What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 4pm Tuesday 9am - 3pm Wednesday 9am - 4pm Thursday 9am - 1pm Friday 12pm - 3pm

https://www.facebook.com/382403595143574/

The Barefoot Therapist

Home
United Kingdom
Eastbourne
The Barefoot Therapist

A runner fuelled by Werthers and Hot Chocolate. A Sports Therapist that thinks outside the shoebox 📦 Provision of Sports Massage is from a home clinic.

Sports Therapist with 40 years experience of athletics, running and physical body management, and dedicated to an active life, which endeavours to get to the source of the problem to assist the body to heal itself. Sports therapist for AEGON International Tennis Championships 2009-12, and International Davis Cup Tennis July 2010. Clients from all walks of life (juniors up to 90 years of age), and as a sub three-hour marathon runner; I understand the mind performance required to achieve championship results. Regular clients include:· International and County Tennis Players, and liaisons with tennis coach and personal trainers,· International Running Athletes and County level Road Runners,· International Tri-athletes, and Cyclists,· Former Four times Olympian Fencing ChampionContinued Professional Development includes weekly session with Sports Massage Teacher.

26/03/2026

Running and the effect on knee joint cartilage 🏃‍♀️👣👍

A summary below, and there are many other reviews that indicate running itself is not the cause of knee cartilage wear and tear ⤵️

✳️ Objective: Although running can cause inevitable stress to the joints, data regarding its effect on the cartilage of the knee are conflicting. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of running on knee joint cartilage.

✅️ Conclusions: Running has advantages in promoting nutrition penetrating into the cartilage as well as squeezing out the metabolic substance, such as water. The study found that running had a short-term adverse effect on COMP (carti7lage oligomeric matrix protein) and did not affect cartilage volume or thickness.

Click here for the full scientific review ⤵️
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33279802/

Nb this sculpture was created without knees..just incase you were wondering... name the location if you can? 🤔🖼🎨👩‍🎨📖 😁

💪🏃‍♀️
🤞👍👣

25/03/2026

COLD WATER IMMERSION 💧 🌊🧜‍♀️💙

Cold water may be one of the simplest ways to train your body's adaptability. But most people are doing it wrong.

Here is what actually happens inside your body the moment you get in:
In one lab experiment, volunteers stepped into cold water for just a few minutes. When researchers drew their blood immediately after, norepinephrine had spiked by more than 200%. Some hit 300%. From a single exposure.

Norepinephrine is the hormone your brain releases when it needs to survive something. It sharpens focus, increases alertness, and prepares your muscles to work harder. Cold water triggers it more powerfully than almost anything else short of intense exercise.
But that is just the beginning.

🧠 Dopamine rises more slowly and stays elevated long after you step out. This is why people describe an "afterglow" that lingers for hours.

🔥 Behind your collarbones and near your kidneys sits brown fat, a tissue most people never think about. Cold water is its on-switch. It burns calories to generate heat, pulls sugar from your bloodstream, and improves insulin sensitivity. Ten days of mild cold exposure improved insulin sensitivity by roughly 40% in one study. That is what some diabetes medications promise.

⚡ After just one to two weeks of regular cold exposure, people shiver less, warm faster, and their brown fat becomes more active. The body is not just tolerating the cold. It is learning from it.

The science on what is actually happening inside the body is far more nuanced than the social media version of "cold plunge equals good." Metabolic shifts, immune adaptations, thermoregulatory changes: context and dose determine outcome. Like most things in biology, more is not always better.

Start small. Stay consistent. Let adaptation lead.👌💧🌊🧜‍♀️💙

Thank you Dr. Laurie Marbas for the details of why we feel like we do👌🫶💧🌊🧜‍♀️💙

🌊🧜‍♀️💙
🫶👌👏

24/03/2026

RUNNING WITH KNEE PAIN 😬😒😪🦵🦴👀
:- WHAT IS OSTEOARTHRITIS🤔

Osteoarthritis is the Knee Pain
➡️ Let me explain…
The first thing I would like to make clear to any reader that has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis as a cause of their knee pain, is that the pain you feel is absolutely real, in many cases it can be severe, causes an awful lot of disability and most importantly, it deserves an explanation.

