The Health Benefits of Easter Chocolate

It’s the month of Easter. What better way to celebrate than to talk about chocolate’s warm, milky goodness? Everyone has a favourite, but if you want our opinion (or read up on the latest health research, which we do a lot – something of an occupational hazard for osteopaths) the darker the chocolate the better it is for you. But that doesn’t mean we recommend you demand dark chocolate and nothing but dark chocolate from the Easter Bunny. Why? Read on to find out.

Dark chocolate is generally considered better for you than other varieties because it contains a higher percentage of cocoa solids. Cocoa solids contain antioxidants called flavonoids, which research has associated with several health benefits, including:

•   Improved heart health: Flavonoids can help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow, and reduce the risk of heart disease.

•   Better brain function: Studies suggest that the flavonoids in dark chocolate can improve cognitive function and reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

•   Reduced inflammation: Antioxidants help reduce inflammation in the body, which has been linked to several chronic health conditions.

By its nature, dark chocolate contains less sugar than the hyper-sweet stuff. Plus, we know sugar can increase inflammation in the body, be addictive, trigger bizarre insulin reactions, and contains nutritionally useless calories (oh, and it’s a nightmare for your oral hygiene too). But it’s important to remember that it still contains some sugar and fat so you should enjoy it in moderation! But what if you don’t enjoy it? That’s OK – you can get flavonoids from tea, fruit and vegetables. It’s not an essential part of your diet – after all if your ancestry is European, Australasian, African, Asian, or North American (anywhere but South America) your ancestors survived without it for tens of thousands of years! 

So, I Should ONLY Eat Dark Chocolate, Right?

But with all those health benefits why would we suggest you shouldn’t celebrate Easter with a dark chocolate frenzy? As osteopaths, psychology isn’t our main thing, but we do know our patients. We know that the exercises we prescribe need to be more than “good for you” they need to be achievable for where you are right now - and maybe even a little bit fun.  With that in mind we suggest that the healthiest chocolate is one you enjoy: one you can take a bite or two of and feel satisfied. If you don’t like dark chocolate you’ll eat it, and then probably eat some more because you feel a bit deprived and disappointed and then you’ll raid the kids’ dairy milk stash because that’s what you wanted in the first place. 

So, we suggest you ask the Easter Bunny to bring fewer, better-quality Easter Eggs with some dark chocolate and some of whatever you and your family like. And while Easter is a time for chocolate it’s also a time for family and, for many, for faith. You’ll enjoy your Easter Eggs more if you don’t fixate on them and enjoy a range of Easter foods and Easter activities instead. How about boiling eggs in water with food colouring added for old-fashioned family fun? Or perhaps the Easter Bunny could bring some craft activities for some family craft time.

Whatever you do to celebrate we hope you enjoy it. We look forward to seeing our patients again soon after the few days off to rest and reset. We’re always to here to help with your health goals. Call us on 0439379847 to make an appointment with the osteopaths at Holistic Hands Osteopathy for support in living your healthiest life. Have a great Easter everyone.

Recovering from RSI with Osteopathy

The human body is meant to move. It’s not meant to move like a machine in a factory – repetitively performing one action. And yet office work, modern technology and many manual jobs force us to move in such a way. Even our leisure time is invaded with some sports, hobbies and instruments encouraging limited, unbalanced, repetitive movement patterns. If we’re unlucky Repetitive Strain Injury (or RSI) can be the result. And it can be debilitatingly painful. So let’s talk about recovering from RSI with osteopathy.

What Is RSI?

Repetitive Strain Injury, also called Occupational Overuse Syndrome, is really a descriptive term for overuse injuries rather than a specific diagnosis. The condition can affect any part of the body although it’s more common today in the wrists and forearms due to our reliance on computers and keyboards at work. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a type of RSI, as are bursitis and tendonitis. We have a lot of names for it: tennis elbow, texter’s thumb, housemaid’s knee, trigger’s finger, Rubik’s wrist (when Rubik’s cubes had everyone obsessed). The list goes on. In fact, when the condition was first described back in 1700 by Italian physician Bernardino Ramazzini after observing industrial workers, he noted more than 20 categories of RSI.  It's simple really - repetitively performing one action without rest can cause inflammation and damage to the body’s soft tissues and nerves. Symptoms can include tingling, numbness, shooting pain and burning sensations, excessive weakness and fatigue, and clumsiness.

What to do about it?

Firstly, please don’t ignore the mild, early symptoms. A small annoyance can become chronic pain if left untreated and continually exacerbated.  Now some commonly given advice is to stop doing the activity causing you pain. But as osteopaths we know that’s sometimes not realistic or desirable: a guitarist with a gig coming up can’t just stop practising and a keen tennis player shouldn’t have to give up the sport they love. And we all have to work!

So, what can be done to prevent it?

Ergonomics

Take the time to ensure your work (and play) space is ergonomically sound. Check that your desk, chair and monitor are set at the right height. Similarly, make sure you’re playing with the right sporting equipment for you.

Rest

Take breaks throughout the day and move differently during them. The repetitive nature of typing, playing the piano or swinging a golf club is a problem, but so too is the limited range of motion those actions take you through. Take a moment to stretch and move in an alternative pattern (a few wrist rotations if you’ve been typing for hours for example.)

Posture

Working in a misaligned posture places extra load and aggravation on your body. So sit, stand and move well through whatever activity you’re doing. It’s important to note, that having your environment set-up with ergonomics in mind will help with this, but even the best chair can be slumped in! If you’re really too tired to move well then it’s time for that rest we mentioned earlier.

Treatment

Make an appointment with the osteopaths at Holistic Hands Osteopathy by calling 0439379847 today.  The sooner you make an appointment the sooner we can help you. If you have only niggling pain, but it’s becoming persistent, please take action before it becomes debilitating. If you’ve taken steps to improve your workstation, implement rest breaks and moved mindfully, but find things have not improved in forty-eight hours, we advise you make an appointment as soon as convenient. But don’t despair if you have left it too long and are suffering chronically. It might take a little longer, but we can still help. It’s what we do! 

After an initial consultation to understand your discomfort and its causes, your treatment will most likely include massage, stretching, and possibly the realignment of some affected joints.  Your osteopath will also advise you on exercises and stretches to bring relief.  While a cure is unlikely to be instantaneous, your osteopath is uniquely skilled to assist in recovery from RSI. By promoting blood flow to stiff or painful soft tissues and returning the body to a balanced alignment, your osteopathic treatment enables the body’s own healing mechanisms to work efficiently.  

