The Butterfly Effect

We are all familiar with the butterfly effect.  An event in the past, determines the future. Now, instead of using a time frame, let’s apply that example to your body frame. Now, instead of using time frame, let’s apply that example to your body frame. Repeatedly, it is too common to see pain in the knee, hip or lower back because of your feet and ankles, ongoing pointless treatments in the area of pain will leave you with a doubt in your mind. Soon you will start to believe that you are unfixable.

So, why do ankles and feet cause those popular joint pains?

Well, imagine you are building a house, from scratch. The first thing you will do is make sure that the foundation is safe, strong and straight. You then proceed with adding walls on top of that foundation. If the foundation is crooked, it will be the cause of malformed walls. If the foundation is weak, the walls won’t hold which could end catastrophically. Within your body, feet are the foundation. They hold everything, your weight and those laptop bags you hang off your shoulders and back. Your legs are the walls in this imaginary house. Imagine if feet (foundation) caved in, it will have the “butterfly effect” on the legs (walls), leaving you lopsided in the upper body (roof). To summaries, you ankles and feet are the core to stable, strong and soreness-free joints.

Bones and muscles in your body work together to produce movement, in quite complicated way, but one fundamental fact is that muscles only pull. They never push. This, undeniably, means that any tight muscle will be pulling at some end of your joint.  In my previous blog, “what is tension”, I stressed that all muscles have a partner in crime, which performs opposite motion. Effectively, if “a muscle” shortens, its partner “b muscle” will lengthen.  All of this will cause imbalances in number of joints, if not treated specifically. If this is not corrected, the effects will carry on traveling up the body. Eventually you will start to feel pain in the weak – lengthened muscles.

Most will proceed with massaging and stretching the weak area, emphasizing elongation of already stretched area. This is why “sport massage therapy” is different. The point of sports massage therapy is to target the tight muscle only and to enhance the “balancing” effect, rather than just rubbing sore areas and hope for the best.  “Sports massage” does not mean that only “sports” people should have, it will be more important and beneficial for an office junkie than an active person.

As a sport massage therapist, I strongly suggest that you don’t wait for “butterfly effect” to get too far out of hand. If you spend up to 40 hours sitting behind the desk, you most likely already started developing muscular imbalances. Sooner or later, your joints will get painful, that’s when it will be a long, expensive and time consuming period, and it most likely will happen when you’re most stressed and need to be at your best.

Good Health!

Alex Zashtitin

Sports Massage Therapist

NHC

Squatting – The “King” of All Exercises

Squatting is the single most effective exercise that you can do to lose fat and tone/strengthen muscle. All it requires you to do is place a weight across your shoulders in a standing position, then proceed to bend your hips and knees and then stand back up again. The beauty of squatting lies with it’s relative simplicity and it’s ability to produce results and as such is a staple diet of world class athletes from almost every sporting discipline.

 Benefits of squatting (when performed properly):

1. The squat is a whole body exercise and works more muscles at a time than any other exercise. It teaches proper core stability by engaging stabilisers of the trunk which will build a strong abdominal region and low back.
2. It improves the posture of the upper back by strengthening muscles which are commonly weak due to poor posture, and by strengthening the shoulder stabilisers.
3. It strengthens the gluteus muscles and hamstrings, which are typically weak in the vast majority of low back pain patients that we see at the clinic. Weak gluteus muscles lead to overworked lumbar muscles which are a common area involved in general low back ache.
4. Learning correct squat technique teaches you how to lift properly by hinging at your hips, i.e lift with your hips/glutes not your “lift with your legs.” It also teaches you how to sit down and stand up correctly as these are two movements which are very commonly performed poorly by most people.

 Common technical errors (with squatting):

1. Knees moving inwards/towards each other during descent and/or ascent. This is usually due to weak glutes and is more likely to occur is the feet pronate (roll inwards).
2. Knees moving forwards past the big toe. This usually occurs when the person is standing too upright and not hinging properly/sufficiently at the hips. It is a sign of quad dominance usually coupled with weak glutes.
3. “Shallow” squatting. There is no rule with regards to how deep one should squat. Deeper squatting (i.e. below parallel) recruits more hamstring and VMO which are both important for stability and muscular balance around the knee joint as well as more glute recruitment as the hips undergo a greater range of motion. People with weaker glutes and/or quad dominance tend to have difficulty squatting deeper as they are unable to hinge through the hips.
4. Squatting “too deep.” The depth of a squat should be limited by the ability to keep the lumbar spine in neutral. During the whole squat the lower back must maintain it’s natural curve, if it begins to curve outwards then neutral posture has been lost. This is commonly caused by poor hip mobility.

 Let one of us at NHC help you to develop your technique so that you may enjoy the results.

