Bowen Therapy

Fixed my shoulder tendonitis in two sessions when my physio had been unsuccessful over three.

And its the best massage you'll ever have.

physio

chiropractors seem to want you to come back twice a week till their pool is paid off. I went to a good osteopath four times and havent had a problem since.(suspect lower back)

Kearnsy,
I used to be a regular at the the chiro's. A couple of weeks back, I did my lower back/sciatic so bad that the pain in my legs was near unbearable, and I couldn't pick up my 3 y/o. I ended up going to a physio for treatment, which loosened me up a bit, combined with targeted/constant stretching routines I got it sorted out pretty fast...personally, I think prevention is the go, now that my back's all good, I just have to make sure I keep up the stretches...only takes a few minutes, a couple of times a day.

Btw, I also use an 'upside-down' hanging contraption...it's mainly gravity that ruins our bodies, so why not use it to undo the damage? It's also strangely serene when hanging upside down for a few minutes.

Happy to say, had success with both chiro & physio. Certainly the chiro I saw did have the "see you next week" thing going on.

Physio .. you do need to find a good one .. some are afraid to touch the damage and just want to bandage it up, some want to do a light massage and apply electronic zappers, and some are real "hands on" and beat the heck out of the muscle and have you jumping off the bench in pain.

For fastest recovery, I found the last one, whilst painful when you get it, the muscle recover incredibly rapidly.

One thing I found in common, is that for injuries that 'creep up', rather than an obvious pulled hamstring, is that the cause of the injury usually lies somewhere other than where the pain is. i.e. Lower back pain. Ouch .. ended up being from a mildly sore foot .. which caused a limp, which caused twisting of the pelvis ... which caused the back pain!

Good luck, hope you get a good doc.

Osteopath - holistic approach, so you get the best of both - they've always sorted my back out.

laurie said...

Happy to say, had success with both chiro & physio. Certainly the chiro I saw did have the "see you next week" thing going on.

Physio .. you do need to find a good one .. some are afraid to touch the damage and just want to bandage it up, some want to do a light massage and apply electronic zappers, and some are real "hands on" and beat the heck out of the muscle and have you jumping off the bench in pain.

For fastest recovery, I found the last one, whilst painful when you get it, the muscle recover incredibly rapidly.

One thing I found in common, is that for injuries that 'creep up', rather than an obvious pulled hamstring, is that the cause of the injury usually lies somewhere other than where the pain is. i.e. Lower back pain. Ouch .. ended up being from a mildly sore foot .. which caused a limp, which caused twisting of the pelvis ... which caused the back pain!

Good luck, hope you get a good doc.

Gday laurie, Its funny how the body reacts to the right kind of pain . Last year I had some Reflexology done. There were a few painfull spots "the prick" found that really got me good. An our later my body felt and reacted like a 20yr olds. Amazing stuff

KEARNSY said...

>>>>>>>>>

I stretch properly about 3 times a week- B4 I surf. Come to think about it I never stretch afterwards. Ha could be contributing but I doubt it

Now you say that I remember back in the early 80s my lower back was really bad, I went to an all round healer, he did a bit of everything. I told him I thought he'd have to give my back a good thumping, but he sussed out I was a surfer, and explained that while paddling, by lifting your head and upper chest up, you strengthen only one set of back muscles, these tend to bend your lower spine.
He sorted me out in one session using acupuncture. Said it balanced out the forces or something.

Maybe laying on your back and raising your upper body repeatedly, would strengthen the other set of back muscles???? Any surfer tried this???

KEARNSY said...

I am 29 and have been recieving on and off Chiropractic treatment for about 10 years or so . The main area that troubles me is my lower back and neck area and also a "click in my right shoulder.
I have never tried a physio and am now thinking maybe?I should have?

I am starting to notice stiffness more often in the area's that trouble me and am just not willing to put it down to "getting old" just yet.

Have any off you ever tried both Chiro and physio and how did they compare?

Im also very interested to hear of any other methods of healing that have worked for you or anyone that you see that is Actually good at what they do.

If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be really great. Looks like it could be a good winter for waves this year and one way or another- Im out there

Sorry to hear that Kearnsy. There has always been the Chiro vs Physio debate as you're no doubt aware. I was once advised by a registered nurse aquaintence of mine to stay away from Chiros BUT another friend of mine has been receiving treatment from a Chiro for 20 years now. His opinion is that so long as you find a good Chiro they're fine. Generally he feels that Chiro and or Physio treatment is much the same. I did my back in just recently. I've managed to heal it almost completely now through concentrated effort stretching exercises every morining and evening for about a month so far. I've also been practising long form Tai Chi now for many years. That has also helped in the healing process a lot. Surfing itself is good to aid the healing process.
There is a Tai Chi Association in Osborne Park should you be interested.
Dr Johnathon Langer , Justin Langer's brother a Chiropactor in Subi is very good.
Hope this might help in some way.

I go to a bloke called Martin.
He's great!!! Fixes anything...... not really conventional though??
about 60 something old balding/grey,
fee is $50 and something for the house.
He smokes all day and listens to cold chisel and great 70's rock while he sorts out your muscles.
By sorting out.... Well he swears at your back and your ankles and arms and calls them sluts and threatens to hurt them if they don't back off.

he glides his elbows and palms up and down your back and legs finding problems from years and years ago that you didn't tell him about, then he'll twist your right shoulder to fix the left ankle which is giving your lower back trouble.

I have been having lower back problems for few years.

Went to chiro couple of years ago, it helped a little for a while, they also gave me some mumbo jumbo diagnosis, which of course the wonderful art of chiropracy was supposed to fix.

Of course I was never given the impression it was going to happen overnight and they also made it quite clear it would take commitment (and $$$ ) to keep comming back at least once a week.

To be fair they also recommended regular gentle excercise (ie swimming, walking, stretching). I started to feel better, but I think it was more the excercise than 5 - 10 minutes of back cracking $40 bucks a session.

So I stopped going. After few months the symptoms came back and my GP referred me to a specialist.

They did a CT scan and found I had two bulged discs by about 3 and 5 mm, which were pressing on the nerves.

Chiro never picked it up (or even suggested this could be the case). Luckily the specialist was not a surgeon and recommended Physio & Pilates.

That really helped, the biggest challenge is to keep the excercises going.

Bottom line: go to see a specialist if you have a back problem. Common sense tells me that pain is body's way of telling us there is something wrong.

Neither physio's or chiro's are specialists. Best thing I did was to go back to my GP and start from there.

Now I know I was very stupid to self-diagnose and gone to chiro because somebody told me to try one.

It's your body, when your car needs service you take it to a repair shop, when your dog is sick you take to the vet.
Why woud you take a different approach with your body is beyond me.

Use common sense, if in doubt get a 2nd or 3rd opinion.

PS: the Physio did not ban me from windsurfing, he said he knew I wouldn't stop going anyhoo

gs12 said...


Bottom line: go to see a specialist if you have a back problem. Common sense tells me that pain is body's way of telling us there is something wrong.

Get a diagnosis first. Its hard to treat a problem if you don't know what it is.

Good luck!

Landy...........whatever happened to Promo
cheers...joe