Researchers have found a link between a super common food additive and chronic pain. A study of chronic pain sufferers found that when they reduced their intake of the flavour enhancer GLUTAMATE.
The results of reducing glutamate intake was compared with the use of painkilling medications, and was reported to be roughly the same.
To find out if there is glutamate in your diet, look for the following names:
Glutamate is also a naturally occurring chemical in some foods, like soy sauce and parmesan cheese, but is more commonly found as a food …

In last weeks post I talked about the 3 most common causes of back pain in schoolkids. First on the list was a heavy backpack, which is defined as a backpack weighing more than 10% of the child’s body weight. Previous studies using MRI scans have shown that when the weight of the backpack gets much above this, the discs start to become compressed, and the spine starts to curve, probably because the children were trying to find a comfortable position. The danger here is that in addition to the compression, …

Hola Amigos! And Feliz Navidad! Let me wish you all a wonderful festive season, safe travels if you are going away, fun and happiness with your loved ones, and a bit of time off so you can recover from a massive year and prepare for the one ahead.
If you need anything fixed up before the end of the year it’s best to call ASAP – I am still working all of next week but spots are running out fast.
I am going on my Honeymoon (at last!!!), leaving December 23rd and …

Inspired by all those reality TV home renovation shows, we have decided to give the clinic a bit of a makeover! For a couple of weeks in late October we will be rolling up our sleeves and getting the grout out which means a few changes in working hours over that time.
Call us on the usual number – 9389 6344 to make appointments. We will be working from pretty much the same address in the clinic next door to us on level 8. You will be given directions when you …

The answer is probably yes! According to a recent article on the Sydney Morning Herald website, “Millions of Australians are taking too many painkillers”. And some of these medications have quite serious side effects. Here are a few key quotes from the article:

“taking higher doses of something like ibuprofen or aspirin, you’re at a higher risk of gastric bleeds, stomach ulcers and bad indigestion”
“Paracetamol is actually really toxic once you get to certain doses, affecting people’s livers in ways that are not easily reversible, and people can die.”
“Ibuprofen-codeine tablets, such as Nurofen …

The New York Times posted a really interesting article this week (click here if you want to read it), about the effectiveness (or otherwise), of common surgical procedures. We kind of assume that a doctor won’t recommend surgery for us unless we really need it, and unless it’s going to fix us. After all, there are significant risks and costs involved in surgery, so there must be compelling reasons for them to recommend it, right? Turns out that may not be the case.
As they noted, surgery is not regulated in the …

There has been a lot of research over the years on the best way to warm up. Athletes want to know the right way to do it so that they can do their best performance when it counts. But it’s equally important to be able to reduce the risk of injury so you can run hard without hurting yourself. Is there a way to warm up that achieves both goals – optimal performance and minimal risk of injury? Should you do static stretching or dynamic stretching? Should you jog and …

As an Osteopath I see a lot of people with disc injuries. People are understandably concerned about doing damage to their discs, as they play an important role in the structural integrity of the spine, and live very close to nerves and the spinal cord, so they can cause a lot of pain and other problems.
There have been a number of studies where researchers take members of the general population and perform scans on them. they are trying to find out how many people actually have a particular injury. For …

Kevin MD recently posted an article where he reviewed the effectiveness of various injections commonly used for low back pain. These consist of  local anesthetics, steroids like cortisone, and pain meds. The article included a summary of an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, as well as notes from a couple of other reviews previously done on whether injections work well for low back pain. The news wasn’t good:

In a review of 18 trials, only 6 found that the injections had a positive effect. The authors of this review concluded …

I recently read a really interesting study on Disc Degeneration, and what causes it (I know, I need to get a life). As a lot of you either have a little degeneration or are concerned about it developing I thought I’d share the findings of this study.
The first interesting point worth noting is that degeneration is a Progressive Process – ie it is not a one off event. Over time, repeatedly doing everyday activities can cause the structure to fail and this will accelerate the aging/degeneration process.
The study says looking …