Good Health!

Dr Hassan Zaid DC CCEP

NHC

What is Muscle Tension?

Muscle tension is a condition in which muscles remain semi-contracted for a prolonged period. It is normally caused by the physiological effects of stress and can lead to episodes of joint aches and pain. Common causes of physiological stress are demanding occupations, poor posture, repetitive motion, anxiety, tactless gym work outs, etc. It can lead to chronic pain, discomfort in the joints, headaches, may contribute to lack of concentration, limit your range of movement and even affect your physical performance. Muscle tension is typically managed with correct exercise, massage and rest.

 Now that we have established what muscle tension is, lets look deeper into what it actually means.  Muscle consists of a very smart tissue, it has the ability to shorten and lengthen in order to produce movement or stabilisation. On top of that, all muscles work in pairs or groups, there is no “I” when it comes to our muscles, they all work as a team to move or stabilise the body. For each tight muscle group there is a subsequent weak muscle group and vice versa. This is the foundation for muscular imbalances which make us prone to injuries and poor posture.  

 For example a muscle group that bends your knee will have an antagonist, that straightens the knee. Once a muscle flexes to the full range of motion, it automatically inhibits the antagonist from activating. If you keep that muscle shortened  for long enough it will start to become that shape, (shortened), causing the antagonists remain stretched.  Right away, you will not notice this change but as tightness continues to remain, it will weaken its antagonist, all which will leave you lop-sided. If this is not counterbalanced in time, the imbalance will develop by changing your posture, alternating your movement patterns and developing aches in some areas. Eventually the imbalance will reduce your capacity for physical performance, ability to perform sport, or picking up those socks that you have dropped on the floor. 

 Massage is a great way of giving your body that extra help with tension in short and tight musculature. The manipulation of soft tissue will encourage removal of biochemical waste in the muscle, encourage tissue nourishment and help to iron out those bundles of semi-contracted muscle fibres, permitting you to move in better range and make stretching a little more pleasant. Massage plays a very important role in preventing injuries in people that train hard and for those who just sit behind the desk for forty hours a week. By helping to re-balance the “tightened” vs “weakened” muscles, massage promotes a healthier posture and reduces imbalances, and of course, leaves you feeling just that little bit better about yourself too. 

 Exercise is also equally important, if not essential in correcting the muscular imbalances as massage. In fact for a complete re-balance you must combine massages with training and vice versa. If massage helps to relax the tight muscle, exercise will help to strengthen the weaker muscles, effectively pulling you back into balance. Fundamentally, exercise and massage complete each other, when we refer to correction of muscular tension/imbalances.  

Good Health!

Alex Zashtitin

Massage Therapist

Notting Hill Chiropractic

Peak Performance

Overreaching can develop as result of intense training. This is often desired by elite athletes, to achieve an over-compensatory effect. Short recovery time before increased performance.

Overtraining is a long term condition as a result of too much exercise. Decreased performance is experienced with a long recovery time lasting from weeks to years.

All athletes strive towards better performance and results in their sport, but there is a fine line not to be crossed. Training is like building a house of cards. A wide foundation can allow for a high apex, but positioning the last cards gets trickier the higher you get.

Overtraining can be devastating for an athlete as the season could be ruined. It is like positioning the last cards with a heavy hand causing the whole structure to collapse.

On the other hand overreaching is a desired effect of heavy training. Hitting the body with hard training over a short period of time, followed by rest and light restitution training can create a peak in the performance allowing for better results than the athlete normally would achieve.

Athletes are walking a fine line in the pursuit of peak performance. It is a three legged stool, training, rest and diet. Take away one and you will fall.

To conclude, hard training to the point of fatigue, followed by days of complete rest, can have a positive effect on performance. This peak performance can be pinpointed to specific times allowing athletes to “over perform” in certain events. This is an art, and scientists are still to find the perfect recipe. To avoid sliding into overtraining it is important to keep an watchful eye on the following signs and symptoms of overtraining.

Physiological:

• General weakness
• Reduced hand grip strength
• Cramps
• Inhibitions
• Insecurity in trained technique
• Lack of concentration
• Reduced rhythm and flow in of movement
• Lack of sleep

Psychological:

• Irritability
• Obstinacy
• Hysteria
• Defiance
• Increased quarrelsomeness
• Reduced contact with coach and colleagues

 Condition:

• Reduced endurance, strength and speed
• Increased recovery time
• Loss of “the edge” in competitive situations
• Fear of competition
• Abandoning any struggle
• Low tolerance to overcome demoralising influences

As soon as symptoms have been noticed, reduced load and recovery should be applied.

Good Health!