It is my strong belief that osteoarthritis is one of the most over-diagnosed, and mis-understood conditions that I see. A simple diagnosis of osteoarthritis can change someone’s life, and not for the better. 👍

So let’s put osteoarthritis in the dock, charged with meaninglessness and creating undue fear, and partake in a bit of cross-examination.

▶️ The Word Osteoarthritis is Meaningless
Let’s start this investigation with some definitions.🔎

We’re are looking at the most common form of arthritis; Osteoarthritis. “Osteo” means related to bones. “Arthro” means related to joints and “itis” means inflammation.
So the term literally means bony / joint inflammation. Now the problem I have with this word is two-fold:

Bone/joint inflammation is more of an observation than a meaningful diagnosis. It doesn’t tell us anything about WHY the person is in pain.🤔

It creates fear😬. The word osteoarthritis is synonymous with getting older, wearing out, crumbling away, disability, decreasing mobility and progressing e.g. it only gets worse.

➡️There are no ‘bad’ exercises for knee pain, or any condition for that matter. It’s just about understanding that some exercises are more stressful on the joint, than others, and additional factors such as adding weight, increased repetitions, duration, speed, surface, footwear will also effect the stress going through the joint.

Well worth a read, including rehab and stress loading exercises ⤵️
https://www.kinetic-revolution.com/knee-osteoarthritis-running-what-you-need-to-know/

Also, just watch a cat...they have got it right! Sleep, move, stretch, stare, eat, and repeat ☺🐈😼

Sharing for a few friends .....👌🫶🤗
SydSnippets

23/03/2026

? 👣👣👣 When the morning weather may not be inviting, sea fog, mist and chilly, change your attitude about how you 'see' things. It would seem it's jade today😁, and it also warms up by the end of your run (inside and outside 🏃‍♀️🌞💪).

Time to spread one's wings ready to fly 🪶

22/03/2026

To , or ❤️🤕❓️
A good question, and needs individual assesment on a case by case merit🤔🤕
Personally, I have a preference for & 🫶❤️👌
While the R.I.C.E. protocol remains a valuable framework for injury management, recent evidence and evolving perspectives suggest that a more individualised and active approach may be more beneficial. Read all about it in this newly updated Physiopedia page on the topic

A good read 👉 ⤵️
https://www.physio-pedia.com/RICE

21/03/2026

💥Bunion Rehab💥

🎯 A bunion, also called "Hallux Valgus", is a progressive foot deformity in which the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint is gradually "subluxed" (pushing the joint out of its normal position), resulting in the "growth" we see pointing inwardly at the big toe

🚨 However, this isn't actually a "growth", but positional changes in the bones of the joint that cause it to look this way

📌 Development of a bunion is often caused by repetitively wearing too tight of shoes, and is further made worse if the person either lacks ankle mobility and/or arch strength, which can lead to a compensatory flattening of the arch and flaring out of the toes so that the person rolls off the inner edge of the toe rather than the middle portion

📌 At it's later stages, this positional change can lead to pain and functional impairments, such as difficulty walking and running

✅ The first line of treatment is physical therapy, which may consist of:

🔹 Adjusting footwear to those with a wider and deeper toe box
🔹 Increasing extension mobility of the 1st MTP joint (big toe)
🔹 Increasing ankle dorsiflexion mobility
🔹 Orthotics to unload the area and support the arch
🔹 Gait training (Focused on depressing and rolling off of the ball of the big toe)
🔹 Strengthening of the intrinsic and extrinsic arch muscles of the foot

🎥 Today's post includes exercises that focus on improving extension mobility of the 1st MTP joint (big toe), improving ankle dorsiflexion mobility, and arch control/strength:

1️⃣ Great Toe Extension Stretch - Open Chain
2️⃣ Great Toe Joint Mobilisation
3️⃣ Great Toe Extension Stretch - Closed Chain
4️⃣ Active Great Toe Extension - Seated
5️⃣ Great Toe Abduction Stretch
6️⃣ Ankle Dorsiflexion Mobilisation - Foot on Bench
7️⃣ Standing Short Foot with Band - 2 Feet

Thanks for the share Dr. Caleb Burgess DPT, OCS, CSCS 👌👍

👣🦶

20/03/2026

⏫️ STAIRS ⏬️

You’re walking past an opportunity for a workout every single day. 💪🦴🏋‍♀️👌

Stairs build bone density (impact triggers osteoblast activity).