We look forward to seeing you at the clinic and helping you back to tennis, golf, gardening, guitar-playing, writing, sewing (or working) with less pain.

Fractures Let’s ‘break’ it down

Have you ever broken a bone? We hope you haven't, but it’s a common injury that happens to people every day! Any break in the structure of a bone is known as a ‘fracture’. We’ve written a quick guide to understanding all the lingo relating to fractures below. Let’s check it out!

Causes

Fractures are usually caused in one of three ways:

•           Excessive force: This can be through either a direct force to a body part (i.e. a high tackle in football which breaks the shin-bone) or an indirect force (i.e. having your foot planted and twisting your leg which leads to a fracture of the shin-bone).

•           Repetitive stress: These result from repetitive, strenuous activities like running or jumping.

•           Other disease: These are fractures secondary to another disease process in the body which leaves the bone more prone to breaking. This may be a hereditary disease like Osteogenesis Imperfecta (aka Brittle bone disease) or as a result of cancer or infection.

Types of fracture: General description

Fractures are broadly classified into two main types:

•           Closed: The bone fractures and the overlying skin remains intact.

•           Open: The bone fractures and protrudes through the skin exposing the bone and other tissues to the elements. These types of fractures are prone to becoming infected, which complicates everything.

We can also classify fractures on whether they are:

•           Complete: A clean break of a bone into two or more pieces

•           Incomplete: The bone is not completely broken with some of the outer structure of the bone remaining intact.

Types of fracture: Now let’s REALLY break it down!

Each fracture can also be given a more specific description based on where exactly the bone is broken and in what way it has broken:

•           Transverse: A horizontal break across the shaft of a bone.

•           Linear / fissure: A vertical break along the shaft of a bone.

•           Oblique / spiral: A diagonal, or as the name suggests, spiral type fracture around the shaft of a bone.

•           Greenstick: One side of a bone has broken but the other side remains intact. This is common in children where bones are much more flexible than adult bones.

•           Comminuted: The bone is broken into more than two pieces, possibly into several fragments

•           Impacted: Two parts of a bone fracture are forced into one another

•           Crush: Usually seen in the spine caused by vertical and forward bending forces down through the vertebrae

•           Hairline: A tiny crack in the bone — these are so small that they are commonly missed on an x-ray!

•           Avulsion: A piece of bone is ripped away from the main bone by way of tendon or ligament injury. (Remember tendon attaches muscle to bone and ligament attaches bone to bone).

Which type of fracture have you had in the past? We hope this guide will help you work it out. Next time you come across a fracture (fingers crossed you don’t) you’ll know exactly what the doctors are talking about!

Stay safe!

Vertigo: symptoms and treatment

Welcome back readers! This month we are switching focus to the head, and specifically a condition which causes a person to feel dizzy. We welcome you to the world of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). In simple terms, a non-serious sudden attack of dizziness brought on by a change in head position.

What is vertigo?

Vertigo is a type of dizziness where a person experiences the sensation of whirling, spinning or swaying. A person will usually feel that they, or objects around them are moving when they are not. There are several causes of vertigo, with the most common cause being BPPV. Other common causes include Ménière's disease (vertigo with hearing loss and ringing in the ears) and labyrinthitis (inflammation of the inner ear).

The ear is made up of an outer, middle and inner section. The outer ear is the ear that we see on the head and the opening that leads into the head itself. This connects to the middle ear — a small area inside the head which houses the ear bones, connects to the inner mouth and also the inner ear. The inner ear is the section which houses our hearing and balance organs — the cochlea and the vestibular system. It is this most inner section which is involved with BPPV.

What causes BPPV?

The structure of the inner ear is quite complicated. It is a maze of hollow chambers and canals all connected together and filled with fluid. There are three semi-circular canals which are expertly positioned to detect movement in the 3 planes that our head can move (nodding up and down, tilting left and right, and looking left and right). Inside the chambers live tiny crystals which, when movement of the head occurs, move and send important information to the brain about what type of movement is occurring. Sometimes these crystals become detached from the chamber and move into the canals where they can play havoc.

Basically, the crystals move through the fluid which stimulates nerve endings in the canal. The nerves then send a message to the brain which the brain perceives as movement, even though the head isn’t actually moving. Because this information doesn’t match with what the eyes are seeing and the ears are detecting, we experience vertigo. It is one big mismatch of information which is tricking the brain. And the effect is quite unpleasant!

An attack of BPPV can be brought on by a quick change in head position, when rolling over in bed, sitting up from lying down, or when looking up to the sky. A recent head injury or degeneration of the inner ear system can precede episodes of BPPV.

Signs and symptoms

The main symptoms as discussed include a sensation of spinning or swaying. People may also experience feelings of light-headedness, imbalance and nausea. Attacks will usually only last a period of a few minutes and may come and go. It is not unusual for a person to have a period of symptoms followed by a period of no symptoms for months at a time. If symptoms persist for longer than a few minutes at a time, then it is likely the vertigo is from a different cause.

Some conditions that cause vertigo can also give symptoms of headache, hearing loss, numbness, pins and needles, difficulty speaking, and difficulty coordinating movements. Episodes of vertigo may also be much longer or constant. If you experience any of these symptoms they should be reported immediately as they could be signs of more serious issues, which will need to be investigated.

Can it be treated?

BPPV is very treatable. Many people with dizziness end up seeing their GP first, but it is common for a GP to refer these cases to us here at Holistic Hands Osteopathy for ongoing management. After a thorough session of questioning and assessment, if we are happy with our diagnosis of BPPV, then we can get to work right away.

BPPV can affect any of the semi-circular canals mentioned above. For treatment, we need to first bring on the symptoms. It sounds sadistic, but it is necessary to ensure we resolve the symptoms for you. Treatment for BPPV consists of a series of head and body movements where you start seated, move into a lying down position and end sitting upright again. This series of movements is known as the Epley Manoeuvre and is used to treat the most common form of BPPV. If the source of the problem is coming from a different canal, then the treatment will be slightly different.

We then send you away with some general do’s and don’ts. You may have to keep your head relatively still for the rest of the day (sorry, heavy exercise is not recommended at this stage) and to sleep propped up for the first night after treatment. We will then organise for you to come back in within a few days to reassess and if necessary continue with another treatment.

