Body Talk - 4th September

Tonight my guest was Emma Gampell, who is the Physiotherapy Manager at The Hartswood Hospital. At Hartswood, they work mostly with people who have muscular or skeletal conditions. Emma has been a physio for 25 years, so she had a wealth of experience to share with us.

She trained at Kings College, and has worked in various different hospitals locally, and has now been at Hartswood for 6 years. She sees about 300 patients per month, mostly for back problems. She blames the high occurence of back related conditions on the way we live today. Too much time spent sitting down, computers are definitely to blame for this, our bodies were meant to move. Emma was also saying that she sees more younger people now, this is also an indication of our children not getting enough exercise.

I asked Emma if she had any tips for bad backs, and she said lie down! Physio isn't all about working out, its about posture, and one of the best things you can do to help realign the spine is to lie flat on the floor, have your head supported by something like a phone directory. Lying on your front is good too, particularly for those of us who spend a lot of time bending forward during the day. We hardly ever think about backward bends to balance our bodies out. Lying on your front is a nice way of loosening the spine and and gives some relief from forward bending.

Emma explained that everyone's body is different, each patient that she sees has a physio routine designed just for them. At Hartswood they also have the added bonus of acupuncture to relieve pain and a hydrotherapy pool. To find out more about how physio could help you, you can either contact Hartswood direct or email me and I'll pass on your questions.

Article by Melanie Watson, 5 Sep 2007
Posted in Body Talk

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