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Monday 30 August 2010

For years, I have wanted to lose weight and get fitter (I know there will be those of you who say ‘it’s easy - you just eat less and exercise more’). But I can assure you it might look that easy on paper, but you have missed out one important differential – we are human beings and therefore not one of us are the same. We all carry our own personal baggage and have our own beliefs and values and mine do not seem to fit with being slim and healthy no matter what I try.

This time however is different – I am throwing everything at it and some of the therapists at Fine Fettle are helping me. I am receiving osteopathy from Helen Bullen and I have spoken to Helen Williams, our nutritionist. I am receiving acupuncture from Gordana Petrovic and Pilates 1-1 from Lizzie Richardson, and lastly, but certainly not least, hypnotherapy from Brett Harris. So this time it has to work – but just in case I am tempted to give up I am posting this on the blog and will update those of you that are interested regularly. Be warned, I have a lot to lose so this could be a serial blog!

Oh, I forgot to say Helen B and Brett are taking it in turns to ensure I walk every lunchtime I am here. We usually walk between 1pm and 1.45pm so if anyone fancies a walk (gentle for some but exhausting for people like me) why not give us a ring and join us! It could be a one-off or more regular; whatever suits you. We would just ask that you check with your GP that you are ok for walking first.

For those of you that are interested I will blog again soon.

Thursday 26 August 2010

Know Your Numbers! Week

During Know You Numbers! Week (13th-19th September) we will be asking locals: 'are you gambling with your health?' as it was revealed by the Blood Pressure Association that 75% of us do not know our blood pressure numbers. As many are taking such a gamble with their health, Fine Fettle are urging everyone to get their free blood pressure check during the week.

There are around 1,400 official "Pressure Stations" from around the country, who are all taking part in the biggest blood pressure event in the UK, lead by UK charity the Blood Pressure Association.

One third of adults have high blood pressure; it's a symptonless condition, meaning the only way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to get tested. Without the test, many are ignorantly gambling their health, as high blood pressure can cause heart attacks and strokes. Once high blood pressure is detected, it can be managed successfully.

We are very keen to support such a worthwhile campaign. Monitoring blood pressure is very simple and when done can help to keep a person healthy, and avoid heart disease. We urge all local residents to come in on Monday 13th September, between 9.30am and 1pm, to take advantage of our free testing.

To find out more about the campaign, visit the Know Your Numbers! Week website at www.bpassoc.org.uk/kyn or call 020 8772 4994

If you have a question about high blood pressure and would like to speak to someone over the phone, call the Blood Pressure Association's information line on 0845 241 0989

Thursday 12 August 2010

GB Lions

Mel is back from 2 weeks in Frankfurt Germany, looking after the GB Lions as they made their bid to become European Champions. It was a gruelling two weeks, full of emotional and physical ups and downs. Although the team did not do as well as hoped, there were a lot of lessons learnt and plans are already being made to improve their overall performance. Look out for more GB Lions news as we prepare to play Ireland in October.

Melina Healy
Clinical Sports Therapist

BSc Hons, MSST

Saturday 7 August 2010

Ali's Big Ride

It all started one blustery day back in May not long after Fine Fettle had opened its doors in Bookham, Surrey. Two lovely ladies came into the practice armed with posters looking very sheepish and a little worried about asking if we would put a poster up for them. I was in the practice that day and read through the poster, “of course we can put your poster up but”……. The two ladies looked slightly worried but then I continued “we can do more than just put your posters up!”

Let me explain that the poster was for Ali’s Big Ride http://www.alisbigride.co.uk/ . Alistair was a brave and incredible boy who impressed everyone he met with his courage, his fight, his desire for life and his natural ability to bring humour to all situations. Unfortunately in December last year, Alistair, aged 6 died of Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia. So in his memory his father and nine of his father’s closest friends came together to undertake an amazing fundraising (Royal Marsden) adventure in the form of a cycle ride from John O’Groats to Lands End, starting July 16th and travelling 866 miles over 10 days, dressed as some of Alistair’s favourite superheroes – Batman, Mr Incredible, Zorro, Bicycle Repair man, Bananaman, The Thing, Cooperman, Red Ranger, The Mighty Thor and Captain Underpants.
 

Here at Fine Fettle we have a group of fantastic, highly qualified and generous practitioners who were all willing to give support to the challenge. They all stepped up to the mark in providing free massage and therapy treatments for all the riders in the weeks leading up the adventure. They worked as a team giving them nutritional, training and injury prevention advice for their training schedule.

Now although we would love to claim we did lots of hard work, it was nothing compared to the amount of training and self dedication that the group of superheros put in and what a mammoth effort to cycle the length of the country.


As part of our support I agreed to provide Osteopathic and Sports Massage support to them on their trip down the country. So on Monday 19th July, I spent 7 hours on a coach travelling to meet the guys after 400 miles of cycling in 4 days, in Carlisle. I left London in the scorching heat but arrived to gail force winds and pouring rain in Carlisle. The guys all arrived safely but they were weather beaten as it had been windy and wet since the start. A few of them wondered if they were just cycling under the same cloud travelling the same way.

So at 10.30 pm I was still fixing and patching and treating any injuries or aches and pains. They had a few! Unfortunately one of them was suffering from a suspected stress fracture so a trip to the Carlisle casualty unit was in need.

The next morning they were all up bright and early and ready for another day. I was to return to practice in Bookham to treat my regular patients and then return to Bristol to meet them again on the Tuesday. The funniest thing that morning was one rider who had hit a bridge the day before and had broken his brakes. True to form Cycle repairman came to the rescue with an elastic band and off they all went!
Most up to date bike repair kit…. Look closely!
Hels and the guys in Carlisle.

On Thursday 22nd July, after a full day in practice, I drove up to Bristol to treat and fix again. There were lots of sore quads so I showed them all how to strap their thighs to alleviate some of the pressure on their overused muscles. They were still in high spirits - a testimony to their courage and determination. It was still raining on them each day!! The only real injury was a case of acute achilles tendinitis. Always an interesting one to treat, as the squeaking of the inflammed tissue always makes me smile. Anyway, I used massage and dry needling to the area and the superhero was able to continue the journey down south. A late night drive home for me before practice my patients in the morning!!

I am glad to say that the guys reached Land’s End on their target day on Sunday 25th July 2010. Although I was not able to travel to meet them I understand that a good time was had by all especially the families that had travelled to meet their loved ones.

Helen Bullen

Owner/Director of Fine Fettle and Osteopath

Thursday 5 August 2010

Can Hypnotherapy Help Children?

Hi – This is my first blog for Fine Fettle Multi-healthcare – in fact my first blog ever! (There’s still life in this technophobe!). Just wanted to report on the workshop I attended on Saturday 31st July 2010. It was called ‘Working with Children’ and was run by Linda Hudson. Lynda is the author of Scripts and Strategies in Hypnotherapy with Children, and more recently More Scripts and Strategies in Hypnotherapy (adults) - both books I can highly recommend.

It was a small workshop which enabled us to have a lot of one to one attention and we all participated, putting forward questions and suggestions. The workshop lasted all day and we were kept well fed and watered throughout.

My reason for attending this workshop was to gain more information about working with children and to look at the different strategies used with children and those used with adults. I came away with this information and more! Listening to Lynda fired up my enthusiasm for hypnotherapy in general. I just wish I’d found hypnotherapy earlier in my career.

I will definitely be attending further workshops with Lynda.

Thanks for reading my first blog,

Sue Ford

Clinical Hypnotherapist at Fine Fettle Multi-healthcare