Final comments…

Interestingly, we often get patients come in who think they have vertigo, but in fact, it’s other structural issues contributing to their dizziness (which we diagnose and treat). That’s why it’s so important that we have a thorough consultation, to ensure we develop the right treatment plan for you. If you think you are experiencing vertigo, please come in and speak to us. Osteopaths are highly trained medical practitioners who can help treat more than you think. Call us today on 0439379847 to book your consultation.

Injury blog: Shoulder impingement

Suffering from shoulder pain? Lucky for you that our December blog is all about shoulder pain… We’re good like that! As osteopaths, shoulder pain is up there as one of the most common complaints we treat, after lower back and neck pain. Office workers, gym goers and overhead sports people, such as basketballers and netballers are all regular victims of shoulder pain.

A common shoulder complaint that we see is shoulder impingement, otherwise known as subacromial impingement. Say ‘shoulder’ and most people think of a ball and socket joint. This joint does indeed make up a large part of the shoulder, but there is much more to it than that. Over the top of the ball and socket joint sits a bony ‘bridge’ which is made up of the collar bone (aka the clavicle), shoulder blade (specifically the ‘acromion’ part of the shoulder blade) and a joint which connects the two (aptly named the ‘acromio-clavicular’ joint). Beneath the bridge and above the ball and socket joint is a small gap called the sub-acromial space (sub = underneath).

It is within this space that the abovementioned impingement occurs and if present, may cause pain when moving the arm.

Why does impingement occur?

Well, there are quite a few soft tissues which run through this space that help keep the shoulder functioning. These parts include the tendons of the biceps and one of the rotator cuff muscles, a ligament and a fluid-filled sac called a ‘bursa’. Bursi allow smooth, frictionless movement around joints and can be found all over the body. Any of these body parts can be involved in shoulder impingement if they become inflamed. Repeated, overhead arm use in throwing sports, or chronic poor positioning of the shoulder and posture in desk workers can lead to these soft tissues becoming irritated and inflamed. For example, a cricketer who spends a large part of their career throwing a ball could lead to increased stress placed on the rotator cuff tendon that passes through the space, leading to inflammation, wear and tear, and poor movement. This then has a direct effect on other surrounding structures, so a person may end up with an inflamed bursa too.

 

Signs and symptoms

When someone has shoulder impingement, they may experience any or all of the following:

•           Pain when moving the arm (e.g. our cricketer above may feel pain when throwing)

•           Decreased range of motion in the shoulder

•           Weakness when using the arm on the affected side

•           Reduced ability to perform everyday tasks such as reaching up high in a cupboard, doing up a bra, putting on a coat or holding/lifting a child

Get to the osteo quick sharp!

If you want to get on top of your shoulder pain quickly, then we recommend a trip to see us here at Holistic Hands Osteopathy. After some thorough questioning and assessment, we will work out what lifestyle or movement factors are responsible for your pain. We’ll get to work with our hands straight away. Using a combination of soft tissue massage, joint mobilising, and many other techniques, we will aim to reduce your pain and get you moving better. Someone with a shoulder problem nearly always has an issue related to neck or back movement, so don’t be surprised if we go looking further afield on the body for answers to your problem.

If you are a thrower, we may ask you to demonstrate a throw so we can see how you are moving (don’t worry, we won’t ask you to do this if you are in acute pain). Likewise, if you are a desk worker, we may ask to look at your desk set up and sitting posture. Getting you to take a photo of yourself at your desk is often helpful for us to see if you need to make some changes that may be affecting your posture day-to-day. When it comes to any lifestyle advice, whether it’s the hobbies you have or the way you sleep, we’ve also got you covered!

We pride ourselves on awesome treatment, but shoulders are often tricky to treat, and some cases may take longer than others. To ensure you get back on the right path as quick as possible, always follow our advice between treatments, and please do your exercises! If you have weakness somewhere which is leading to your pain, a few treatments are not going to resolve this. Weakness and instability need strengthening, and strength takes time to build. Consistency is key with exercise. We will educate you on what you need to do, but you need to be the one to do it at the end of the day. It’s a team effort. We know it’s hard to keep motivated, but rest assured we will always be there on those days when you need a hand!

If you have shoulder pain, then don’t stand on ceremony, book an appointment today by contacting our clinic on 0439379847/www.holistichandsosteopathy.com.au. We’ll have you back throwing balls from the boundary quicker than you can say howzat! And if you have no idea what howzat means, then we suggest you ask the audience or phone a friend! ;-)

Let’s talk TMJ dysfunction

Hello and welcome to our November blog! The end of 2019 is fast approaching which means soon there will be an influx of social gatherings, work Christmas parties and family get togethers coming our way. What do we do at these gatherings? We talk, eat, drink… And maybe have a good catchup or two! Therefore, it’s very important that you have a good functioning jaw right?! Do you get jaw pain or clicking? Do you also suffer from headaches or neck pain? This month we’re focusing on our jaw joints - what we use them for, how these joints can cause issues and what we can do to help.

 

A bit of anatomy…

The jawbone (or mandible) is the bone which hangs from your skull, creating the lower part of your head. It houses the lower teeth and attaches either side of the head just in front of the ears. Put your fingers just in front your ears in line with the ear holes, gently open and close your mouth and you will be able to feel movement at these joints. These joints are called the temporo-mandibular joints, or TMJ. Movement at these joints occur when we open and close our mouth during activities such as eating and talking. As well as opening and closing our jaw, we can move it side to side and forwards and backwards!

Movements of the jaw, such as chewing, are controlled by various muscles. Three main muscles close our mouth, and one main muscle aids with opening it. This makes sense when you think about gravity's effect on the body. We need a bit more help to close our mouth and bite into our food than we do to open it and let it hang.

Problems with the TMJ

A common jaw condition us osteo’s treat is TMJ dysfunction. This is a relatively broad term we use to describe an issue with this specific joint which affects women twice as much as men. Problems can arise from many structures in and around the joint, including the muscles, joint surfaces and a small disc which sits inside. Muscle imbalances are common and can lead to stiffness or pain (or both) when opening and closing our mouth. Tightness in the surrounding muscles could be a result of trauma to the jaw (like with being punched or hitting your chin after a fall), clenching when sleeping (known as ‘Bruxism’), a neck dysfunction/restriction, or from dental problems such as having an uneven bite. People who are highly stressed will often clench their jaw in their sleep, which may lead to waking up with a sore jaw or headaches.