Dr Marius A Jensen DC MChiro CCEP

Chiropractor

Notting Hill Chiropractic

One of Our Happy Patients

After an MRI scan on my right knee, I was told that an operation to repair a torn cartilage was unavoidable yet, because of my age, it had only a 60% chance of success. Because I was in such pain I had decided to proceed when quite by chance I came across a colleague of Dr Marius Jensen who, on over-hearing my symptoms, was of the view they could be treated by him. Within one week of seeing him, I was almost free of the agonizing pain I had endured for several months, and within 3 months I was to all intents and purposes “cured”. I even returned to the surgeon who after examination agreed that an operation was no longer necessary. To me, Marius is a miracle worker whom I would highly recommend to anyone.

Brian Humphries CBE

Chairman

British Helicopter Association

Premenstrual Syndrome. Simple Measures to Fight It!

70 – 90% of women suffer Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) every month.

Are you one of them?

What is PMS?  

Is a disorder that affects women one or two weeks before menstruation begins.

30-40% percent of women with PMS report symptoms severe enough to interfere with their day-to-day lives.

What are the symptoms?

• Mood Swings
• Food cravings
• Irritability
• Anxiety and tension
• Bloating
• Breast tenderness and swelling
• Water retention
• Acne
• Tiredness
• Headaches / Migranes
• Crying Spells
• Depresion

What is the cause?

Unfortunately there is not a clear answer to this question. In some cases there is a hormonal imbalance; although same studies could not show a difference in hormonal profiles between women with and without PMS.

Contributing Factors

• Poor diet – unstable blood sugar levels.
• Food Intolerances
• Vitamin – Mineral deficiencies
• Heavy metal intoxications.

 What is the treatment?

As we mention earlier there is not a specific cause, and there may not be one answer to the problem that fits every women. Therefore the treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach.

 The aim is not to treat each symptom separately and work on the overall lifestyle to ensure optimum health and wellbeing as it is suggested by Dr. Glenville.

Recommendations       

• Eat plenty fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grain cereals and breads, pulses and grains.
• Include in your diet foods high in complex carbohydrates (non refined) and rich in fibre. These will help the body to get rid of excess oestrogen, which is the problem in some cases.
• Consume at least 1 ½ litre of water per day including herbal teas but do not caffeinated drinks.
• Reduce your consumption of salt and processed foods in order to reduce water retention.
• Eat fewer dairy products, as they block the absorption of magnesium and increase magnesium urinary excretion.
• Avoid caffeine. Caffeine is linked to breast tenderness and also is a nervous system stimulant. Studies show that women who consume regularly caffeinated drinks are four times more likely to suffer PMS.
• Reduce consumption of alcohol. These drinks cause valuable electrolytes to be lost through urine.
• Get regular exercise. Ideally 20min three times per week.
•  See a physician to rule out an underlying medical condition, such as abnormal thyroid function, endometriosis, a genuine physiological problem.
• Food allergy tests and hair mineral analysis to rule out heavy metal intoxication 

Dr Paola Armayo MD Dip.CNM
MD and Nutrition

Notting Hill Chiropractic

NHC, 2 Years!! Merging Clinics

Notting Hill Chiropractic will celebrate its 2 year anniversary in the start of 2011. Starting off with one chiropractor in a small room in Notting Hill Gate the clinic has grown into a multidiscipline practice in Kensington Church Street.

 The vision was to create a centre where patients could come with confidence of a swift and professional resolution to their complaints. We wanted to honour that a collection of practitioners would be in a better place to look after the individual with a broader expertise. Slowly the clinic team was build into what it is to what is today, consisting of chiropractors, medical doctors, nutritionists, massage therapists etc.

We believe that the body is too complex for one single therapy to be successful. Cooperation across the therapy borders was quickly the answer to improved health in our patients. Frequent case meetings between the practitioners were set up and a wider knowledge in different fields quickly showed results.

Working as a team, we soon understood the importance of leaving our egos at the door. Knowing our individual limits as practitioners, knowing when to refer. By having all these services under one roof we could eliminate the patients feeling of starting from scratch every time they were referred for a second opinion.

The clinic is also branching out into the local community through charity events and other relationships. In the end of October Notting Hill Chiropractic raised £2500 for the Starlight Children’s Foundation through two days of free treatments in the clinic. A very successful event we hope to repeat again soon.

Open health seminars are also being held in the clinic with the view increase the focus of a proactive return to health among our patients. We try to look at all aspects of our patient’s health and have therefore also started working with other local businesses that can help promote this. Back2, the ergonomic chair company in central London, has understood the importance of a healthy workplace. This company are experts in their field, and we have therefore started a good working relationship with them to offer our patients the best possible advice.

