https://www.facebook.com/316811201508213/

Ewen McDonald Osteopath, London (2025)

02/09/2024

Osteo’s… am I right?

Exercises shouldn’t be complicated, they should challenge you, push your limits just enough, but they certainly should not be taking hours out of your day, or feel like an absolute chore.

I try to avoid this by focusing on three main points:

1. Keep them stimulating - no-one wants to do chin tucks and glute bridges.

2. Ensure they can all be done within a 15-20 minute time frame - unless you are a pro athlete, you don’t want to spend hours on end per day just doing resistance band work.

3. Simplicity is key, the more complicated, the more unlikely the exercise will be to be able to replicate.

The form of rehab is one that's not time consuming, replicable and most importantly - fun!

So if you want to get back to doing some rapid dancing like the guys above, drop me a DM!

01/09/2024

Today I want to talk about the power of the mind, to give everyone a bit of insight into how important mental state is when it comes to understanding your pain as a whole.

So a patient of mine (who we will call Alice) that I saw for a few sessions through University, still shines out as a prime example for me, and believe it or not, I see similar cases to this far too often.

Alice is an elderly lady, who struggled with recurrent knee pain for many years following a total knee replacement. She originally came for management of stiffness in her lower back due to the alterations in the way she walked for the years post operation.

Now, the thing is.. After visiting the clinic for literally years of treatment… No matter which Osteopath she saw, she wasn’t really getting any better - and having joined that list of unsuccessful practitioners I put my bruised ego aside, I started to wonder why….

It wasn’t until I started to work on Alice’s “dodgy” knee that I realised the cause. You see, Alice's “knee pain” was actually non-existent. And after several weeks of convincing her that she COULD fully weight bear on it, that she COULD move freely with it, that the pain she had PRE operation was no longer present POST operation, she started to move more freely, and with greater range of motion than she had done in the previous 20 years of her life.

Her entire mental and physical state improved, she had a spring in her step.. And the best part?

Her back pain literally VANISHED.

You see, Alice’s psyche had been the issue all along, she had been holding herself back with the worry that movement would cause her pain to the point that she had actually created new pain for herself. Her movement avoidances had got her down to the point that she felt doomed to be able to be her normal self, and with this her general posture had changed to that of a defeated person, with chronic worry constantly on her mind.

The moral of the story? It’s important, in a post- COVID era, more than ever that we do not allow mindset to best us. You’d be surprised with how much your body can do if you have the confidence to just go for it!

Give me your comments below on whether you have experienced something similar…

30/08/2024

Myth busting time…

Disc’s don’t “slip”, it’s a misconception older than time that rears its ugly head time and time again throughout my working week.

Patient’s come in to the clinic and say “INSERT IDIOT PRACTITIONER HERE told me that I had a slipped disc, and that they needed to push it back in for me”

Que facepalm…… if ONLY it were that simple.

So if they don’t slip, and we can’t actively “push them back in” with our hands - what’s the point in Osteopathy, or any form of manual therapy when it comes to that point?

Well here’s a few:

🦴 Pain reduction - We know that Osteo treatment can reduce pain by enhancing blood flow, stimulating the human-opioid system and reduce muscle tone via neuromodulation and neurological reflex.

🦴Temporarily improve functional range of motion - this will aid in you getting better “alignment” or more accurately put, it’ll get back to whatever normal alignment is for you specifically.

🦴 Reduce localised inflammation - passive joint mobilisation has been shown to improve lymphatic and venous drainage, thus reducing inflammation and decreasing the production of cytokines that exacerbate tissue damage.

If you have been directly misled by any health professional, and want more information regarding your disc injury, please drop me a DM - I’ll be happy to give you more information, and help you out!

Message me the word “DISC”

28/08/2024

You’ll either be in one of these two boats today…

Boat 1) You’ve decided that this week is your week of CHANGE and you’ve took action and said goodbye to the pain that’s been holding you back (like Mark, Pete and Paul who have joined me this year and all have significantly improved their quality of life to name a few)

OR

Boat 2) You WANT to change - but something is holding you back. Whether that’s time, your environment, lack of support or anything similar.

Now if you’re in boat 1… congratulations. I know what it feels like to feel empowered by the sudden reduction of pain, to have a better understanding of how to combat the pain yourself and to have the support and guidance of an expert to take you from a to z. As a result of this I know your life has changed for the better.

If you’re in boat 2…

I want to let you know something…

With professional help, commitment and putting yourself first for once you too can get back to doing the things you used to love, like gardening pain free, or starting to run again or maybe even just lifting up your grandchildren without sudden pain rearing it’s ugly head!

And even better.

I’ll show you exactly how to achieve these things just within one visit. So that in just 30 days you can reach your maximum potential in living a pain free life.

Don’t let things drift too far.

Message me “FREEDOM” and let’s chat.

27/08/2024

10 thoughts on keeping lower back pain at bay whilst drinking my Tuesday morning coffee…

1. When back pain strikes, and all you think you should be doing is lying face up all day - guess again.. Movement is medicine.

2. Keeping active through a combination of strength and cardio training will keep you off of an Osteopath’s treatment couch.

3. Saying “you don’t have time” to go to the gym, but yet you’re sat here scrolling social media…

4. Majority of people experiencing back pain will visit an Osteopath only when things are at their worst - typically ending up having a minimum of 6 sessions in short concession to get them back to where they need to be, how about spreading those 6 sessions across 12 months and keeping OUT of pain instead?

