Knees. The largest joints in the body – they carry almost our entire weight and absorb the highest impact loads of any part of the skeleton. We need them to walk, sit, run, hop, climb, jump, squat, lift and kneel. In other words, getting by without a knee or two is going to seriously dent your daily activities. And, as far as joints go, knees live up to the reputation of the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

From a technical point of view, the knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus, permitting flexion and extension plus a slight internal and external rotation. What does that mean? It means the knees – as you probably guessed – can move backwards and forwards and we can do a pivot on them – within reason. And to do all that, the knee needs to be a lot more than just a place in between the thigh and leg.

The knee consists of the patella (the kneecap) the patella groove at the base of the femur (the thigh bone) and the medial and lateral articulations that sits the femur on top of the tibia (the largest leg bone). But that’s just the bones. Keeping these bones lubribated and seperate from one another is a whole lot of synovial fluid contained within a capsule known as the synovial membrane. Two discs – the menisci – similar to the discs found in the spine, sit between the point of contact of the femur and tibia, acting as the primary shock absorbers in a joint that has an impact load three times that of your body weight.

Then there’s the bits that allow all the movement in knee. There’s the eleven ligaments – including the well known cruciate ligaments and the lessor known medial collateral and the oblique popliteal that hold the knee together. The power to bend, pivot and extend comes from the fourteen muscles including the biceps femoris, quadraceps, plantaris and the Semimembranosus – I threw in the last one because it’s got the longest name.

All up, just one knee joint contains thirty-one moving or flexible parts – and like any machine, that’s a whole lot of things to wear out, break down or stop working. Little wonder there were 44,500 knee replacements in Australia during 2010, nearly fifty percent more than the number of hip replacements that same year. In the United States, eleven million people over the age of forty visit their doctor every year to have knee pain or injuries treated.

Our backs have been with us for a long time…and not surprisingly sore backs just as long. If your back is hurting, first of all, make yourself more comfortable. Take a cushion with you, particularly in the car or at work. If you’re sitting for long periods, stand up and walk around as often as you can. Don’t have a cushion? Try a rolled up towel or putting your forearm behind your lower back to support it while sitting.

Always lift objects with your knees bent and your back straight. Always hold objects close to your body and not out in front of you. And don’t forget those heavy objects could be your body. Your weight can be a big influence on back pain, carrying too much of a load is going to hurt you, so losing some of those extra kilograms will certainly reduce the risk of back strain.

Swimming is one of the best exercises for the back. Regular turns in the pool can strengthen the abdominals, the back muscles, and the buoyancy of the water will reduce the pressure placed on the spine offering a bit of relief from any strains.

One of the most frequently asked questions by both Clients and Professionals in Townsville alike is, “Why does Bowen therapy not combine or integrate with any other treatment?”

Tom Bowen demonstrated that Bowen Therapy is less effective, or will cease to function at all, if any other treatment was combined with his technique. This has been shown to be true when my own clients have chosen to ignore this and have, for example, had a massage a few days after a Bowen Therapy Treatment. The result? That massage stopped the Bowen Therapy. And this becomes another problem  – people begin to think Bowen Therapy doesn’t work for them, and, well, word of mouth gives us Chinese whispers. There’s a lot of misinformation about Bowen Therapy and it’s effectiveness as a treatment – which isn’t helped when some Therapists ignore the fundamental premise of Tom Bowen’s technique and mix various treatments together – more is not necessarily better. So when searching for Bowen Therapy be sure to ask for a Bowen Technique and not a combination/integrated/ adapting body pressure Technique.

And as an added tip – make sure you don’t use any magnetic underlays or body magnets while undergoing Bowen treatments, just like that massage, a magnet will also disrupt the work your Bowen Therapist is doing.

Benjamin Setter

Bowen Therapy Specialist of Townsville.

Are you in need of immediate pain relief?

To contact us immediately about a Bowen Therapy session tailored specifically for you.

Book an appointment on 07 4728 8800, via email at office@settershealthcentre.com.au or on our online appointment form.

Home to Setter’s Health Centre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovPy6rP4eDE

Friends, today for the first time we have added a permanent YouTube link to our Setter’s Health Centre Home Page. This is an exciting new step in order to reach folk with short Question and Answers with Benjamin Setter our Bowen Therapy Specialist.

Talk to us today about a Bowen Therapy session tailored specifically for you.

Book an appointment on 07 4728 8800, via email at office@settershealthcentre.com.au or on our online appointment form.

Home to Bowen Therapy in Townsville… Setter’s Health Centre.

