Neck and shoulder discomfort is super common from desk based work, often our set up promotes a rounded shoulder position and the nature of work may lend itself to us sitting in that one spot for long periods of time. Aside from ensuring your set up is optimal in terms of screen height and having a separate keyboard and mouse, we recommend regular breaks from your desk and a few gentle stretches to help relieve tension. Here's...

Today's blog post is for all of you that are currently working from home due to self isolating and social distancing during the coronavirus/ covid 19 pandemic. I'll be going over some strength exercises going forward but right now, let's focus on a few simple exercises you can do to help with shoulders, neck or upper back tension you may be feeling from working at an unusual set up at home.

1) Anterior scalenes stretch - the sc...

You may be visiting this blog post because you're in pain and want to understand more about it, or because your health care professional has discussed pain with you and you want to further your understanding. This blog post will break down what pain is, what influences it and what you can do about it in a way that hopefully you, the person in pain, can understand.

What is pain?

Pain is a protector of the body. An alarm system of...

What are the most common musculoskeletal complaints of my patients that work at a desk all day? Headaches; pins and needles in the fingers or hands; mid-back pain and tight shoulders! All of these symptoms have a very common postural pattern in common, us osteopaths call it the 'upper crossed posture'. Rounded shoulders, tight muscles where the neck meets the skull, weak back and a weak neck - sound familiar? Now there's lots...

Our bodies are not designed for a sedentary lifestyle, and they certainly weren't designed for sitting at a desk 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (probably more if you work in the city!) Headaches, back pain, RSI, carpal tunnel syndrome are all examples of musculoskeletal disorders that can often be attributed to prolonged periods of working at the computer.

These commonplace injuries aren't just a pain for you, t...

Sciatica is one of those terms that gets thrown around alot, often without people knowing exactly what it is. Strictly speaking, sciatica is irritation of the sciatic nerve that runs down the back of the leg, all the way to the toe. This huge nerve can be irritated as the nerve roots exit the lower back (lumbar spine), or the nerve can be irritated anywhere along its course through the leg e.g. piriformis syndrome. 

Sciatic ner...