running was approximately 2.4 - 3.8km PER WEEK!

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00586-026-09759-7

06/03/2026

I have mentioned this to some of you before, but here is a link to a new paper that reports there is some promising evidence that a program of running is associated with improvements to intervertebral disc health (and therefore may help people suffering from chronic low back pain where their intervertebral discs are degenerated).

Samanna, C., Neason, C., Tagliaferri, S. et al. Running is associated with intervertebral disc adaptations: a pre-planned secondary analysis of the ASTEROID randomised controlled trial. Eur Spine J (2026).

Purpose To identify patient and intervention factors that moderate the effects of running on intervertebral disc health (IVD) in adults with non‑specific chronic low back pain. Methods Pre‑planned secondary analysis of a 12-week parallel-group (1:1) randomised controlled trial of 40 adults with ...

27/02/2026

In clinic, I often ask about what sort of things people eat and although I am not a nutritionist, I know enough to spot when there is room for improvement. Raised myself in the era where fat in the diet was vilified, and carbs were prioritised, I can well understand that many of us continue eating as we always have, without realising advice changes, and also, as we age, so do our dietary requirements. Older adults often over-consume carbs and under-consume protein and fats. If you know your weight in KGs, it is recommended to eat between 1 and 2 grams of protein per KG of bodyweight, every day. Protein helps maintain muscle mass as we age/lose weight, makes us better satiated after a meal, helps keep our immune systems running well - and many other things necessary for good health. Sources include meat and fish, pulses and legumes, milk, yogurt, eggs and tofu.
(Picture credit © Chernetskaya | Stock Free Images).

23/02/2026

Over age 50, as many as 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men may develop osteoporosis. Arthritis UK have a wealth of useful information about how to protect yourself from its effects. Have a look at this link.

One in three women and one in five men over the age of 50 will be diagnosed with .

There’s a great deal you can do at different stages in your life to help protect yourself against osteoporosis, or ways to live better with the condition.

Find out more: https://www.arthritis-uk.org/information-and-support/understanding-arthritis/conditions/osteoporosis/

15/12/2025

Almost a wrap on another year! Many thanks to my loyal customers. It is a privilege and a delight to have a hand in supporting your health and comfort. 🎄

12/11/2025

(Cough) So, it is almost a year off, but next year will be a milestone birthday year for me. Just doing some reading about various benefits I will become entitled to - can’t wait!

As you enter your 50s and 60s, you should be able to take advantage of a whole range of discounts on various services. While more of these are aimed at over-60s than over-50s, it’s still worth knowing what’s out there to look forward to. Here, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best discount...

11/11/2025

A handy guide from Arthritis Action, about common painkillers, prescribed for symptoms of different forms of arthritis.

A lot of the medicines used for arthritis have long names, and it can be hard to know what they all do.

Our Medications Guide breaks down the jargon and explains some of the most commonly used treatments in plain language.

Read more here: www.arthritisaction.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Medication-and-Arthritis.pdf

27/10/2025

I’m always reminding people to practice your balance. Here is someone else, agreeing with me!