Using personal trainers to get in shape is also increasing in popularity. We have acknowledged this and have set up a “Train the Trainers” program that help local personal trainers with their client’s injuries and rehabilitation programs.

We have come a long way in these two years and wish to progress further by bringing all our practitioners under one roof in Kensington Church Street. By doing this we wish to increase our availability to you. In a busy time, keeping good health should be easy, and we are here with a helping hand.

Thanks for two good years.

 Good Health!

The team at Notting Hill Chiropractic

10 Reasons Why Chiropractic is For You

1 Effective. Chiropractic has been shown through numerous research to be very effective. So effective, in fact, that NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) recommends GPs to refer to chiropractors for treatment of non-specific low back pain.

2 Natural. Chiropractic care doesn’t add chemicals or foreign substances to your body. Through care, chiropractors restore function, control and regulation of your body so that good health can return.

3 Safe. Chiropractic is safe, and treatments are tailored to fit individuals. Even newborns get adjusted with great results.

4 Referrals. When seeing a chiropractor for the first time, a thorough initial consultation will take place. If you are a good candidate for chiropractic care, a management plan will be formed. If not, you will be referred to someone we think can help you.

5 Satisfied Patients. Chiropractic thrives due to high levels of patient satisfaction. Why? It simply works!

6 The Right Choice. It does really make sense to treat the underlying cause, and not just the symptoms. Treat only the symptoms, and be sure that down the line they will be back. Treat the underlying cause, and things will stay good.

7 Extended Hours. Appointments are available Mon – Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10-2. Emergency care available after hours.

8 24 Hour. Appointments should always be available within 24 hours.

9 Massage. We have fully qualified, and very good, massage therapists on site.

10 Time. We take the time to thoroughly anaylse your problem and every spinal joint on every visit.

Walking London

Either tourist or local, we all have one thing in common when being in London. We walk a lot… The only city that can challenge us at the top would be New York, maybe a few others.

Walking is good for us in many ways, but can all this walking also create problems?

We have all walked on the beach and looked back at our footprints imprinted in the sand behind us. What makes these footprints is the natural curvature of the foot, with the raised arch working as a shock absorber. In the sand the foot is in, what we call, the neutral position, and for different people different shaped footprints. This neutral position of the foot is of outmost importance through the gait for the rest of the body to stay in line. Any deviations will have knock oneffects further up the kinetic chain (ankle – knee – hip – pelvic – spine – etc.).

When walking on sand the sand changes it shape to suit our feet, but what happens when the ground is solid? Our feet will have to change, to suit the ground. And this is what happens with us walking in London.

Over-pronated or flat feet, can be the cause of everything from knee pain to recurrent headaches. For us living in London, to stop walking is not an option. There are 28 bones in the foot, all forming joints that are important for the gait cycle. Keeping these joints mobile, and the associated musculature strong, is the first line of defence. This can be achieved through specific foot and balance exercises. Chiropractic manipulation and wobble board exercises can help with this.

The second line of defence would be a functional insole or orthotic. Having come this far it has already been established that the feet are dysfunctional, and they would need treatment to restore the neutral function, before an insole will be moulded to the foot for a perfect fit. A functional insole or orthotic will give the foot the same support as when walking in sand, letting the foot remain in the functional neutral position through the gait cycle. As a result of a more functional and efficient gait cycle, wear and tear of the knees, pelvic and spine can be reduced, and general aches and pains resolved.

Good Health!

Dr Marius A Jensen DC MChiro CCEP

Chiropractor

Notting Hill Chiropractic

Notting Hill Chiropractic and The Starlight Children’s Foundation

Dear All,

We at Notting Hill Chiropractic would like to invite you, your friends and family to two days of free treatments in our clinic. On Friday the 29th of October and Saturday the 30th of October we have decided that massage, chiropractic screens, acupuncture, nutrition and beauty will be free of charge. We are doing this to support the Starlight Children’s Foundation who helps local seriously and terminally ill children having a better life, so all who visits the clinic these two days will have the opportunity to leave a donation of their own wish.

The clinic will open its doors at 9am both days and will close at 5pm. Already we are very happy to say that interest has been massive, and we have taken a lot of bookings. The free massages has been so popular we have increased the number of therapists coming for the event. So give us a call to learn more about what is on offer and to book your free treatments as soon as possible.

So bring your friends and family, work colleagues, employer and employees, and join us at Notting Hill Chiropractic for two great days.

Help us help the Children!

Please book at 0207 368 1626 between 9am-5:30pm, or stop by the main reception in Vicarage House.

Notting Hill Chiropractic
Vicarage House
58-60 Kensington Church Street
W8 4DB
London

0207 368 1626

Welcome!

In Good Health!

The Team at Notting Hill Chiropractic