Lepicol will be welcoming TVs most popular GP, Dr Hilary Jones onto their stand at camexpo 2012 on Saturday 20th October 11am – 2pm.
Dr Hilary who has been working with Protexin’s Lepicol range throughout 2012 will be on hand to talk to visitors on how they can help themselves and their clients maintain a healthy bowel. For those interested in further reading he will also be distributing his well received article ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome and the role of fibre’.
From massage therapists to physiotherapists , reflexologists to body workers this article is for you.
Raising awareness of injury risk
Now I know this is a sensitive subject for many people, after all many, admittedly initially including myself, do not want to think about something deemed so negative, however with alarming statistics behind the facts it is a topic to stop and consider.
Being a therapist, by nature you are nurturing and caring and attentive to your client needs. But are you the same with regards to yourself? Many manual therapists come to accept achy hands, tired forearms or a painful lower back as part of the reality of their job.
Here are some results from a web survey done in the States.
1000 e-mail invitations sent to Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP)
Out of the 601 that replied:
(Info sourced from Save your hands by Lauriann Greene)
According to several reliable surveys the average career span for a massage therapist is 8 years. Eeek!
Ok. Enough of the depressing stuff, let’s concentrate on what you can do to reduce your chances of an MSD (musculoskeletal disorder)!
1. Be fit for your job! Giving an hours massage is like an hours tai chi only harder! The fitter and stronger you are the less likely you are to injure yourself
2. Ensure you allow time between sessions to stretch out
3. Eat and drink plenty! Snacks like nuts and raisins can keep energy levels high and blood sugar stable avoiding those afternoon slumps! Water is vital
4. Check your posture. Keep your stance wide and low and your shoulder blades down your back to avoid rounding forwards
5. Keep your wrists as neutral as you can, avoiding over extension. This can be done by lowering your position to either squat or lunge and extending arms out but not locking the elbows
6. Use forearms and elbows as much as possible. This may involve attending a course to show you how to do this safely for you and your client
7. Check your work area is set up so you can work as comfortably as you can. The are many articles/books on ergonomics which may be helpful
8. Stick to your skill set and your comfort zone. It may be an obvious one but how many of us want to please a client requesting a hard treatment and perhaps use more force than we should. This is where it’s great to have a referral list and to pass clients on. It may seem like you’re losing business but injury will lose you a lot more
9. Back to food……eat well! What we eat affects every part of us and certain foods put us in a more pro-inflammatory state, lessening our ability to heal and making us more vulnerable to MSD’s. (A note on caffeine…too much reduces blood flow to extremities therefore tissue repair will be diminished and increases muscle tension therefore putting 
us at an already overworked state)
10. Build your practice up gradually to allow your body to become conditioned. If you work in a spa where clients are continuous, discuss what their protocol is for injury prevention.
And most importantly, in fact so important I’m not giving it a number
GET REGULAR MASSAGE YOURSELF!!!
I, like all manual therapists, wish to have a long and prosperous career and am learning this stuff along the way! These tips are things I’ve tried and include in my day and have found to be beneficial. Please, if you have any personal experience or tips then let people know, it might just be something they haven’t considered.
One last thing….
As I am a homeopath also, I can’t leave without mentioning a few remedies I would never be without!
Rhus Tox. For straining and overuse of muscles and tendons. Symptoms (usually stiffness) are worse
on first movement but ease off after you’ve been moving for a while Ruta. For joint and ligament strain. Can combine with the above.
Arnica. For when muscles feels bruised and tender. Again can combine with all of the above, in fact I generally do!
Go for a 12 or 30c potency and take up to 3 times daily.
Anna Anderson
A Touch of Medicine
Denise Tiran and her team at Expectancy have been exhibiting at camexpo every year, almost since its inception, and always enjoy meeting old and new friends and colleagues. Denise is a freelance midwifery lecturer who uses a range of complementary therapies in her own practice. She is an internationally-renowned authority on the safety of complementary therapies in pregnancy and childbirth, and a prolific author of some seminal textbooks, both for midwives and for therapists.