Inside the joint itself is a small disc which slides and moves during jaw movements. Sometimes this disc can become ‘displaced’ and may not slide and move as smoothly as it should. This may often lead to a jaw that clicks or cracks when opening the mouth. For the most part, the click is painless, however some people may experience pain alongside a click. In some severe cases the jaw may temporarily lock, which as you can imagine would be quite distressing to experience. Pain from the jaw joints can sometimes also present as ear pain.

Osteopathic treatment for TMJ dysfunction

Treatment for TMJ dysfunction will greatly depend on the cause of the dysfunction. A simple muscle imbalance may be corrected by soft tissue release of the jaw muscles, joint mobilisation, and corrective mobility and strengthening exercises. It is rarely that simple though. More often than not, a TMJ dysfunction will come hand in hand with a problem in the neck and shoulders, be it restriction of movement or poor stability and strength in the region.

An osteopathic approach to treating TMJ dysfunction will include a thorough assessment of the head, jaw, neck, shoulders and mid-back (and quite possibly further afield than that!). Because of the proximity of the jaw and neck, you rarely get dysfunction in one without the other. Your osteo will question you about your occupation, sleeping habits, hobbies, and current stress levels - all of which may be playing a part in your condition. If your osteo believes your TMJ issues stem from a dental issue, they may advise a visit to the dentist for a check-up as sometimes problems can be resolved with input from both professions. If clenching is an issue, you may find it useful to wear a gum shield or mouth guard to bed to alleviate pressure on the jaw and teeth. We appreciate it’s not the best look in the world, but it can be a game changer! Stress management including breathing, relaxation and mindfulness techniques can also be a great way to beat that stress in your life. Don’t worry, your osteo will have some tricks up their sleeve for this too. Always let them know if you feel like you need help with this aspect of your life.

If you think you might have a jaw problem, then don’t keep it tight-lipped. Open up that mouth and reach out to us (by talking we mean!). We’ll have you ready for copious amounts of food, drink (we say copious, but we mean in moderation, of course) and chin-wagging in the upcoming festive season before you can say ‘temporo-mandibular joint dysfunction’… Don’t worry, we struggle with that one too :) #tonguetwister

Osteoarthritis: aging and your body

Hello readers and welcome to October’s blog post! This month we are turning our focus to the elderly - an ever-growing population. Did you know that there are approximately 700 million people in the world aged 60 and over? And did you know that it is estimated that by 2050, there will be around 2 billion people on the planet that fall into this age bracket? That’s just over 30 years away! That’s quite difficult to comprehend, but with people beginning to work and live longer, it’s important that the elderly population get the attention and care they need to stay healthy and active; so they can enjoy the quality of life they deserve.

You might think that as people get older, they become less active and therefore are less likely to injure themselves. This may be true to a degree, especially once reaching retirement age, but the elderly population are generally an active population and are just as much at risk of injury as the next person. A 60-year-old person might not play footy or run around the basketball court as much as a teenager might, but they have other things to contend with - an ageing body with years of gradual degenerative change and weakening that we all experience at some point as we go through life. One of the most common causes of injury in the elderly is falling. Unfortunately, as the body ages, it becomes more prone to falls. This usually boils down to a combination of individual factors (i.e. having multiple diseases, poorer eyesight, or general weakening of the body) and environmental factors (e.g. trip hazards around the home setting). Some of the most commonly seen injuries sustained from falls include fractured hips, arms and forearms, cuts and lacerations, as well as head injuries.

In a clinical setting, us Osteos see our fair share of older patients. It’s less likely we’ll see someone in the acute setting immediately following a trauma like a cut, laceration or in many instances where a fracture is suspected, but it does happen. It is much more likely however, that we will see patients experiencing pain related to postural strain (think about the retiree who sits around a lot), or from degenerative changes in the body. A common degenerative condition affecting the elderly population is osteoarthritis (OA). This most commonly affects the joints in the hips, knees and spine - particularly those of the neck and lower back. It’s no coincidence that these are the main weight-bearing joints of the body.

So what is OA?

OA is a condition affecting the synovial joints in the body (the joints between two bones in the body that have a lubricating fluid between them). It is characterised by changes to the cartilage and underlying bone, as well as inflammation and irritation to the soft tissues that help to hold the joints together - known as the synovium - it’s the tissue that forms the lubricating fluid that sits between the joints.

Primary OA refers to changes in the joints that relate to the ageing process. It will often run in the family, so if your granny or dad has it, you may be more at risk to develop it. Secondary OA is arthritic change from any other cause. For example, following on from trauma, repetitive stress, poor posture, or from diseases such as gout.

Signs & symptoms

The main symptoms (things the person experiences) of OA include pain, stiffness, poor joint function and muscle weakness. Signs (things we look for in the clinical setting) that a joint is degenerated include popping and clicking, poor range of motion, bone and joint swelling, deformity and instability.

What to do if you have or think you have OA

First things first, book an appointment to see your local Osteo. After questions and assessment, we’ll get to work on your body and putting you on a pathway to moving better. There is a good chance your arthritic joint is paining you because you aren’t moving well, and the joint is being loaded incorrectly. The good news is, we know how you should be moving, and what needs to be done to get you there. We’ll aim to reduce your pain down by releasing tight and over-worked muscles and mobilising your stiff joints. Mobilising the joints helps to increase range of motion and will help promote production of the lubricating synovial fluid that sits between the joints to allow smooth fluid movement. You should get off the treatment table feeling less pain and moving better. There is a good chance you’ll need to do some form of strengthening to the surrounding weakened muscles, so the joint is more supported when you move it. More good news, we know which exercises will be beneficial to get you on the path to stronger muscles. Unfortunately, we cannot claim to cure your OA, but we can certainly get you moving with less pain or in an ideal situation, no pain at all.

What’s the outlook with OA?

More often than not, if caught early, significant changes can be made to stunt the progression of this degenerative condition. So, don’t ignore pain, it’s your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right. With early treatment, the best possible outcome will be achieved. If you pop into the clinic and we determine your issue is not OA-related, we can provide you with a sense of relief and get you on the right track for your situation (a positive outcome, either way!). In severe cases, you may require the opinion of a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. Sometimes people require joint replacements and can go on to live a very good quality of life with a new hip or knee for example. Always see your Osteo first though. Using our skills, we can possibly keep you from having to go under the knife a bit longer, and maybe even at all. Worth a shot don’t you think?!

