A recent inquiry has shown that Australia is fast becoming a nation of pill-poppers, consuming more than 40 million pills a day. This $14.2 billion a year habit begs the question of whether we rely too heavily on pills to achieve better health. With safe, natural medicine only making up $4 billion of this total, it’s becoming obvious that Australians are turning to prescription drugs for a quick fix – an act that could be very dangerous for many people.

While it might resemble something you’d pick up at Bunnings, the Theragun is becoming the new best friend for many of our patients here at The Spinal Centre.

The foam attachments create localized vibration to stimulate intense blood flow to treat sore muscles, chronic pain and improve mobility. The frequency of the device is calibrated to interrupt the brain’s pain receptors, reducing discomfort during treatment.

The Theragun works well on tight muscles, relaxing them in a matter of minutes. Despite it’s intimidating exterior, it never actually hits the body with force, instead it glides across the body with constant vibration.

The Next Spinal Workshop for Hawthorn is on Wednesday May 16th.

• Time: 7.30 pm.
• Venue: The Hawthorn Spinal Centre.
• Bookings with Reception Team: 7000 6070
• Parking; On Street Parking Available at the Clinic.

Spinal Workshops help you understand the most common spinal problems. And some of the tricky stuff like disc injuries, hip replacements, back operations and fusion.

In these Workshops we provide simple, practical ways to prevent further injury and decrease your recovery time.

We consider them essential for all new patients to attend, otherwise you may never really understand how we can help you achieve the best possible results.

Also, Spinal Workshops are a great introduction to the practice for those who are interested in what we are doing or considering care.

Learn the common mechanisms of spinal injury. Learn how to prevent the most common new patient mistakes and avoid a needless relapse.

I hope you’re sitting down for this one folks.. or maybe not, because it appears that your chair is out to get you!

It might sound strange, but it’s true.

Researchers have found that sitting, something we all do on a daily basis and which the majority of us spend 80% or more of our working day doing could kill us faster than smoking will.

Statistics from an Australian study released in the LA Times Feature which feature this news indicate that an hour of sitting in front of the TV cuts around 22 minutes from our lives.

That’s: 1 hour of sitting cuts 22 minutes from our lives – extraordinary!

Many people (around 200,000) undergo lumbar spine surgery each years. Of those, an astonishing 20-40% will not become pain free as promised – and a full 10% will be worse off following the surgery!

To understand what is meant by “disc injury” it is necessary to understand the function and make up of the disc itself.

During our lives, many of us will have neck pain, and most of us won’t know exactly what caused it. In fact, neck pain can start from a whole range of causes.

Maybe you slept funny and woke up with a crick that won’t go away. You might’ve been rear-ended in your car and now you have whiplash.

Back pain is a very common complaint. About three in four adults will experience back pain during their lifetime-and that number may very well rise, given our aging population and recent trend of obesity.

Low back pain (pain in your lumbar spine) is the most common. Most back pain comes from sprains and strains caused by stressful movements: lifting something without using proper techniques or a sudden twisting motion are just two examples of how you can hurt your back.

The spine is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture discs, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to varying forms of spinal pains.

While sports injuries or accidents can cause spinal pain, sometimes the simplest of movements – for example, picking up a pencil from the floor – can have painful results.