I’m often asked whether losing weight would help a particular problem. For example, “If I lost a few kilos, would it help my back pain?”.
I think that if someone is overweight, then losing a few kilos is a good idea anyway, as there are so many general health benefits to maintaining a healthy weight.
But I wasn’t really sure if it would help a particular injury. What I mean by that is I think if you have back pain, you should try to fix your back. If you just lose weight, …

Yes they can. And according to the latest research, they do it as effectively as medications.
This is great news for people like me who love a sneaky disco nap. And it’s great news for any of you taking blood pressure medication. After all, who wouldn’t love to be taking less medications!
In a 2019 article on the website MedicalNewsToday, 212 people were studied. These were not the healthiest people – average age of 62, plenty of smokers and people with type 2 diabetes. Yet even with these complicating factors, the study found …

I love Salt n Pepa so much.
Anyway, in this post I wanted to talk about sleep. I had a cold a couple of weeks ago and even though it was pretty mild, I couldn’t shake it because I kept having interrupted sleep. I have also seen a few people recently who have been having problems with sleep, and jaw clenching, and migraines, so it’s been on my mind.
As you know we work next door to a great clinic with a few Naturopaths and Nutritionists. I went and had a chat …

Yes, gold. The same gold that might currently be adorning your wrist has been found to be an effective anti-inflammatory. Is there nothing it can’t do?
The first question I had was “who ate their Rolex to discover this?”. The second question was “how much will a packet of gold nurofen’s cost?” The third was “WHO ATE THEIR ROLEX!?!” I mean, how on earth did they discover that gold works as an anti-inflammatory?
Well, the answer to that lies in the length of time medications are effective. Scientists were trying to work …

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has released new guidelines on the treatment of osteoarthritis. The guidelines “rubbished popular and “fad” treatments for osteoarthritis (OA), including opioids, acupuncture, glucosamine, stem cell therapy, insoles and surgery “.
That’s right, the medical association is now “strongly warning against surgeries such as knee arthroscopy, meniscectomy and cartilage repair” when it comes to hip and knee arthritis.
Instead, they suggest things like exercise and weight loss. I recently posted an article on how weight loss reduces pressure in the knee, after studies showed that “for every …

That was the title of an article on The Conversation website a couple of weeks ago. Here is the link to the article, as well as a few choice quotes I have selected as a quick summary:
“Knee surgery is common. Young adults have their anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed after tearing it when playing sports. Middle-aged people have parts of their meniscus trimmed when they have pain and limited knee mobility. And older people have their knees replaced by metal and plastic when their cartilage has worn out. The idea that …

I get asked this question a lot. And until recently, I thought it made a bit of difference, but if you had good strength and sufficient joint mobility carrying a few extra kilos probably wouldn’t be that big a deal. For your joints at least. Being overweight is associated with all kinds of other health problems, so maintaining a healthy weight is in your best interested regardless.
But now we know exactly how much pressure your joints take on when you take on extra weight. According to a study of overweight …

Super exciting news! We have a Myotherapist joining the clinic! Jess Goodwin is a Sports Therapist who studied in the UK before moving to Sydney and setting up Sydney Sports Therapy in Oatley. A Sports Therapist is the UK equivalent of a Myotherapist.

Myotherapists do university degrees studying how to diagnose and treat soft tissue injuries, so they’re basically the most highly qualified massage therapist you will ever see. I love seeing them myself so I’m really happy we are going to have one here!

There aren’t many Myotherapists here in …

A recent article on the Sydney Morning Herald website has summarised “the best available research on preventing cognitive decline and dementia”.
There are a variety of recommendations based on statistical data showing the common traits and pastimes of Australians. The researchers looked at the behaviours of people who went on to develop dementia and tried to find the differences between them and people who did not, to see what might make a difference, and why.
According to the article “more than a third of Australians aged between 70 and 90 will develop …

A recent article on The Guardian website claims that “Vast numbers of people with lower back pain across the world are being harmed, not helped, by the surgery, injections and dangerous opioid drugs they are given, according to a major new report”.
The report they refer to is a series of articles published on the medical website The Lancet, which concludes that:

“Investigating using MRI scans is counterproductive, the experts say.”
“MRIs will pick up physical abnormalities that may not be the source of the pain.”
“Scans often result in surgery or other interventions, but the …