Pain from within - Why pain isn’t always simply a strain or sprain

Did you know that you don’t always have to strain a muscle or sprain a ligament in order to feel pain? Deep inside your body are the cogs that keep your body ticking over… your organs. We have lots of organs inside us: The heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, liver, gallbladder, and more. Well, did you know that when something goes wrong with these organs, they can also give you pain? To add to this, sometimes that pain is felt in a completely different part of the body than where the organ is located! This can lure you in to thinking that something is wrong with that body part when really there isn’t. Sounds silly right? Let us explain further…

In scientific terms, we are referring to a phenomenon called viscero-somatic pain or a viscero-somatic reflex. ‘Viscero’ refers to ‘organ’ and ‘somatic’ refers to ‘body part’. So, by definition, viscero-somatic pain is pain that comes from an organ that is felt in a specific body part. And for each organ, there is a specific body part or parts that you will generally feel the pain in. It all comes down to how the body is wired in the nervous system. We’ll give you an example to make this a little clearer…

When someone has a heart attack, the classic symptom is chest pain (although not always). However, they will often experience other symptoms such as left-sided neck, jaw, shoulder and arm pain. The reason for this is when the heart muscle becomes devoid of oxygen from a blocked artery, a nerve signal is sent to the spinal cord and up towards the brain to alert the brain that something is wrong. At the same level of the spinal cord where those heart signals enter, there are also other nerves entering that relate directly to the muscles and skin from the neck, jaw, shoulder and arm. The theory is that the brain cannot distinguish where the problem is coming from, due to the close proximity of the nerves in the spinal cord, and therefore you may feel pain in both the chest and in these other areas. It’s pretty crazy right?!

A problem with the liver or gallbladder can give pain symptoms in the abdomen and also in the right shoulder. It’s for the same reason as above, but just a slightly different wiring for that organ.

As an Osteo, we will be looking for certain signs and symptoms if we suspect this might be happening with you. These might include:

•           Pain that is deep, diffuse and difficult to localise

•           Pain that is difficult to reproduce in the clinic room

•           Changes in the skin, such as sweating, dryness, redness or changes in sensation

•           Changes in the muscles, such as spasm or rigidity

•           Pain which is unaffected by activity or rest

We’ll also be very interested in your medical history and will ask you questions to see if you have a history of digestive, breathing or urinary issues (this depends of course on the organ we suspect may be the issue). There may be a few sensitive questions we need to ask, so please do not be offended if we dig deep. It’s all to ensure we get to the root cause of your issue. Some of our treatment may also be aimed at affecting the target organ itself. We’ll be sure to talk you through any treatment techniques before we perform them. Rest assured, if we feel you need to be seen by a GP or specialist, we’ll point you in the right direction to ensure you are in capable hands.

Stiff and painful neck? Facet joint injury explained

Treating stiff and sore necks has to be up there as one of the most common areas of the body we Osteo’s see on a day-to-day basis. The causes for neck pain are numerous, with some of the common causes including muscle strain, joint restriction and degeneration, and disc-related injuries. Out of those, we regularly see injuries relating to the facet joints of the neck, which are small joints formed by two vertebrae in the spine.

What are facet joints there for?

In a nutshell, there is a facet joint on either side of the spine at each level. Depending on their position, they restrict and allow certain movements, based on how the joint surfaces are orientated. In the neck, the joints are orientated in such a way that allows for relatively large amounts of movement through forward and backward bending (flexion and extension), side-to-side bending (lateral flexion), and some twisting (rotation) too. If you move your head around, you will notice your neck is the most mobile part of your spine. This can leave it a little susceptible to injury.

How do these joints get injured?

It could be something as silly as a quick glance over the shoulder like checking your blind spot in the car, or spending an extended period looking up like when having to paint a ceiling in a house. There are usually some underlying movement issues that lead you to this point. For example, joint restrictions higher up in the neck or in the mid-back. That quick glance over the shoulder could be enough to sprain the soft tissue capsule of the joint that holds it together, or the long period spent looking up could over-compress the joint surfaces and lead them to become inflamed and lock up. Mums who spend hours looking down at their bubbas can also put these joints under strain and end up with a very stiff and painful neck.

 Can an Osteopath help?

Of course! We can help, and in many ways other than just using our hands. When you come into Holistic Hands Osteopathy we will take you through some questions to get an in-depth look into your life and the issue you’re currently experiencing. There are likely to be many things in your life that have led you to this stiff and painful neck and we want to make sure we tick off and address all of those risk factors. We’ll look into your personal and work life, hobbies and sports and even how you spend your time relaxing and sleeping. These are all areas that can play a part.

We will of course assess you physically. You may have a neck issue, but we will take a keen interest in what your shoulders, mid and low back are doing, as well as the pelvis and beyond into the legs. Once we can see how your body is working as a unit, we will discuss the treatment plan with you and get to work. Initially we will focus our attention on relieving your pain. We’ll use our hands to massage the muscles, mobilise the joints and we may use manipulation to achieve optimal joint motion and muscle relaxation. We’ll then give you some pointers on exercise and lifestyle advice so you can leave knowing how to manage the problem and continue to improve further at home.

A locked facet joint will typically take a few days to calm down following injury. Once the initial inflammation reduces, the pain decreases, movement improves and you should start to feel normal again. Within a few treatments, we’ll have you pain free and moving better than you have in a long time - this is where our work on the rest of the body comes in to play. It’s never JUST a neck issue!

Stiff neck anyone? Call us today and we’ll get you on the mend :)

Introducing chronic pain and how to treat it

Hello everyone, and welcome to our July blog! This month we are going to be talking about pain. We can’t believe it’s already halfway through the year. Time certainly does fly! But for the 3.24 million Australians living with chronic pain, it’s just more time spent battling the daily hurdles - getting out of bed, working, socialising, being a parent, everything really! Being in pain for a long time can be debilitating and have a huge impact on a person’s life.

Taking into account running healthcare costs, time and money lost at work, as well as decreased quality of life, the total cost of chronic pain in Australia in 2018 totaled $139.3 billion! It’s a growing problem with a prediction that over 5 million Australians will be affected by chronic pain by the year 2050. As Osteopaths, we work with and treat people who experience chronic pain day in and day out. It’s a complex topic, so we have devised a little introduction to break it down so you can understand more on chronic pain - all in the name of National Pain Week which is due to take place at the end of this month.

