A-Z of Therapies

Electrotherapy (TENS & NMS) is the use of electrical stimulation of the peripheral nervous system to override pain messages or evoke muscle contractions. This modern, non invasive, cost effective, drug-free system is widely recognised as an effective method of relieving both acute or chronic pain.

TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation)

Pain relief with TENS is produced thr…

Exercise is a critical component in both overcoming and preventing back problems, and today we know that when back pain strikes, activity beats rest as a treatment.

Many people suffering from back pain lack adequate levels of flexibility, strength and control of the muscles surrounding the back. Undertaking exercise will improve these weaknesses.

The benefits of exercise include:

Str…

Many people have found that hot and cold treatments help relieve their back pain.

Heat and cold can be applied several times throughout the day but for periods no greater than 20 minutes at a time. The general rule is to use ice for the first 48 hours and then heat. The cold is usually applied initially to ‘numb’ the soreness. Then heat is used to relax the muscles, soothe painful areas and …

The Feldenkrais Method teaches, through gentle, non-invasive movement, how we can improve our capabilities to function in our daily lives. This is achieved by the adaptability of our nervous system. Feldenkrais frees the body, not by stretching exercises or aerobics, but by somatic learning (the body experienced from within). The exercises are precisely programmed movement patterns to stimulate…

Herbal/Botanical Medicine is the use of herbs for disease prevention, as adjunctive therapies and a primary intervention treatment for specific conditions. Herb plants produce and contain a variety of chemical substances that act upon the body. The prescription of specific herbal treatments is an individualised process, since herbalism takes into account not only a person’s illness or condition…

Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water, either internally or externally, for healing and rehabilitation treatments. There are many ways to use water for healing, including steam baths, hot and cold soaks, poultices, wraps, compresses and full and partial immersions, to name just a few. It works by using the effects of turbulence, buoyancy and warmth to reduce the levels of pain and discom…

Homoeopathy is an alternative system of medicine that was founded in the early 19th century by a German physician. It’s a system of medical therapy that concentrates on care of the whole person by methods that are gentle and sympathetic to the body’s needs.

Homoeopathy rests on the principle ‘Like is cured by like’. This means that a disease can be cured by a medicine that is capable of prod…

Direct injection of medication into the back may be recommended by a physician for those patients whose conservative treatments have not worked.

Injection therapy includes local anaesthetics, saline, steroids, dextrose, sclerosants, and more complicated drugs used in hospital settings. Injections may be performed without x-ray control into the back muscles (paravertebral injections, tender p…

Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy is a medical treatment that enhances the body’s natural healing process by inhalation of 100% oxygen in a total body chamber where atmospheric pressure is increased and controlled.

Under normal circumstances oxygen is transported throughout the body only by red blood cells. With HBO, oxygen is dissolved into all the body’s fluids, the plasma, the central nervous sys…

Integrative Medicine is a multi-disciplinary approach to healthcare. It is based on a partnership between patient and health provider, where the best of conventional, complementary and alternative medicine practices can be explored, in a whole person approach, to maximise each individual’s ability to achieve healing and wellness.

Integrative Medicine neither rejects conventional medicine nor…