Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most commonly prescribed and over the counter sold drugs in the world. NSAIDs include drugs like ibuprofen, advil, celebrex, naproxen, aspirin, vioxx and more. NSAIDs are commonly used for both acute pain, chronic pain or inflammatory conditions, and many people pop an anti-inflammatory drug without hesitation. But caution should be heeded for these drugs which have a wide range of serious side effects many people ar

Proprioception is kinaesthetic awareness, or your brains ability to sense your body, and it’s position or movement. Efficient movement, posture, strength, balance, wellness and sensation depend upon healthy enriched proprioception. Decreased proprioception is a common cause or poor movement efficiency, lack of coordination and pain. As movement specialists and structural integration therapists in training, our main goal is to help restore proprioception to areas that are lack

Chronic niggling pain is an elusive beast that never has a simple remedy. Acute pain resulting from an injury is the easiest to heal, because we are certain that pain is the result of that area being damaged. Conversely chronic pain or ‘stiffness’ that endures longer than 3 months, is much more challenging to treat. When pain begins as a suspicious niggle, and eventuates into a full blown chronic pain issue, there can be a variety of factors at bay contributing to the manifes

Bone Broth – The trendiest beverage of the last 5 years! If you haven’t introduced this ancient nutritious food into your diet, then you should consider it. Bone broth or ‘stock’ isn’t any new fad. It’s the revival of a highly healthy food that has been consumed for generations as an easy to digest, nutrient dense drink. If you want benefits like better skin, fascia and hair, healthier digestive function, reduced pain, and increased immune health, then jump onto the bone brot

So many people are still fixated on the idea that back pain means the back needs to be released, and the core needs to be stronger. Neither is true. In our experience the pressure on the back needs to be released, but it's usually achieved by playing detective, and trying to figure out what areas are not moving well enough and burdening the lower back. We find back pain often stems from a lack of movement at the hips, and particularly the inner hip, lateral hip, pelvic floor

Often times when things hurt, we go hunting for the isolated incident, or moment that might have tweaked this area. If we wake up with a sore back , we will retrace our steps to figure out what we did the day before that made us sore. And often when we catch a cold, we try and pin point the sick person who infected us! As human detectives, our brain is programmed to problem solve. And basic problem solving tends to favour seeking out just one culprit. Modern scientific resear

If you have chronic pain that isn't changing it might be time to rethink your rehab strategy! Despite what we have all been told, it's not ok or normal to have pain in your body. And no pain doesn't just happen as you get old. We find it so sad that so many people simply accept that they have a 'bung knee' or a 'bad shoulder.' Here are some clues you might need to change your pain management treatments: Have your rehab strategies been the same for over a month with no change?

One day your knee is sore, the next it's your back? If you think toxins or gut health do not matter, please read on and learn how they can attack the collagen in your joints and create chronic pain. Here is an exert from a lecture (and a slide above) with Dr Campbell McBride from the 2013 Gluten Summit hosted by Dr Tom O'bryan. 'The immune system has many other mechanisms to respond to invaders in the body. And, they are nonspecific responses, such as inflammation or the comp

It's no secret that many of us are losing the battle with gravity, and shrinking forward into bad posture. It's difficult to avoid leaning forward these days with mobile phones, computer workstations, too much sitting, and stress. As we slink forward into a kyphotic, hunched over posture (top right) many people suffer from headaches, migraines, neck, jaw or shoulder pain and fatigue. Forward head postures, or 'Poke neck' aren't just a structural issue for the body. Aside from

The Fascial Web Myofascial lines need be effective as a whole, with other lines, and with the neighboring layers of tissue. You cannot isolate a line of tissue, nor a specific region or part, and certainly the body doesn't function that way. Instead our body aims for rhythmical communication through it's entirety. Our body is a tensegrity system, meaning that our compression structures (bones) are held together with tensional guide wire system of muscle, ligaments, tendons an

I'm forever hearing the outdated phase 'better sore than sorry!' when it comes to fitness. Why on earth is this message so dominant in the fitness world. It's not inspirational, it's moronic. Why the hell would anyone actively seek pain? Why is it better to be sore? If you are actively seeking pain as a reward for your training efforts, you might need to think about why. Why are you wanting to hurt yourself? Is pain really a solution to what you are seeking in life? Of course

We don't roll anymore, and neither should you. If you want more global change, less pain, and better fascial health we recommend DRAGGING. How do you do it? Apply the foam roller on any part of the tissue you want to change (best done around bony areas where you can affect multiple fascial lines - thanks OD!) and drag across the direction of the tissue, rather than rolling along up and down it. With dragging you need less pressure, and the ability to tune in to how the tissue

We are often given these rules from specialists, as instructions on how to train our clients. As movement specialists, we find these absolute statements alarming, and frustrating. Telling someone they can’t do a global movement like a squat is extreme, especially given many of us do variations of squats or lunges on a daily basis in life! Providing such an absolute warning against these movement often adds fear to the client, which in turn makes it even harder to work with th

Much of the time decreasing pain in the body is about removing the fear the person has about moving. Injuries or niggles that remain beyond a few months, are no longer injuries. After a few months, lingering pain becomes chronic pain. Chronic pain can occur for a variety of reasons and can be tricky to resolve. Many of us wrongfully assume that physical pain only occurs because of a physical fault. If there is one certain thing about chronic pain, it’s that it’s never only ph

Your body has a web like structure of elastic fascial tissue, that connects the dots between EVERYTHING. From toes to nose, skin, tendons, muscles and organs, fascia connects and encases the lot. If the fascial system starts to get knotted up, stretching just won't cut it. Pulling on a knot, just tightens the knot further and makes it harder to get out in the end. In order to get lasting change and reduce the knot, we need to do 3 things: 1. We need to first stop chasing the

Do you wear orthotics, use knee, ankle or back braces as a coping strategy for chronic pain or injury? If you do, it may be worth contemplating if rigidity really is helping your body recover or perform it's best! 'Rigidity is the enemy of all biology.' The above quote by Michol Dalcourt sums up our perspective on locking up joints or immobilising an injured area. Many people use these devices long term, or reach for a 'supportive brace' at the first hint of a niggling injury