What exactly is pain?

Pain is an unpleasant experience. Ask 100 random people in the street if they like to experience pain, and there is a good chance 100% of those people will say “no”. However as unpleasant as it is, pain is an essential part of life. It is our protection mechanism. When we injure ourselves, we feel pain. Sometimes before we even get to the injury stage, we can feel pain… Pain will also stick around for a bit following an injury to remind us that healing needs to take place and that we need to protect the injured area from further damage. It’s a sophisticated alarm system and you have your brain to thank for all of this. Pretty cool huh?

Interestingly, there are people on this earth who cannot and have never felt any pain at all. These people may have a very rare condition called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP). They are basically born with the inability to feel pain. You might think this could be pretty beneficial - going your whole life without pain. How awesome would that be?! In reality, this is a very serious condition, and many who are born with it have a drastically shortened life. Mainly because injuries and illnesses can go unnoticed, potentially putting their life in danger. For example, cuts and burns will go missed, because they lack the important alarm system we were talking about above. Pain is a lifesaver.

Acute vs chronic pain

Pain can be very simply divided into two types, acute and chronic. Acute pain is the pain felt when we fall or cut ourselves, strain a muscle or sprain a ligament. When injury occurs, special sensors in the vicinity of the injury detect that something is wrong, send a message along nerves to the spinal cord and up into the brain. Your brain will process this information (very quickly) and will send a message back as a pain signal. You say “ouch”. Over the coming days and weeks, the injury heals and the pain disappears. During this process, your brain will have formed a memory of the event, and this helps you to steer clear of similar dangerous situations in the future. Protection at its best! For purposes of time, acute pain is pain that is felt for any time up to six weeks. Sub-acute pain (a sub-set of acute pain) is pain felt anywhere between six weeks and three months.

Chronic pain

Chronic pain, also known as persistent pain, is essentially pain that has lasted longer than three months and is a very different kettle of fish to acute pain. In many instances, it is pain that is felt way beyond tissue healing times and is extremely complex in nature due to the involvement of different body systems. And, most importantly, the persons belief about what pain is. The initial cause may be from a fall or car accident, just like with any acute injury. It may also be caused by diseases such as arthritis, cancer or migraines (as well as many others).

Why chronic pain develops is a complicated process. In a nutshell, generally tissues have healed, yet the brain is still perceiving a threat. This is due to changes in the nerves carrying signals to the spinal cord (the peripheral nerves) and changes in the spinal cord itself. Essentially, these nerve tissues become highly sensitised and end up sending faulty or misleading information to the brain. The brain perceives this information as still threatening, and the result is ongoing pain. It is much more complicated than that, but this gives you the gist of what is going on.

It is important to understand that when someone is in pain for long periods of time, they can start to become affected in other ways. Depression and anxiety regarding pain is commonplace. A person’s beliefs about pain will also begin to affect their behaviour. For example, they will start to avoid certain movements due to fear of injuring themselves further (which can cause other musculoskeletal issues). In psychological terms, this is known as exhibiting fear avoidance behaviours.

Treating chronic pain

The longer the cycle of chronic pain persists, the harder it is to treat. Unfortunately, treatment is not as simple as applying first aid principles like rest, ice and compression, followed by massage, mobilisation and rehabilitative exercise programs. It is still important to treat the person’s movement dysfunctions of course, but treating the depression and anxiety whilst educating the person on what is actually happening is just as important, if not more so. Until all facets of a person’s pain experience are dealt with in some way, it is unlikely the cycle will be broken. Therefore, treating chronic pain rarely comes down to just one profession. It requires what we call a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment. So yes, an Osteopath may well be part of the team, but it is likely a person will also require the services of a Psychologist and their GP too. It may be that pain medication will need to be prescribed (although the debate is still out on how effective strong pain medications are in the instances of chronic pain).

Your Osteopath will help to treat you by ensuring your body is moving in the best way possible, and that your tissues are at their optimum health. They may also advise you on how to improve your sleep patterns and diet, to ensure your body is getting the rest and nourishment it requires. They will advise you on the forms of exercise which may be beneficial and may even be able to give advice on relaxation and breathing techniques. Most importantly, they will spend time with you, educating you on what exactly is going on with your body so that you can begin to understand it yourself— and begin breaking the cycle of chronic pain. It will be a team effort, and they will be with you every step of the way!

We hope you found this blog interesting and educational. If you would like to know more about National Pain Week and further information on chronic pain, please visit http://www.nationalpainweek.org.au.

The most common headache

Did you know it is estimated that 50% of the global adult population have experienced a headache within the last year alone - that’s over 3.5 billion people! Unfortunately, there are too many types of headache to be able to cover them all in one blog, unless you fancy reading through about 50 pages of text… Yeah we thought not! We figured a good place to start would be the headache that is most commonly experienced throughout the general population. We introduce you to the ‘Tension-Type Headache’ (or TTH).

WHO DOES IT AFFECT?

It is estimated that around 7 million Australians experience TTH, affecting approximately 42% of women and 36% of men. A person will commonly begin to experience them during teenage years and may experience a peak in headaches around their 40’s, as headaches begin to tail-off after this period in life. People who experience TTH on less than 15 days per month are classified as having ‘Episodic TTH’. Those experiencing them for more than 15 days per month are classified as having ‘Chronic TTH’.

KNOWING YOUR HEADACHE

Different types of headache come with different signs and symptoms. For TTH, there are some common things to look out for. These include:

 

•   A tight band or ‘vice-like’ sensation of mild to moderate pain around the head

•   Pain across both sides of the head

•   Constant pain that may last anywhere from 30 minutes to several days

•   Scalp, neck and shoulder tenderness accompanying your headache

•   Difficulty concentrating or sleeping

•   Restricted neck movements

•   Depression and/or anxiety

Symptoms of TTH and migraine (another type of headache) may overlap slightly, but TTH are not usually described as throbbing, one-sided, or accompanied by visual disturbances, light sensitivity, nausea, vomiting, or worsening with activity; whereas migraines regularly are.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES?

Despite the name, TTH are not always caused by tension or stress in a person’s life. TTH may be triggered by many things, including:

•   Excessive frowning

•   Teeth grinding or jaw-clenching (called ‘bruxism’)

•   Postural strain from work or driving

•   Exposure to bright lights or loud noise

•   Prolonged reading

•   Stress, anxiety and depression

•   Excessive tiredness or fatigue

•   Medication overuse

This last one is of particular importance, as the overuse of painkillers to treat TTH can ignite the onset of another type of headache known as ‘Chronic Daily Headaches’. These headaches are usually unaffected by pain medication and the person may also begin to experience migraines. Symptoms tend to be more severe than your average TTH.