Denise established Expectancy – the Expectant Parents’ Complementary Therapies Consultancy – in 2004, to bridge the gap between the different professionals providing complementary therapies to pregnant and childbearing women. Expectancy’s accredited academic courses and study days, for midwives and complementary practitioners, as well as doctors, doulas (birth supporters) and antenatal teachers have helped to improve multi-disciplinary communication and understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities. Expectancy provides a range of study days, courses and year-long diploma programmes which aim to bring together the two clinical and academic disciplines of maternity care and complementary medicine so that expectant mothers can find well-trained practitioners who focus on safety, effectiveness and evidence-based practice. Denise is always happy to offer individualised careers advice to practitioners wanting to work with pregnant clients, but who may not be sure what to do to become adequately qualified.
Exhibiting at camexpo brings new customers every year. Some students, who first found out about the courses at camexpo, have gone on to do additional training with Expectancy – one has even become their Administrator, and a few have been so inspired that they have applied for midwifery training. Programmes such as Call the Midwife and One Born Every Minute have increased the number of applicants for midwifery courses from 31000 in 2010 to 37000 in 2011 and there is about a 1:60 chance of obtaining a place to study midwifery. Consequently, one of Expectancy’s new developments is a Preparation for Midwifery course which can be taken as a taught or home study course. Now about to enter its second year, it is already very popular, with 80% of those who completed in the 2011-12 academic year gaining a place at their first choice university.
Although Denise uses several complementary therapies in her clinical practice, including reflex zone therapy, aromatherapy, massage, moxibustion, nutrition, herbal, homeopathic and Bach flower remedies, expectant mothers do not consult her for a specific therapy. Instead she focuses on working with wome
n with particular pregnancy issues, specialising in nausea and vomiting, but also offering treatment for other discomforts such as backache, constipation, oedema and carpal tunnel syndrome (wrist tingling). From her midwifery perspective, Denise can then devise a treatment plan, in partnership with the mother, which uses an integrated approach, combining conventional midwifery advice and care with one or more complementary therapies.
One of the most common issues which cause women concern is being overdue, especially if they want to avoid having labour medically induced. There are many self-help strategies to which women resort to try to start labour, although not all of these are effective and many are not safe. Popular self-help methods range from eating pineapple or drinking raspberry leaf tea (neither are recommended, nor are they always safe) to bouncing on a trampoline or having sex (if you feel so inclined!). There are, however, several complementary therapies which can be effective in giving women the “final push” towards labour, including acupuncture, reflexology and massage. Denise will be talking about these self-help techniques and the safety, effectiveness and evidence-base of different complementary therapies for post-dates pregnancy at camexpo on Saturday 20th October at 16:15 hours. Do go along to her session or pop down to stand 1412 for a chat.
The Jing Institute is a revolutionary postgraduate training organisation providing master CPD courses and ground-breaking qualifications. The winner of last year’s camexpo Outstanding Achievement award, JING offers a new qualification to UK therapists, the BTEC level 6 in Advanced Clinical and Sports Massage accredited by Edexcel. By giving therapists the opportunity to train to degree level, JING has achieved great strides for the massage world. Founders, Rachel Fairweather and Meghan Mari have been therapists for over 20 years and began training master therapists in New York City in 1999. In 2003, they brought their pioneering courses to Brighton, centered on treating specific pain conditions such as frozen shoulder and sciatica. The feedback was phenomenal and JING trained therapist’s expanded their practices to an entire new height using proven JING protocols to get clients out of pain. JING became known as the place to train if you want to have a full-time practice and really make a difference in client’s lives. JING, now offers over 50 Master CPD courses, 3 Advanced Certificates, and the BTEC level 6. Therapists can train around the country with an expert team for just 2 days, or up to 3 years.
Why should camexpo attendees come along to our Hands on, dynamic workshops?
Join the revolution! You want to be the best and JING wants you to be the best! JING has created a revolution by offering the most comprehensive post graduate training in the UK open to therapists from all backgrounds. Courses include the Advanced Clinical Massage series to treat pain such as RSI, Whiplash, and knee pain, Trigger point Therapy, Advanced Certificate in Myofascial Release, Advanced certificate in Musculoskeletal anatomy, Pregnancy Massage, Eastern and Sports Techniques. As the creators of the BTEC level 6 in Advanced Clinical and Sports massage, accredited by Edexcel, JING is the only institution approved to offer this level of massage education in the UK. The work we teach is serious but we do it with a lot of laughter. We use innovative teaching methods that ensure that you leave courses with the material in your hands, head and hearts. All work is taught practically so that you can use it right away in your clinic.