✅️They spike heart rate (4-minute heart benefit). 🩷
✅️They strengthen legs (the muscles that predict your independence). 💪
✅️They improve balance (fall prevention).⚖️
✅️They clear blood sugar (large muscle activation).
And they’re already in your house.🏡 Take the stairs twice a day with intention. Not as a chore. As a prescription. Every step is a deposit into the body you’ll need in 20, 40, 60 years.

As a Sports Therapist working upstairs in a treatment room, I use the stairs a minimum of 4 x per client, and have done for the last 25 years, I think I'm getting a good work out! 💪😁

Obviously walking down the stairs is as good a good a work out too, especially with no hands, however, only if your balance is as good as the cat! 🐈💪😁

19/03/2026

🦴💪🏃‍♀️🏋‍♀️🤸‍♀️🚴‍♀️💪🫶
Every joint, every tendon, every muscle keeps a quiet record of how you treat it.
Every sprint, every heavy lift, every day you ignored recovery gets written down and by the time you reach your 50s or 60s, the consequences show: stiffness, aches, slower reflexes, and lost mobility.

The people you see running at 75 didn’t push recklessly in their 30s, they trained with care, respected their limits, and prioritised recovery.

Too often, we are told to “just take it easy,” and then wonder why stairs, sidewalks, or carrying groceries feel risky. Recovery is a strategy that protects your independence, your bones, and your freedom.

Thanks for the reminder Dr. Howard Luks 👌🫶

The important extra.....MAKE IT FUN 😉😁🤪
Thanks Kate for embracing the important extra 😁👌🩷👏

18/03/2026

*Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy * 😬😮‍💨😔🫤

Today is about
"A pain in the butt!! 😳😬😓

A some point in your running lifetime you will probably experience hamstring or glute injuries or niggles....sad BUT true. Especially after an event or race...and it's that time of year, Centurion Running TCS London Marathon and so on...👣

See below for an in-depth article about how these muscle groups work, and more importantly HOW to and get back to running again....... 🙏💪👊👣🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Click here ⤵️ https://www.physio-pedia.com/Proximal_Hamstring_Tendinopathy

17/03/2026

*Sports Massage* What is it? 🤔

This weeks blog is looking at . It analyses what sports massage really is. It looks at what therapists think it is, and queries whether our clients understand what it is. It also looks at why this particular type of might be so confusing. ⁣
⁣
The blog discusses a considered view of what sports massage can be, so if any of you are confused, and would like to understand what sports massage really is, read a well written blog that provides a great insight by clicking the link below 👇⁣

https://www.susanfindlay.co.uk/what-is-sports-massage/

Thank you Susan Findlay a great summary👌🫶
💞 🙏👣🏃‍♀️
😬

16/03/2026

SPRING 2026 REHAB ALERT *Back Pain* 😬😳😰 🌱🍃🌷🪻🌼

Working with a client, I found this article to be very useful for the rehab exercises I suggested. It makes sense to share it with others...especially all of you trying to stay active or returning to fitness from injury....👣😊👏 .

Pain or weakness in the lower back, any restrictions with hip flexors? Then this a great little article to help strengthen the sacroiliac joint (SIJ).
Or as Syd would say.... 😼😺🐈 or (chasing your tail in the video below 😉😁🐈💪)

There are several muscles that connect to the sacrum, hip bones, or p***s bones and help support the pelvis and sacroiliac joint, including those in the groin, thighs, abdomen, and lower back. If these muscles are poorly conditioned and unable to adequately support the SI joint and pelvis, pain may develop....and usually does!!

SydSnippets

Click below for the full article ⤵️ https://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/strengthening-exercises-sacroiliac-joint-pain-relief

Address

55 Sydney Road
Eastbourne
BN228BQ

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 4pm
Tuesday	9am - 3pm
Wednesday	9am - 4pm
Thursday	9am - 1pm
Friday	12pm - 3pm

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The Barefoot Therapist posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to The Barefoot Therapist:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Eastbourne?