CAN THEY BE TREATED?

Fortunately, there is a lot of help out there for such headaches. Usually the best course of action is to remove the trigger for your headache. This can be sometimes hard to work out, and we can help you identify what might be the root cause of your headaches. Your therapist can help to resolve those tight and sore muscles around the head, neck and shoulders by performing soft tissue massage, joint mobilisation and possibly manipulation techniques. They will also look at your posture when standing, sitting and lying down to try and highlight areas for improvement.

Other forms of treatment may include:

•   A visit to the dentist if you grind or clench excessively

•   Relaxation, breathing and stress-relieving techniques

•   Improving sleep patterns and cycles

•   Psychological therapy which may or may not include anti-depressant/anxiety medication

•   A visit to your GP to discuss medication use, if the cause of your headache has been highlighted as potentially relating to the amount of medication you are taking – remember those chronic daily headaches we mentioned earlier?

So, please do not suffer headaches in silence. Speak out (it’s good to talk after all) and book an appointment with your friendly Osteo to start your journey to beating headaches. You’ll feel the tension just melting away!

Fatigue - When to Worry?

Experiencing tiredness is not uncommon for a lot of us. Many of us have busy lives, juggling family, work and staying active. It’s hard and it’s tiring. Our bodies are pretty resilient, but there will always be a point where the body needs a break, giving you a sign to slow down and step back. This often results in the BEST night's sleep of your life and you wake up feeling refreshed and ready for it to all begin again.

But are you experiencing an extreme tiredness that no amount of sleep seems to remedy? If this is the case, then you are possibly suffering from fatigue relating to a medical condition. There is every chance you are experiencing some other symptoms too. Luckily, we are about to educate you on some of the common causes of fatigue, so you know what to look out for, and can nip it in the bud quick time…

1.     IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA: A common condition where you tire very quickly, feel heavy in the muscles, have a sore tongue and may develop brittle nails. Women with heavy periods are especially prone to this condition.

2.     HYPOTHYROIDISM: Also known as an ‘Underactive Thyroid’. You may experience weight gain, constipation, dry skin and muscle weakness. This one is also more common in women.

3.     DEPRESSION: You don’t just feel low with this condition. Depression may keep you awake at night, or wake you early in the morning, disturbing your sleep cycle and leaving you feeling exhausted!

4.     ANXIETY: In extreme cases where anxiety disrupts daily life, fatigue is often experienced alongside those uncontrollable feelings of irritability and worry.

5.     CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME: This is fatigue felt over extended periods of time (4-6 months +). You may also experience a general feeling of being unwell following exertion, headaches, muscle pain, sleep disturbance and loss of memory or concentration.

6.     GLANDULAR FEVER: A viral infection that can leave you feeling fatigued for months even after the infection has cleared. You may also experience a sore throat, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, swollen tonsils, headache, fever and rash. Antibiotics are usually unsuccessful in treating this infection.

7.     DIABETES MELLITUS: Fatigue is a common symptom of all types of diabetes. Other symptoms to look out for include increased thirst, hunger and urination. Weight loss is another common symptom.

8.     COELIAC DISEASE: An autoimmune disease where the body reacts to gluten in the diet, leading to fatigue, diarrhoea or constipation, as well as bloating, wind, nausea and vomiting, weight loss or gain, and anaemia.

9.     SLEEP APNOEA: Imagine being constantly disrupted while you’re trying to sleep because your throat narrows or closes, which interrupts your breathing… You can see how you’d be exhausted constantly. You may be told you snore loudly, experience morning headaches and frequently wake up with a dry mouth or sore throat.

10.  RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME: This is the constant urge to move your legs at night, leading to poor quality sleep. Other symptoms include involuntary night time jerking, unpleasant crawling sensations and deep aching throughout the legs.

Now you know what to look out for, don’t put up with fatigue. Take notice of what your body is telling you and ultimately make sure you get your symptoms investigated through your GP. Luckily, your beloved osteo also trained to pick up on such things. We’ll make sure you get the correct referral you need if we suspect the reason for your sore muscles and joints is not just because you played a bit too hard on the weekend! Don’t worry, we have your back (no pun intended… Sort of)!

Women's Woes

Hello everyone! May is here, which means we get to celebrate those wonderful humans who brought us into the world - our Mums. And as it’s Mother’s day this month, we thought we’d dedicate a blog to common musculoskeletal conditions in women.

When it comes to musculoskeletal health, there are many conditions that females are more likely to develop. As you probably expect, this is mainly because of the differences in our bodies, both structurally and chemically. There are also certain sports and activities with higher female participation rates that leave them prone to sports-specific issues. And lastly, we need to consider that women are a lot better than men at seeking help for their health, and so we tend to know more information about what affects women (in a clinical setting). Men… Start speaking up please!

Below we concentrate on a few conditions, outline what they’re all about, and explain why women are more likely to develop them over their male counterparts. On your marks… Get set… Go!

KNEE CONDITIONS

In this example, we will focus on the patellofemoral joint, or PFJ (the joint between the kneecap and the thigh bone). The front thigh muscles (the quadriceps) run from the hip to just below the knee. The kneecap is held in place over the end of the thigh bone by the tendon of the quadriceps muscles. When all is happy and in place, this allows for smooth gliding across the joint as we bend and straighten our knees. As you walk, the joint bears about 50% of your bodyweight, but this can drastically increase to up to seven times your bodyweight when you run or squat. So it only takes something small for stress to increase at the joint and potential pain to develop. Pain associated with this joint is commonly caused by misalignment of the kneecap as it crosses the joint.

In women, common factors that may lead to this issue include:

•   A wider pelvis

•   Increased inward twisting of the thigh bone, and outward twisting of the shin bone

•   Inwards collapsing of the knees and feet

•   Increased laxity (looseness) of the ligaments around the knee

When we treat this issue, we aim to reduce pain and correct the alignment of the joint. We do this by strengthening the buttock, hip and thigh muscles, as well as stretching of the back chain of muscles down the leg. Temporary taping or bracing may help the patient to stay active doing what they love!

