Protect yourself from Winter illness

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths With the seasons changing, our likelihood of getting seasonal respiratory illnesses increases. This coincides with more time spent indoors and a decrease in vitamin D levels due to lack of sunlight exposure. There are ways that we can improve our resilience during the darker seasons. An important thing that we can do is to supplement the vitamin D that we are not getting from sunlight exposure. According to the World Health Organization this should be 600 international units (IU) per day. In addition to this we can help our respiratory system to function better ….continue to the whole article

Is this drug affecting your mental health?

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths At this time of year many people are thinking of different ways to improve their mental health. Doing more exercise, quitting alcohol, and taking vitamin D are some of the more well known ways to improve your mental health in the winter. There is an often overlooked drug that is widely taken on a daily basis that could be affecting your mental health too. You have probably taken this drug already today. It is the most commonly used psychoactive drug on the planet. In the correct quantity it can make you feel better and more ….continue to the whole article

Is your eye sight causing your joint pain

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths Good posture when working at a desk is vital to avoid hurting the joints and muscles of the spine. Ideally the rib cage will be in contact with the back of the chair and the elbows will be by your side at all times when sitting at a desk. This posture, however, becomes almost impossible to maintain when the eyes become strained. This is because strain on the eyes is often alleviated by leaning closer to the screen, causing the contact with the chair to be lost. Eye strain can be temporary, caused by ….continue to the whole article

Habit Forming for Prescribed Exercises

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths As with any habit that a person wishes to maintain, doing something at the same time every day is the best way to make sure you remember to do it every day. Most people who have seen an osteopath for treatment will have been prescribed exercises in the form of stretches or strengthening exercises to help them to get better faster and to prevent their injury from reoccurring in the future. When an injury recovers to the point where it’s no longer sending regular pain signals it is not unusual to forget to do the ….continue to the whole article

Calf Cramps

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths Today a patient described to me waking up in the middle of the night with a jolt due to a severe cramp in her calf muscle. What causes this to happen and what can be done about it? Cramping in the calf at night time is not uncommon. One of the reasons the calf muscles are so susceptible to cramping is their distance from the heart. Being further from the heart means that there is further distance for blood to travel in order to reach the calf muscles resulting in poorer circulation. At night time the whole ….continue to the whole article

It’s time to start taking Vitamin D

Vitamin D Supplementation By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths It’s that time of year again when we all need to start thinking about taking a Vitamin D supplement. As the days shorten and become darker the amount of Vitamin D we get from the sun diminishes. Vitamin D has a role to play in the function of many body systems. The most well known role is probably it’s facilitation of calcium absorption from the gut, keeping bones strong. Lesser known is the effect on the brain and mood, as well as it’s role in supporting the immune system. Through the ….continue to the whole article

Is your sleep causing neck problems?

I think most of us have woken with a stiff neck at one point or another from sleeping in a funny position. Sometimes that crick in the neck can be extremely painful and I have seen many patients over the years presenting with acute neck pain that was triggered by a bad night’s sleep. But what if you were sleeping incorrectly every night and waking regularly with a stiff neck or neck pain? We are generally not taught about correct neck posture when lying down and certainly not about what to look for in a pillow. The most common cause ….continue to the whole article

The importance of Breathing Correctly

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths The Importance of Breathing Correctly Recently there have been quite a few patients presenting to me at Farringdon Osteopaths with neck and shoulder discomfort who, on examination, have been found to be breathing primarily into the upper ribs and chest instead of the lower ribcage and abdomen. Some of them had some history of anxiety, gastro-intestinal problems or migraines and all were surprised to be told that their breathing mechanics were incorrect. Some patients really struggled to breathe into the lower rib cage and abdomen when we went through a guided breathing re-training exercise. ….continue to the whole article

Hip And Knee Pain In Walkers

By Geoffrey Hogan (M.Ost) Farringdon Osteopaths Hip And Knee Pain In Walkers Quadriceps tendonitis and how to relieve it London is renowned as a multi-cultural and multi-national global city. The population of the city is changing and expanding relentlessly, with new arrivals coming here every day to work and enjoy living in one of the most vibrant cities in the world. One thing that these new visitors inevitably underestimate is the amount of walking that a typical Londoner undertakes each day. It is not unusual to walk 30 minutes to and from work per day and the pace of walking ….continue to the whole article