I have a duty to tell those of you who read my last blog that I have managed to keep my gallbladder inside my body so far. It’s been just over a month since my gallbladder attack and impromptu trip to A & E. I have cut out all alcohol and fatty foods in an attempt to let it settle down, and so far, it’s working. The pain in my stomach has pretty much gone and I am back to work. It’s a tough time of year to have such a strict change of diet. So far, I have been on three Christmas nights out without drinking and it’s a very odd experience. I’m going to try and keep it up for three months at least, which will be the first time that I haven’t drank alcohol for that long since I was 18, so I guess it\’s time to get on with it!
This month we had a day of shockwave training at the clinic for all the staff and even some guests from our friends at ACE Feet in motion who we work with at Bristol Rovers. It was great to get some more training on this wonderful new machine that has been included in the NHS’s own NICE guidelines for Plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis and Tennis elbow. There is lots of scientific evidence that shockwave is useful for many chronic (more than 6 weeks old) soft tissue injuries. These were injuries that were often difficult to treat using standard treatments and exercise therapy, so shockwave feels like a huge leap forward for some of these conditions.
“Shock Waves are movements of extremely high pressure caused by, for example, an explosion, an earthquake or a plane breaking the sound barrier. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) is the application of Shock Waves in medicine. It is clinically proven that pressure waves, when applied to injured tissues, stimulate these metabolic reactions; They help the reduction of pain felt by nerve fibers, increase blood circulation in surrounding soft tissues and initiate the beginning of healing process triggered by stem cells activation” – taken from ems-medical.com.
That’s the complicated science for those who are interested. By design we must be interested in the science and understand how it works but what’s important is that over the last few months of using this machine we have had some great results helping our patients get better.
I must write this blog early for publication reasons around the holidays, so it is still a week before Christmas and I’m pleased to tell you that our little Harry Button has turned two years old and both Molly and Harry are excited for Christmas, enjoying their first advent calendar and are both obsessed with dressing up as superheroes. Harry is Batman and Molly is Superman…Jenny can only be described as Wonder Woman…me…well if you base it on my new diet…you can call me Nutribullet…
