Many people take much better care of their car than their body. In essence the aspects of care are similar with both cars and bodies. A car regularly needs petrol, water, oil, and air in the tyres; also services and various repairs, usually increasingly with age. At regular services, a car may need a change of oil, spark plugs, filters, belts, etc. When a car is old enough to require an MOT you may be advised and / or required to replace tyres, brakes, windscreen, etc. If we fill our tank with diesel when the car is designed to run on petrol, things can go badly wrong.
When the tyres are flat you can fill up the tank with the best fuel, but you will still not be able to drive; equally putting air in tyres when the fuel tank is empty will not help get you from A to B. It is necessary to give specific attention to correct a specific problem your car is having in order for it to function well for you.
Similarly with a body, some of its basic needs are fuel (good food, the right food), water, oil, air (and rest); also ‘services’ and various repairs, usually increasingly with age! If we are healthy, the most regular services relate to teeth and eyes and with ladies of a certain age cervical and breast checks. Many people tend to consider their health only when they are ill. We can buy a new car but not a new body!
I notice that many people tend to come for osteopathic treatment only when something hurts and then stop coming when it feels better, which is absolutely fine.
I also notice that people’s symptoms start to ease when their body has not yet fully restored optimal movement and functionality. This is part of a wonderful self preservation method we have, our ability to compensate for a problem or issue. This enables us to function well even though we have problems and limitations in our bodies. We don’t have to think about limping when our foot hurts, it just happens naturally; for example a young child with a hip problem can still manage to run around by using a swinging movement at the hip to use their leg; nobody needs to be taught how to do this, it just happens naturally.
The down side to this is that, apart from acute injuries, by the time we get symptoms and things may start to hurt, we have probably walked around with the problem for quite some time and built up a number of very clever compensations to help us deal with it; some of the compensations may start to give symptoms too.
In my experience, regular M.O.T. helps to keep the body moving and functioning well and helps to iron out the problems we are compensating for so well, before they cause symptoms. Each person is different in how often they need an M.O.T. depending on health, issues, activities, work, lifestyle, etc. Generally, M.O.Ts. can be cost effective as it can help in preventing issues from causing further problems through compensations becoming issues in themselves and taking more time and work to sort out.
We are happy to advise you on your health matters and offer a free 15 minute joint and spinal check, without obligation.
Lin Bridgeford DO KFRP MICAK MICRA FSCCO MSc
Registered Osteopath & Kinesiologist & Yoga Teacher
Aether Bios Clinic
Saltdean
01273 309557
07710 227038