6. Diet and sleep are just as important for successful management of pain as doing core work is, if you aren’t resting efficiently, what chance does your body really have?

7. Saying your body is “knackered” is just another excuse to not take the bull by the horns and start your journey towards better health.

8. Pain is often an element of life, and it isn’t always necessarily a “bad” thing - especially when it comes to rehab.

9. Spending £65 every two months on your health is far more beneficial than £65 a weekend on the p**s.

10. Pulling someones head off with a Y Strap is sh*te… stop asking me to do it to you. 😂

Ahhh coffee. Helpful? Hit the likey-likey to let me know 👊

26/08/2024

Jade thought her neck pain was something she would have to “deal with” for the rest of her life.

But what Jade NEVER had access to was this…

👉 Expert testing and diagnosis of her neck pain.

👉 Skilled, hands on care.

👉 Targeting, individualised rehabilitation designed for HER. Not just some random exercise printed from a text book and thrown in her direction.

👉 Confidence in herself to overcome her pain.

And guess what.. Now shes pain free!

So if you’re wanting to get rid of that pain thats held you back for years, you want to become stronger without having to doubt yourself again, message me “FIX ME” and let’s chat.

25/08/2024

I remember my first visit to an Osteopath.

I was 24 years old, I’d had a back spasm that had floored me, Literally. (I was on the hallway floor at 6am from trying to put my shoes on)

And whilst I lay there in agony, I couldn’t help but think… I’m only 25, this shouldn’t be happening!

I went into the clinic with low expectations, but came out feeling a million bucks… Well, maybe not right away, but within a month my Osteo had me running, cycling and back to playing rugby.

Not only this, but he helped me understand that back pain has no number. Disc injuries for instance are actually far more likely to occur in a younger population than an older one due to disc hydration being greater (1).

The moral of the story is, don’t feel guilty when your body tells you no, see a professional, get gold standard advice, return to your sport and most importantly… it can happen to anyone, young or old, it’s about how you get through it that matters.

It’s what inspired me to become an Osteopath in the first place.

References:
(Adams, M.A. and Roughley, P.J., 2006. Age-related changes in intervertebral disc composition and their relevance to disc pathogenesis. Spine (Phila Pa 1976), 31(23), pp.2641-2652.

23/08/2024

My ‘non sugar coated’ thoughts on this quote…

“Your mattress is the root cause of your pain”

Let me tell you this…

It’s okay to buy a new mattress. Who doesn’t love the feeling of a memory foam waterbed with a built in deep tissue massager and infrared lasers….. 👀

No, but in all seriousness, if the sleep industry had their way, this is what we would all be sleeping on. The industry in the UK is worth £3 billion, and there’s a reason for that.

Now I’m not saying we all need to be avoiding creature comforts entirely, but picture this, early humans slept on the ground, utilising materials such as grass and leaves… It was not until skilled hunting began that we even used animal hides as bedding.

“But Ewen, human’s barely lived past their 30th birthday in those days” - I’m aware, but my point is still valid. Over the past 2-300,000 years we have evolved, or perhaps “devolved” to require our orthopedic mattress and pillow in order to get out forty winks.

Positional related pain from sleep positions is a simple problem to solve - become stronger and more flexible in your waking life, and as a result you will be far less likely to experience pain after sleeping for 8 hours.

Remember - the human body is a complex, multifaceted unit of emotion, nociception and subconscious response, if you are lying in a position for too long, your body will recognise this, and move.. Think about it, how many times have you woken up in the exact same position that you fell asleep in?

Want to hear more non sugar coated thoughts? Give this post a double tap.

22/08/2024

You see Mo here?

He’s just left me a lovely review about how i managed to get him back into shape for his hockey season...

And now his life is going to be 10 times better, knowing how to manage his pain should it return in the future…

That's life changing.

And if you think having a high work demand, not having the time, or not having the money will stop you…

…you’re wrong.

Because EVERY patient I work with has these (what they used to think hurdles)

But the only thing stopping you from achieving what Mo just did is yourself, the lack of support and the framework to get there.

The good news is I’ll give you EVERYTHING you need to [insert dream desire] and allow you to fully believe in yourself again - no matter how long it’s been since you did.

Are you ready?

Message me “INTERESTED” for more details and let’s chat.

21/08/2024

It only feels like yesterday I was speaking about how much opportunity you have in 2024 to get back to doing the sport or activity you once loved..

And now here we are, 7 months down.

We’ve seen the new year fly past us… as always.

But where are YOU currently with your plan of action, is pain still holding you back?

Is 2024 going to be the year you decide to fully lean in and see a health professional…

Or not?

Let me just tell you,

You still have more than enough time and opportunity to return to your sport, pain free and with new motivation and expert knowledge to get to a level you’ve not managed before...

…but I’ll be transparent… the time to take action was yesterday, my friend.

So if you’re ready. I’m ready.

Drop me a message and let’s explore what we can make happen.

Ewen McDonald Osteopath

02/09/2024

01/09/2024

30/08/2024

28/08/2024

27/08/2024

26/08/2024

25/08/2024

23/08/2024

22/08/2024

21/08/2024

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category