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It's July but Summer has not quite arrived in Pontypridd, this means we are not seeing
as many gardening and DIY injuries in the clinic as usual.
CONTENTS
- Clinic News
- Bank Holiday Opening
- Cauda Equina Syndrome
- What is acupuncture?
- Osteoporosis
CLINIC NEWS
Our clinic continues to expand and we look forward to welcoming two new associate osteopaths over the next few months.
Imran Ali, a new graduate from Swansea University is hoping to join us towards the end of July. He will work on a Wednesday and Saturday.
Rebecca Messenger, also a new graduate from Swansea University will join us in September and will work on a Monday.
This means that Angela will be able to cut down on her workload.
BANK HOLIDAY OPENING TIMES
Sorry the clinic is CLOSED
Monday 26th August, 2024
2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the inception of Osteopathy.
Cauda Equina Syndrome
We see a lot of patients in our clinic with symptoms of sciatica i.e. pain in the back of the leg often associated with pins and needles and/or numbness.
However, in rare cases these symptoms worsen and affect the bladder and bowel. Symptoms and signs of Cauda Equina Syndrome are: -
- Loss of feeling/pins and needles between your inner thighs or genitals.
- Numbness in or around your back passage or buttocks.
- Altered feeling when using toilet paper to wipe yourself.
- Increasing difficulty when you try to stop or control your flow of urine.
- Loss of sensation when you pass urine.
- Leaking urine or recent need to use pads.
- Not knowing when your bladder is either full or empty.
- Inability to stop bowel movement or leaking.
- Loss of sensation when you pass a bowel motion.
- Change in ability to achieve an erection or ejaculate.
- Loss of sensation in genitals during sexual intercourse.
If you have any of the above symptoms, you must go straight to A & E.
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture treatment involves fine needles being inserted through the skin and left in position briefly. The number of needles varies but may be only two or three. Treatment might be once a week to begin with, then at longer intervals as the condition responds. A typical course of treatment lasts five to eight sessions. Each patient’s case is assessed by the practitioner and treatment tailored to the individual.
Acupuncture stimulates the nerves in skin, muscle and other tissues, and can produce a variety of effects. We know that it increases the release of the body’s natural painkillers, including endorphin and serotonin, in the pathways of both the spinal cord and the brain. This modifies the way pain signals are received by the brain.
Acupuncture can do more than simply reduce pain however; it seems to have a beneficial effect on the health of some individuals. Patients often notice an improved sense of wellbeing after treatment. Current research shows that acupuncture can have an effect on many of the body’s systems – the nervous system, muscle tone, hormone production, circulation and allergic responses, as well as respiratory, digestive, urinary and reproductive systems.
What sort of conditions respond to acupuncture?
Acupuncture is proven to be effective in a wide range of painful conditions and is commonly used in short term relief of musculoskeletal pain, including chronic low back and neck pain, knee osteoarthritis pain, migraine and tension-type headache, and temporomandibular (jaw joint) disorders (TMD).
Some other situations in which acupuncture might be used are: improvement in the symptoms of overactive bladder syndrome; shoulder pain; post-operative nausea and vomiting.
Angela Cavil provides acupuncture treatment at our clinic.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a common bone health condition associated with advancing age. It is estimated to affect over three million people in the UK. If not managed adequately, vertebral fragility fractures are a common consequence of osteoporosis, and the have the potential to have a long-term impact on a person’s quality of life.
Currently only 30% of vertebral fractures are identified, and up to 20% of patients will sustain another fracture within the first year and have an increased relative risk for a hip fracture.
These lead to both acute and chronic back pain, substantial spinal deformity, functional disability, decreased quality of life, and increased mortality risk.
Signs and symptoms
Osteoporosis is known as a silent disease, meaning there are typically no symptoms until the development of a fragility fracture. The spine is the most common site for fragility fractures, and back pain is the most frequent presenting symptom. In the acute phase, the spine may be tender to deep palpation and percussion, and there may be paraspinal muscle spasms. Vertebral fractures as also associated with a reduction in height, and an increasing number of fractures is related to an increase in kyphosis.
Risk factors
Osteoporosis is common in all women aged 65 years and over and all men aged 75 years and over. Osteoporosis is found in women aged under 65 years and men under 75 years with the presence of risk factors stated below:
- Previous fragility fracture
- Current use of oral or systemic glucocorticoids (5mg > 3months)
- Low body mass index (BMI < 18.5kg/m2)
- Smoking (> 20 cigarettes per day)
- High alcohol intake (> 14 units per week)
- Late menarche (>15) and/or early menopause (< 45)
- .Family history of hip fracture
- Comorbidities (hyperthyroidism, hyperparathyroidism, diabetes, Cushing’s disease)
- Malabsorption conditions (coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic liver disease, chronic pancreatitis)
- Rheumatological conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondylarthritis, psoriatic arthritis)
- Haematological conditions (multiple myeloma)
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Medications (PPI e.g. omeprazole, SSRI e.g. citalopram, thyroxine, aromatase Inhibitors e.g. letrozole).
Pontypridd Osteopathic Clinic serves the people of Pontypridd, Rhondda, Mountain Ash, Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff.
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