OSTEOPOROSIS

Osteoporosis is a condition that affects the density of our bones, weakening the internal structure, and ultimately leaving us prone to fractures. It commonly affects the elderly population, but may also affect younger people. Unfortunately for women, they are four times more likely to develop this condition than men. Not fair, right?! Blame menopause. This is when women stop producing Oestrogen - a hormone responsible for maintaining bone mineral density throughout life.

There are however, many other causes of Osteoporosis, including alcoholism, anorexia, kidney disease, and long-term steroid use. As a female, having your ovaries removed as part of a partial or full hysterectomy also leaves you prone to developing this condition.

Treatment usually consists of a combination of calcium and vitamin D supplementation, a structured exercise regime, and especially for the elderly, minimising risks of falls around the home by removing unnecessary furniture, carpets, rugs and mats. Some menopausal women opt for hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which helps to maintain bone mineral density following menopause. This has unfortunately been seen to increase risk of breast cancer and heart disease, so not all women choose this pathway.

SPINAL CONDITIONS

There are a few spinal conditions that active women in particular are prone to developing. Take your average dancer, gymnast or figure skater (all activities with a majority female participation rate) and what do you think of? Flexibility, right? These types of activities commonly involve movements to the extreme limits, such as over-arching through the back. People who constantly subject their spine to these types of loads and forces are more likely to develop a stress fracture in a small part of one of their vertebrae. This particular type of stress fracture is called ‘Spondylolysis’.

Spondylolysis is characterised by a dull ache, usually in the low back region, which is made worse by the same overarching movements of the spine. They can vary in severity from a partial stress fracture, through to a full thickness fracture, which can then develop further into a slippage of one vertebrae on another, called a ‘Spondylolisthesis’ (bit of a mouthful right!).

If suspected, your practitioner may refer you for imaging to confirm. Otherwise treatment consists of a combination of rest from the aggravating activity whilst undergoing a rigorous core stabilisation exercise programme. The good news is, most people can return to their chosen activity once they are pain free and feel strong again! Awesome!

So spare a thought for the women in your life - especially your mumma! More importantly though, if you are female and think you might have one of the above conditions, or are experiencing pain of any kind, please contact your local osteo and they will be able to chat it through, assess you thoroughly, and put you on the path to staying happy, healthy and active.

OK men… You are also allowed to contact us. SO PLEASE CALL US!!!!!! (We aren’t yelling… Much.)

Carpal Tunnel: Symptoms and treatment

It’s been a long day at the office, the kids are fed, bathed, and down for the night, and it’s time for my head to hit the pillow. Exhausted doesn’t cut it, but I still cannot sleep… What IS this tingling in my fingers and wrist pain I keep getting?! I felt it a bit at work earlier too, but why now? I’m nowhere near a desk or computer!

Sound familiar? Wrist pain is quite common, and one of the most common causes for pain over the palm side of the wrist and hand is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). CTS presents when one of the larger nerves that travels from your shoulder down to the tip of your fingers (it’s called the Median nerve) gets compressed as it passes through the wrist. The ‘tunnel’ is a small space in the wrist, made up on one side by the wrist bones (the ‘carpals’), and a soft tissue covering on the other side. Alongside the nerve travels a group of tendons from the forearm, and once all of that has passed through the tunnel, there isn’t a lot of room for anything else. Throw in a heap of repetitive wrist movements over a prolonged period (for example typing at a desk day in, day out), and the structures running through the tunnel can become irritated and inflamed making an already small space even smaller. Once the nerve becomes compressed, symptoms start to creep in.

Signs and symptoms

CTS can be characterised by the following signs and symptoms:

•   Burning wrist pain (on the palm side of the wrist)

•   Numbness, pins & needles or tingling of the thumb, index, middle and inside part of the ring finger

•   Night time symptoms

•   Pain that radiates to the forearm, elbow or even the shoulder

•   Reproduction of symptoms when compressing or tapping over the palm side of the wrist

As well as repetitive motions of the wrist (seen commonly in desk-based workers, sports people, and even our very own manual therapists), CTS can be caused by some underlying conditions, such as Diabetes Mellitus, Thyroid disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, high blood pressure, and from fluid retention associated with pregnancy or menopause. Trauma or fractures in the wrist may also lead to this condition. Unfortunately, if you are female, you are also three times more likely to experience this problem.

Treatment

If caught early, this problem can be managed conservatively with a combination of the following treatments:

•   Soft tissue release, joint mobilisation/manipulation (contact your local Osteo

•   Anti-inflammatory medication

•   Splinting of the wrist (particularly at night time)

More severe and persistent cases may require more invasive treatments including having a steroid injection, or possibly surgery to decompress the nerve.

If you have wrist pain, and you think it could be CTS, then our best advice is to visit your local Osteo where you can be assessed thoroughly, diagnosed accurately, and given the best advice and tools to manage your problem. We’ll get you waving goodbye (pain-free) to pain in no time!

Is it Time to Make a Move to the Dark Side?

The Benefits of Chocolate

We’ve all heard that chocolate has health benefits. That is true, but it depends on which chocolate. Unfortunately for you milk and white chocolate lovers (is white chocolate even chocolate?), this article focuses on the dark side of your cravings! Given it’s Easter month, we thought we’d take the opportunity to justify our chocolate love! Here’s our top three health benefits of dark chocolate:

1.     High in antioxidants: A good quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa content is packed with useful antioxidants, which helps the body fight the nasty stuff. Our little helpers include polyphenols and flavanols, as well as others. These guys are responsible for helping rid the body of damaging free radicals (small molecules that whizz around the body causing damage to your insides), as well as having many other benefits.

2.     High nutrient content: Dark chocolate is not just antioxidant rich, it’s full of other good stuff too. It’s a great source of fibre, iron, magnesium, zinc and selenium, and the list goes on! It also contains some good fats. It’s important to eat in moderation though because although there are many benefits, you will also be consuming a decent amount of sugar and calories (although nothing compared to its milk and white counterparts!).

3.     It’s good for the skin, heart and brain: All the above-mentioned benefits can go a long way to improving the health of your skin, heart and brain. The antioxidants present in dark chocolate may help to protect against sun damage, lower levels of bad cholesterol (the ‘LDL’s’ of the body) and improve blood flow to the brain to aid with cognitive function. Win, win, win!

So, are you ready to come over to the dark side now? We think it will be the best chocolate related decision you’ll ever make!