We are all just like those chimps in their new cage – some of us are exploring and playing, and some of us banging on the door to go back home. It is perfectly normal and we can’t help the way our brains work. What we can do is understand our family members may think the opposite to each other…someone will always be wanting to do what someone else doesn’t – just like the chimpanzee family. But there is one thing we humans can do that chimps might not understand. We call it compromise.

Compromise is a powerful part of our intellectual reasoning – it’s not natural, we’re not born with compromise. Compromise must be learnt, usually the hard way – after a lot of arguing. Yet once we know how to compromise, it should always be a part of our interaction with others – forcing your left-brained same or right-brained change on everyone around you is unlikely to be sucessful in the long term – and it could be a fast way to a lonely unfulfilled life – and even left-brained ‘same people’ don’t usually want that.

The best way of approaching compromise is to understand what each party is thinking and needs as an outcome. If you’re a ‘change person’ who likes trying new food or adventures but comes up against the stubborn immovability of a ‘same person’ – then dragging them kicking and screaming to a change may evoke even more hostility to you and that change. Remember, ‘same people’ are physically stressed by change – so change for them needs to be made as calmly and slowly as possible. No sudden moves. And these guys usually aren’t big on surprises. However once introduced to a change they will probably begin to enjoy it and all the fuss and trouble will be behind them.

Now, if you’re a ‘same person’ who wants to eat the same thing for breakfast every morning and go to the same places at the same time every week…you are making things very stale for the ‘change person’ in your life. No doubt they’ve been pressing you to try something different, and more than likely you’ve been resisting because you “like things the way they are”. And of course, you don’t like surprises so you don’t surprise your ‘change person’ either. Well, here’s a big hint for you. Do a surprise. Make an effort. Do something different…yes you. It doesn’t have to be every day, but once in a while try a different place or thing with your ‘change person’ – they’ll certainly like it, and who knows…you might too. Give it a try…schedule yourself a surprise day.

In this day and age we all pretty much accept that we can be left handed or right handed. Footballers are well aware they can be left footed and right footed too. We even have favourite eyes. But can our thoughts and actions be left thinking or right thinking?

Our left-handedness or right-footedness is there because the brain is divided into two hemispheres…the…you guessed it…the right and left sides. These two parts of our brain function almost independently from each other, joined with only a smattering neurons and needing a third part of our brain – the frontal lobe – to keep everything tied together. The right side controls the left side of the body and the left side the other side of the body. Ever have an impulsive thought that a part of you wants to do and another part doesn’t? That’s the right and left hemispheres arguing while the frontal lobe mediates. The right side of the brain is impetuous and risk taking and the left side is practical and safe.

So what’s with our brain and change? Well, it means we’re wired to like change or hate it. If you like doing new things, taking risks or visiting places you’ve never been before then your right brain dominates your thinking, making you right-brained – you will like change or at least not grumble when it happens. If you like doing things that are safe, or the same thing every day and don’t like the idea of ever moving house – then you are left brained – and change for you is the enemy that must be destroyed at any cost.

Is this important? As an individual probably not, you’re allowed to like what you do…or not do. But add your favourite other-half or a few difficult teenagers living in your house and then liking change or hating it can be the devisive issue that makes or breaks hearts, ruins happiness and even relationships. Change can be dangerous…not in itself…but in what it can do when right-brained and left-brained people need to share a decision – and quite simply, we can’t help the conflict that occurs.

Don’t believe me? Studies with marmosets and chimpanzees who, like us, also have brains divided into left and right hemispheres – as do all vertebrates – share the same traits as left-brained and right-brained humans. Released into a great big new enclosure with lots of new toys and games to play, change-loving right-brained chimps began exploring and playing immediately. Meanwhile the left-brained change hating animals sat near the enclosure’s entrance wanting to go back to their old home – these left-brained test subjects exhibited much higher levels of stress when change was forced on them, with the stress hormone, cortisol, increasing dramatically. Biologically it is believed this behaviour has developed among social animals as a survival technique. The right-brained try that new berry or explore a new territory – at the risk of being killed doing it – while the left-brained eat from the same fruit tree every day in the same territory risking their fruit tree dying and them starving to death. It’s a balance thing.

And it’s this balance thing we need to be thinking of when we left and right-brained humans are confronted with change.

Why is continued Bowen Therapy education important? So that Setter’s Health Centre can continue to offer an outstanding Bowen Therapy service to the community of Townsville, Queensland.

At Setter’s Health Centre our Bowen specialists are recognised by Australian Health Funds and approved by the Australian Federal Government’s Nationally Recognised Training program. Our continuing commitment to education, mentoring, and developments in Bowen Therapy and it’s instruction. Has led to vastly improved Bowen Therapy training and assessment for our Townsville Specialists over the last 20 years.

