Archive for January, 2008

A Runners World of Injuries can be treated at
Atlas Solihull Sports Injury Clinic Birmingham
In a runners world, sports injuries are common and most often occurs in the distance runners.
Marathon runners who take part in the London Marathon and other distance races such as the Great North Run are often first time novice runners who follow a running training plan designed for marathon running.

Problems can occur when you look at the training programme which is generally designed as a guide for novice runners. If you consider that everyone undertaking this programme may be beginning with different ages, fitness levels and experience in running, you will see the potential risk of injuries if everyone follows the instructions to the letter.

My advice would be to make alterations to the programme that fit into your particular training requirements and only step up the distance or intensity when you feel ready.

Runners develop running injuries in a variety of ways. Marathon runners are prone to injury when their lower limb biomechanics are poor. Over pronation or pronated feet and ankles as they are sometimes described can cause injuries such as shinsplints, knee pain, calf strains, achilles tendonitis and heel pain. The magic cure that running retail shops will advise is, motion control or stability type running shoes. While this is a step in the right direction it does not address the problem of poor biomechanics and the effect this has on the runner when running long distances.

If you consider the effect that you will have when you alter someone’s biomechanics by putting on a pair of motion control running shoes. Firstly when fully weight bearing you will now see the foot and ankle adopting a different position in relationship with the floor. A job well done you might think! Now you have changed the positioning of the foot and ankle, you go out for a 5k training run and eventually build up to longer distances in order to break them in perhaps.

On finishing the run, you take off the corrected footwear and will not wear them again until the next run. In the meantime you put on non corrected footwear and wear these for a larger percentage of the time than the corrected versions.

My knowledge of the human body has been developed by studying and practicing Osteopathy and Physiotherapy for many years and the fact is simply, “the human body will respond to any alteration that is introduced” Therefore by changing the training shoes to alter the angles of your feet and ankles, the body will begin to change as a response. Add to this, that you are putting the muscles to work at a different angle than they are used to, and you can see the potential for injuries.

An ideal solution to this is, if you are going to make changes to biomechanics then you must make them consistent. Wear your corrected shoes all the time is an answer, but not practical. Far better is custom prescription orthotics which can be interchanged between all of your footwear. You now have correction in all shoes and trainers and consistency is achieved. You body adapts and settles to its new regime and everything is wonderful.

Ensure you use experienced trained practitioners who have knowledge of running injuries. Many suggest they are suitable to do this work but many fail to achieve the accuracy needed for marathon runners. Atlas Sports Injury Clinic which has clinics in Tamworth Staffordshire and Hall Green Birmingham have a vast experience in running injuries and the practitioners are runners themselves. They have a running centre of excellence which offers biomechanical evaluations, laser foot scanning and video gait analysis and also advice on training and treatment on running injuries. Visit their website on www.solihullsportsinjuryclinic.co.uk if you need help or advice.

Another female Tamworth acupuncture practitioner joins Atlas Back Pain Relief Centre

Tamworth pain relief centre is delighted to announce the arrival of a second female Tamworth acupuncture practitioner who will join their busy team of professionals. Rebecca Southwell MBAcC has been recruited from Hampshire and will join the Tamworth team in February 2008.

Rebecca graduated with her 3 year acupuncture degree from the University of Lincoln and is a member of the British Acupuncture Council. She joins acupuncturist Maddy Sharp and will provide additional acupuncture services at the busy Tamworth and Solihull practices.

Acupuncture is very effective in treating symptoms of back pain, trapped nerves, tennis elbow, heel pain, arthritic pain, hormonal conditions, stress, anxiety, depression, fertility, digestive problems and much more.

Staffordshire pain relief centre clinic in Tamworth Staffordshire is a multi-disciplinary clinic and also offers Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Podiatrists/Chiropodists and Sports Massage alongside Acupuncture. Both the Tamworth acupuncture practitioners are female as it is felt women have a better awareness of female problems and better suited to listening and providing support.

Staffordshire acupuncture patients will now have access to two excellent Tamworth acupuncture female practitioners at either Tamworth Staffordshire or Hall Green Birmingham, West Midlands.

Details can be accessed by visiting the Atlas Website on www.atlaspainrelief.com

Birmingham Physiotherapists working from Atlas Back Pain Relief Centre in Hall Green Birmingham offer something different. Both HPC registered Physiotherapists have been working in Solihull West Midlands for some years and have multiple professions.

Peter Taylor is qualified as a Sports Therapist, Physiotherapist and Podiatrist/Chiropodist with many years experience in treating sports injuries and back pain in Birmingham and Solihull

John Williams is qualified as a Sports Therapist, Physiotherapist and Osteopath and also has many years experience treating sports injuries and back pain. John lokks after Paddy Doyle. the Solihull Birmingham Guiness Book of Records world endurance champion

As a Birmingham Physiotherapy team they have a wide knowledge base covering many professions, which makes diagnosing injuries and painful conditions a lot easier. The ability to see things from different perspectives gives a more holistic approach to treatment and benefits the patients.

If you suffer from back pain, osteopaths offer an alternative to chiropractors and chiropractic treatments and at Atlas you have the option of Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Podiatrist or Acupuncture which can all treat back pain.

Sports injuries are a specialist field and all the Atlas Birmingham Clinic staff have many years experience in diagnosing and treating sporting injuries. Physiotherapist Peter Taylor is a keen Club distance runner, Physiotherapist John Williams was involved in teaching fitness and personal training, played soccer and taught Karate as well as completing 2 marathons while Osteopath Aaron Caseley was a top flight cyclist and also taught fitness and pilates after leaving the RAF as a PTI.

All 3 have only worked in the private sector and earn their livings by making people better. Adopting the Atlas philosophy of providing patients with a 5 star service and fast recovery plan the Birmingham team have become very successful and have many testimonials which can be viewed by visiting the website www.solihullbackpainclinic.co.uk.

The Hall Green Physiotherapy and Back Pain Clinic is located on the Robin Hood roundabout at the Hall Green and Shirley Border close to Solihull, Birmingham and has evening appointments as well as daily appointment times.

Tamworth Premier 10k Run will be supported by Tamworth Osteopaths, Tamworth Physiotherapists and a team of Sports Massage Therapists from Atlas Pain Relief Centre who are based in Tamworth town centre in Staffordshire.

The new 10K course around the Tamworth countryside in May 2008 will attract many runners who are looking for a 10k PB as the course is expected to run fast. The Atlas Team will consist of Tamworth Osteopath Aaron Caseley, Osteopath John Williams with Physiotherapist and Podiatrist Peter Taylor plus additional massage therapists who will join the two existing Tamworth therapists who have supported the event from the beginning..

Event sports massage and injury treatments will be available for runners with running injuries. Pre and Post sports massage will be available before and after the event for runners free of charge.

Tight calfs and hamstrings are common after distance running and a good stretch and rub down after the event helps prevent sore muscles and injury.

Advice on orthotics and biomechanics can be obtained from sports podiatrist Peter Taylor on the day and an invitation will be offered to the Atlas Open day for runners later in the month where the laser foot scanner and video gait analysis will be demonstrated.

Tamworth Premier Run will be a well supported event and soon become one of the biggest running events in the UK. Staffordshire will be put firmly on the map as far as running is concerned and Tamworth will soon attract many runners to the specialist running injury clinic at the Atlas Pain Relief Centre in Lower Gungate.

Testimonials can be found by visiting www.atlaspainrelief.com