Rachel Fairweather + Meghan Mari started their collaborative journey in 2001.They met working at what was to become the world famous StoneSpa in NYC.
Working together as head trainers, they quickly realised they shared a undying passion for massage and all it could offer.
Coming from different countries, Rachel from the UK and Meghan the US, they had very similar backgrounds cemented in counseling and working with vulnerable communities- Both Meghan and Rachel after completing their Bachelors degrees in Psychology and their Associate degrees in Massage Therapy, came to bodywork to help individuals through touch. Rachel worked for many years with woman in crisis empowering them through delivering a ground breaking massage training in Liverpool that not only gave women a career but helped ease the wounds of years of abuse. Meghan spearheaded projects in NY state to introduce touch therapy for autistic and disabled youth, as well as provided treatment to people living with HIV in the late 90′s in San Francisco when there was little alternative care.
At the StoneSpa, they were at the forefront of bringing stone massage to the international massage industry, not only training 100s of individual therapists but traveling all over the world setting up small and large companies including one of the largest spas at the time- the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Although they were thriving in the business arena, they wanted to get back to their roots of working to help those in need.
They moved to the UK in 2002 to explore their dream of creating a space where therapists could get the training they needed to help individuals in pain. In particular Rachel who had enjoyed her ITEC qualification a decade earlier, had wanted to bring the high standard of US and Canadian Massage training to the UK. She had moved to the US for 4 years to complete an advanced degree in Massage Therpay and didn’t want others to have to make this scarifice.They founded the Jing Institute in 2003 and in that year, Meghan and Rachel delivered 3 specialist trainings ( just 6 days) and were part of the first CAM workshop programme for massage therapists who wanted to improve their anatomy and pathology knowledge.
From there the JING Institute grew in leaps and bounds. Over the last ten years, this dynamic duo has traveled up and down the UK sharing their special cocktail of enthusiasm, expert knowledge and undying dedication to deliver exceptional massage training to anyone who asks. Following thier mission, they delivered endless workshops anywhere they were invited, in cold village halls as well as far better heated international conferences, Meghan and Rachel have now risen to the height of their profession. They are sought after guest lecturers for institutions such as the International Dermal Institute and the FHT, write regularly for professional trade magazines including Choice Health and Wellbeing and are honored to deliver 8 workshops at camexpo year after year.
Having been the first to bring Myofascial, trigger point therapy and other advanced techniques to small workshops in the UK, the JING Institue now offers over 50 different CPD workshops, (over 200 days of training), 3 Advanced Certificates and worked with over 5,000 therapists.
Now this year, they have realised their ultimate goal to bring higher education and increase the professional viability of massage therapyin the UK. Through their efforts JING has designed and been awarded BTEC level 6 accreditation from edexcel for their Professional Diploma in Advanced Clinical and Sports Massage. This is a milestone in the UK, as never before have massage therapists been able to access education at this level. The JING Institute enrolled 40 students in this its first year on the BTEC. It is the future careers that these graduates will enjoy, that is the piece of work, Meghan and Rachel are most proud of. By engaging in education at this level, the seeds that Rachel and Meghan have planted will change the future of massage therapy in Europe. They are true pioneers in their field.
• Concentrated milk fats creating “boom in bad bacteria”
• Too much vitamin D as unhealthy as too little?
• Patients of CAM-trained GPs live longer and cost less
• GM’s legacy: the eradication of independent food production?
Posted on22 June 2012. Tags: IBS, IND, milk fats – http://www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk/industry-news/concentrated-milk-fats-creating-boom-in-bad-bacteria/
Concentrated milk fats found in confectionery and processed foods could alter gut bacteria and set up the conditions for bowel diseases.
That’s the conclusion of research carried out by a team of researchers from the University of Chicago.
In experiments using mice genetically modified mice to be prone inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), one in three mice developed colitis when fed either low-fat diets or meals high in polyunsaturated fats. This jumped to nearly two in three in those fed a diet high in saturated milk fats, which are in many processed foods.
These saturated fats are hard for the body to digest and it responds by pumping more bile into the gut. This changes the gut environment and leads to a change in the bacteria growing there, the researchers said.
The Chicago team says their research offers the first credible explanation for why the Western diet contributes to the “unusually high incidence in inflammatory bowel disease”.