Benjamin Setter

Bowen Therapy Specialist

Articles by Benjamin Setter Bowen Therapy Specialist.

Bowen Therapy For Children

Bowen Therapy For The Relief Of Stress

Bowen Therapy & Your Water Consumption

Bowen Therapy and Pregnancy

Bowen Therapy for Osgood-Schlatter Disease

Home to Setter’s Health Centre… We are celebrating 23 years of authentic Bowen Therapy service in the Townsville community.

Over the last 23 years Setter’s health Centre has continually offered Alternative Medicine’s cutting edge of pain relief known world wide as Bowen Therapy.

Setter’s Health Centre was the first authentic Bowen Therapy Clinic in the history of  the beautiful City of Townsville Queensland Australia.

A word from Benjamin Setter… At the end of November 2014, I, Benjamin Setter celebrated 23 years as a Bowen Therapy Specialist operating in this wonderful city of Townsville QLD. I would humbly like to thank all of you who have walked though my door over the last 23 years, and allowed me to help you through some very trying times in your lives. It has been a wonderful journey to be your Bowen Therapy Specialist in Townsville QLD, and to watch as you have recovered from injury using Bowen Therapy.

Looking forward to seeing walk through our door,

Benjamin Setter

Bowen Therapy Specialist

Bowen Therapy Instructor T.A.C.

Alternative Medicine Townsville for 23 years.

So what can you do to avoid back pain? Like anything to do with the body, the back is another use it or lose it. Sure, too much use can cause pain, but so can too little. An inactive back is open to injury at the slightest effort, so to avoid this, regular exercise is a fast way to building up resistance to injury – and even breathing can strengthen the back. Deep belly breathing – by placing your hands on the stomach and inhaling and exhaling deeply as many times a day as you can – will keep the the spinal cord moving up and down inside the vertabrae and reduce the risk of nerves being pinched…a pretty easy and simple solution to potential pain.

If you can find a few minutes in the day then you should try neck stretches – including bending, side-to-side, up-and-down and ear-to-shoulder exercises that will strengthen the cervical spine. For the lower spine using light weights and yoga poses such as the ‘downward dog’ – plus exercises like push-ups – will open the chest and stretch the spine. Good posture is also important, keeping the head level, the ears and shoulders aligned will help the spine by reducing the strain on the neck and can reduce associated tension related issues such as migraines and respitory restriction. For the back, the best sitting posture is not actually the vertical 90-degrees, but a slight angle backwards at 110-degrees – this ‘slight’ slouch, allows the shoulders to take some of the weight against a chair rather than placing all the weight on the lower spine.

Sleep can also be a problem – not enough can cause neck and back strains from increased muscle tension. Sleep should also be in a position to relax the spine – on your side usually places the least amount of pressure on all those vertabrae. Making sure your mattress and pillows are comfortable and supportive is also critical to a pain free back. For all intents and purposes, a relaxed back is a good back – find a balance between your lifestyle and spine and enjoy the benefits.

Hurting your back can happen suddenly, unexpectedly and usually at the least opportune time – as if there ever is a good time to injure yourself. The most likely cause of back pain is a muscle and ligament strain from lifting something too heavy; the wrong way; or too often. It’s the same kind of strain injury you can get in any of your muscles from overexertion or unusual exertion – and like most muscle strains should pass in a few days or maybe a week or two. This is what could be called the best case scenario.

If you’re less lucky, a lifting or exertion injury may result in a ruptured disc. This ring of rubberised gel between each vertebrae can only handle so much, push it too far and the disk can split or be squeezed out of place – into a hernia. Once a disc is pushed out of shape or becomes inflamed from being split open, it can then place pressure on the spinal cord, which can cause sciatic pain amongst other things, while also exposing the adjoining vertebrae to rubbing against each other rather than the disc. Despite all this damage a disc injury doesn’t have to be permanent and should heal within six months with the proper care and treatment. Walking thirty minutes a day to keep the abdominals flexed should improve blood flow to the affected disc and speed the recovery.

A somewhat more permanent affect on the spine can come from Osteoarthritis – producing the same arthritic pain in the back as you might find in the knees and other joints. This usually means feeling stiff when getting out of bed, and hurting when standing and walking. Osteoarthritis can also cause Spinal Stenosis, where the cavity for the spinal cord in each vertebrae becomes constricted placing pressure on the nerves and producing yet more pain. Omega 3 fish oils may provide some relief, but osteoarthritis is likely to be with you for the long term once you start feeling it. Similarly Osteoporosis can cause permanent injury and pain to the spine as the vertebrae weaken from bone density loss and become more susceptible to fracturing.