Be in Shape after 40

Get Your Move Groove Back As men get older they start to assume that aches and pains are a ‘natural part of getting old’ and that they have to accept them – this is not true, there is a lot that Osteopathy can do to help over 40 men stay pain free and active. As men age their bodies gradually lose muscle mass, flexibilty and shape and the activities they engage in change.

To be able to cope with this it is important that we retain a full range of movement in all our joints so that they stay healthy and that our muscles remain flexible and capable of allowing movement.Movement is essential for health and if the over 40 man stops using parts of his body and allows himself to stiffen up then this will lead to further dysfunction.

One of the problems men have as they get older is that they start to loose confidence in their body to be able to do what they want so they stop being active. A man’s body can be likened to a car, in that it needs regular servicing and maintenance as it gets older! Osteopaths treat the whole person not just conditions, and thus a very wide variety of different problems can be helped. Osteopathic treatment is aimed at releasing strains and stresses that have often accumulated in the body over many years, thus improving mobility and the circulation to all parts of the body. The result is often an improvement in many different aspects of health.

Most men will have suffered trauma at some point in their life, such as from falls, car accidents, or sporting accidents. Often men do not think that they have injured themselves at the time, but to the trained hands of an osteopath the effects of these accidents are often palpable years later as a continuing strain within the body tissues. This can make the joints more vulnerable to arthritic changes, and cause undue fatigue because more energy is used in simple every day tasks.

This imparts lasting strains in the body, which can not only aggravate existing problems, but also predispose to other illnesses. Osteopathic treatment can be effective at releasing the residual strains from accidents, both recent or long ago. This allows the body to function more efficiently. Patients often report an improvement in pain or other symptoms. The changes of old age are to some extent inevitable but we can delay them. Ageing involves changes in the blood vessels, glands, and all the organs and tissues of the body. The systems of the body and their functions gradually run down.

These changes are greatly influenced by changes in structure and by using stucture as our main tool we can turn things around and delay the ageing process with remarkable results. Osteopathy is an established system of complete medical practice, diagnosis and treatment, as recognised by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa and the British Medical Association. It is a ‘hands-on therapy (no surgery, medication, tablets or gimmicks) that restores the normal structure of the musculoskeletal system, which in turn improves the function of the nervous, circulatory and immune systems.

This allows faster healing, reducing pain, congestion and restriction within the body. A diagnosis including an explanation of why dysfunction has occurred will always be made prior to treatment. Hands-on treatment ranges from very subtle techniques used for babies through to more robust techniques used for athletes. Most patients report receiving complete relief in two to three consultations.

The following conditions may all benefit from osteopathic treatment Sports injuries, low back pain, neck pain, whiplash, tennis elbow, disc injuries, headaches, shin splints, arthritis, shoulder pain, chronic fatigue syndrome and more Source: Being SAM

View a list of common complains that Osteopathy can assist with

Discovery the benefits of Osteopathy