Posted on14 June 2012. Tags: Darshana Durup, University of Copenhagen, vitamin D -
http://www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk/industry-news/too-much-vitamin-d-as-unhealthy-as-too-little-%E2%80%93-danish-study/
A large study by Danish researchers has concluded that too much vitamin D may be as unhealthy as too little.
The study, based on blood samples from 247,574 Copenhageners, is published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
As well as being vital to bone health, a huge body of research now shows that vitamin D is also beneficial in combating heart disease, depression and certain types of cancers – benefits confirmed by the University of Copenhagen study. But the research results also show higher mortality in people with “too high” levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream.
Lead researcher, Darshana Durup, said: “We found higher mortality in people with a low level of vitamin D in their blood, but to our surprise, we also found it in people with a high level of vitamin D. We can draw a graph showing that perhaps it is harmful with too little and too much vitamin D.”
The Danish study, the largest of its kind, showed that where blood contains less than 10 nanomol (nmol) of vitamin D per litre of serum, mortality is 2.31 times higher. But if the blood contains more than 140 nmol of vitamin per liter of serum, mortality is higher by a factor of 1.42. Both values are compared to 50 nmol of vitamin per liter of serum, where the scientists see the lowest mortality.
Posted on 14 June 2012. Tags: CAM, Erik W. Baars man, healthcare, Peter Koore
Research by Dutch scientists suggests that patients of GPs with a CAM training live longer and cost health providers less.
A study carried out by Peter Kooreman and Erik W. Baars reviewed data from a Dutch insurance company giving information on healthcare costs, dates of birth and death of 150,000 insured individuals. In the study, data from 1,913 conventional GPs were compared with data from 79 GPs with additional CAM training, including acupuncture, homeopathy and anthroposophic medicine.
The researchers found that patients of the GPs with CAM training had 0-30% lower healthcare and mortality rates during the period 2006-2009.
Since the researchers took into account possible confounders – including ‘neighbourhood effects’ – they say the lower costs and longer lives are unlikely to be related to differences in socioeconomic status. Instead, they speculate that the “less overtreatment and more focus on preventative health promotion” could be responsible.
Commenting on the findings, Roger Barsby, managing director of Weleda, said: “The Kooreman/Baars research reinforces a number of other studies conducted in recent years, all of which indicate that CAM treatments help patients live longer, healthier lives, costing the country less and tying up fewer medical resources. In times when there is much negative press for complementary and alternative medicine it is a great encouragement to CAM practitioners, retailers and patients to know that research has shown them to be right.
• The Kooreman/Baars study was first published in May 2011 in the European Journal of Health Economics but has now become available at the open source website SpringerOpen.com.
Posted on02 July 2012. Tags: Biotech, Gaia Foundation, GM, Seeds of FReedom, Zac Goldsmith -
http://www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk/featured/gm%E2%80%99s-legacy-the-eradication-of-independent-food-production/
“At its core the GM industry is about the eradication of independent food production.”
That’s the stark conclusion of Ramon Herrera, one of the activists featured in a powerful new film co-produced by The Gaia Foundation and The African Biodiversity Foundation.
Seeds of Freedom charts the story of seed from its roots at the heart of traditional, diversity rich farming systems across the world, to being transformed into a powerful commodity, used to monopolise the global food system.
Narrated by Jeremy Irons and with contributions from Dr Vandana Shiva, Zac Goldsmith, Gathuru Mburu (African Biodiversity Network) and Caroline Lucas, the film shows how a landmark legal ruling in 1999 – which opened the door for the patenting of natural life-forms – has allowed a small group of powerful corporations to take ownership of the global chemical, seed and food chain.
Seeds of Freedom warns that “at this corporate centre of power lies not just the massive profits of the GM industry but the decision making and agenda setting that will ultimately be the legacy of our global agricultural system.”
In the film the green campaigner and Conservative MP, Zac Goldsmith, comments: “The often heard argument that GM is needed to feed the world is one driven by the bottom line. It is nothing to do with feeding the world, it is about controlling food systems.”
Seeds of Freedom closes on a positive note: Small-scale, agro-ecological farming, though dismissed by agribusiness as backward and inefficient, feeds 70% of the world’s population with healthy, nutritious food whiles using less land, water and valuable resources. Given support it offers real hope for the future.
• Watch Seeds of Freedom on NPTV
Find us elsewhere