00:00So we're here in Eccleshaw and we're here with family osteopath Hannah Beard.
00:05Hello. What is an osteopath? It's to do with the back isn't it? Although I've
00:11learned it's not just to do with the back. So an osteopath is a professional
00:15who's trained to degree level to use their hands to help you with pain and
00:20that might be pain in your back, your knee, your neck, your shoulder, your foot, your jaw.
00:24And we use hands-on therapy so you might have seen the cracking videos on TikTok. We could do that
00:33but we can also do massage articulation. I like to work through the tummy to help with back pain
00:39and there's lots of ways you can help manage pain. You know what, you mentioned those cracking videos
00:44and you're right I have seen them and I've also seen a dog ones where they do it. Is that just,
00:50is that like a very effective direct route of treatment the cracking method or is that just
00:56for TikTok? If it's safe obviously people like to hear a sound because it sounds like something's
01:01happened and what that is is just a joint space gapping and that is a nice technique because
01:06it can be done quickly, it can be done without pain and it can change things quite quickly. So
01:11like if you've got a joint that stops moving as a unit as a single unit and moves as a block
01:17that shifts forces up and down to your neck and shoulder or to your lower back. So if you can gap
01:21those joints and remind them that they can move individually you spread the force and it takes
01:25the pain off and the pressure off and allows it to get nutrition more easily. So it is a useful
01:30technique but not everyone is suitable. Yeah yeah when you do see people doing it I do think oh well
01:36this could go horribly wrong you've got to know what you're doing haven't you? Yeah and you don't always
01:39get a noise so sometimes you think these videos are probably a bit enhanced. Yeah I can well imagine
01:45yeah. So you personally when did you think that this is what I want to do and you know where did
01:50your interest in it come from? Well um whenever we had a problem in our family with back pain we'd go
01:56to see an osteopath so I'd seen my mum have treatment my sister have treatment I've had treatment
02:00um I was actually teaching in Liverpool at the time and finding it really stressful job thinking
02:06I cannot be a teacher till I'm 65. Yeah. I've had an interest in medicine thought thought about
02:11a physio or doctor but not really quite settled on it and um I went to see my sister get a second
02:17opinion with an osteopath and I thought wow this ticks all the boxes it's a profession you have a skill
02:23you're working with people it's lifelong learning um you know and I thought actually this could be
02:28the thing that really works well for me. Yeah. And then I retrained um with the help of my teaching
02:33degree and I haven't looked back since. So you mentioned your family there kind of all having
02:39some treatment with the back so can I can back if we can it be a genetic thing is that often how it
02:46works? Yes for some people um they've got the well the gene for an osteoarthritis um but I would like
02:52to say that having arthritis doesn't mean you'll live in pain. Yeah. A lot of people might scan 100
02:58people and find that some we've all got a degree of wear and tear on our spine or disc bulges
03:03but that doesn't actually predicate who's in pain and so I think pain pain can be situational so if
03:11you've had a bereavement if you've had an increase in stress or a change in the lifestyle or you've
03:15had a baby or you've had a sporting injury and now you're losing a bit of muscle mass I think those
03:20things can be more important to look at when you're trying to help someone than is it arthritis but for
03:25some people yes they've got a family history and their arthritis is fairly severe but I'd like to think
03:31I can help those people as well. Yeah now that's interesting like you say so a lot of us have
03:36got arthritis but that doesn't necessarily mean we're in pain but a period of stress in our life
03:41that can affect literally how the body inflammation and so on in the body and that can cause that pain
03:47then for that period. Absolutely so um being in pain means that you probably don't eat as well you don't
03:53sleep as well you have increased muscle tension in your body and you'll be holding yourself differently
03:58obviously being in pain is stressful in itself and all those factors can mean that you get stuck in
04:04a cycle of pain rather than it resolving as it might have done before on its own. Yeah so does that stand
04:10to reason that if there's a period of stress has caused that inflammation that pain to start that
04:17once they're over that period of stress that that should subside? Absolutely yeah and sometimes people
04:23just need time and sometimes we can help speed that up but I would say that you know my mid-life office
04:30workers you know in a management job more possibly have more pain and more um more disability than some
04:37of our retired patients who suddenly have obviously had a change in and how they how their days are and
04:43they're much less stressed and therefore their pain is different. And you were saying actually you see a lot more
04:48kind of people that are office workers than manual workers and I guess with the advent of all this you
04:53know home working and a lot more IT based jobs a lot of us are becoming more sedentary now aren't we
05:00which is it's never a good thing I'm guessing. Yeah and it's it's often about um your diversity and
05:06movement so you can sit and you can stand and but if you're stuck in one position for a long period of
05:10time and that might be standing or it is more likely sitting then yeah that can have a real impact on your
05:15joint health and the pressure that goes through your joints your muscular tone and you know how
05:22nutrients get flushed around your body so yeah sometimes desk-based office workers are some of
05:27my trickier patients to get ready to get right. Yeah and is it mostly the back that you see people
05:33coming to you with and suffering with? I think that's what osteopaths are most well known for it's
05:38what we see the most of but that's shortly followed by neck pain shoulder pain and knee pain it's something
05:44I see sort of weekly but predominantly what brings people in is their back it might be they've had
05:49an ankle injury you know five years ago and that's upset their back so I'm always looking for why so
05:54I would always start with the spine more often than not I will travel away to other parts to try and help
06:00figure out why the back's struggling and also to help get you out of pain. So as a professional
06:07what do you do to kind of keep your body healthy you know do you make sure you do yoga do you make
06:16do you do sports or just make sure you're walking is there anything that you do that perhaps we can
06:20steal a few tips off? Absolutely so diversity and movement is it so I go to the gym I do weights and
06:29circuits I walk my dog I run but I definitely have rest days as well yeah I think it's important to
06:35realise that you know swimming walking your dog gardening housework all of these count as physical
06:42activity but it's good to listen to your body so if I'm feeling really tired and I'm still aching
06:48I might go for a walk rather than going to the gym so I think listening to your body is probably the best
06:53tip I can give you and be confident that you know what you need. And what about this thing where you
06:58know we it's perhaps we it's the first time we've had a bit of back trouble and it used to be very much
07:03oh you better lie up and yeah but then now we kind of hear no no keep moving keep moving which
07:09one is it is it somewhere in between or? So I would say keep moving keep with relative rest so for some
07:16people with acute back pain when it's really sore and maybe it's got you stuck forward absolutely get
07:20down on your bed with a pillow between your knees and ice back on your back for 10 minutes every hour if
07:25that helps but yes don't take to your bed try and keep moving I say to my patients potter at work top
07:31height when you feel tired maybe lie down rather than sit but then get back up again use a nice
07:37pack if you need to take painkillers you can do you know paracetamol and ibuprofen on your friend
07:42if you're not sleeping and paracetamol before bed will help you to do that definitely take it and then
07:48seek help if it's not resolving in a week if you're not getting better on your own within a week then I
07:53would say seek help you don't have to put up with the pain that you're feeling. Great stuff and don't forget guys
07:58seek help we're here in Eccleshore with the wonderful Hannah Beard so check her out guys thank you.
