Kieran Whelan Kieran Whelan

A quick way to move and soothe your neck

This post is for anyone missing their normal routine and would like some tips on getting rid of the tension and restriction they are starting to feel in their neck, upper back and shoulders, but don’t have the time to watch or go through the whole sequence as described by Martin in an earlier video.

As most of you are aware, during the stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne allied health are only allowed to practice on a more urgent basis, meaning that a lot of our regular clients are missing out on getting their regular adjustments as well as maintaining themselves while living in lock down.

Never fear however as Martin and I are still in practice!

If you have a specific issue please do not hesitate to contact the practice so we can see how we can keep you going.

Below is the next instalment of our “Move and Soothe” series of posts.

Many of you expressed that although the original video was very helpful, it was a fairly long run time, so…you asked for it and we have delivered!

Martin has whipped together a quick video about how to keep yourself moving at home, helping your neck keep moving, free up a lot of the tension you have felt building, especially over the last few weeks of stage 4 lock downs.

As usual with our videos, the transcript is available below.

Enjoy!

0:00- intro

Hi, Martin here from Align Chiropractic. This is another follow along, move and soothe video. This one is designed to be a quick routine that you can do maybe in the middle of the day, or when you don’t have as much time. It’s really oriented at releasing tension, improving movement through your neck, and then extending out into the shoulder area.

So the idea here is that we use a sequence that we would use when we’re providing chiropractic care to deal with problems, which is we’ve got to create movement in the system first before we can then change alignment. Improving movement and alignment are the key to then creating changes in the way all the soft tissues work, so releasing tension, allowing nerves to function better. The nerves functioning better is what then translates into muscles functioning better because nerves control muscles, then that’s what creates an environment where you can create a spine that’s both more balances and more stable. So we look at is as movement, alignment, and then balance and stability come as a result of that. If we try and create stability without having movement and alignment- much less effective.

1:17- description

So let’s get into it. With this one you can do it either sitting at your desk, so if you’ve been spending hours doing this and you’re starting to notice that tension building up, or you can do it standing. 

The first thing we are going to do is we’re going to double up and do our move and soothe together. So, we’re going to be moving our spine through ranges of motion, getting it to that end range of motion to encourage full range of motion in our neck, And we’re going to be applying a little bit of a release to the muscles that most commonly tighten up as a result of stress, or as a result of postural stress. With this one, you don’t need any equipment- in some of the other move and soothes will use a spiky ball, a tennis ball, or a lacrosse ball, but for today we are just going to be using our hands so that it’s super easy to do wherever you are

2:11- breathing 

I’m going to be incorporating the physiological ‘sigh’ breathing that you might have seen on other videos. It’s an approach that I came across through the research of a neuroscientist called Dr Andrew Hubermann. I won’t go into a whole lot of detail, but basically it is where you take a deep breath in through your nose, and then when you get to that point where it’s tight, you just take a little breath over the top- so it’s a double breath. And then relax.

2:47- Lateral Flexion

So, to start off we’re going to be doing lateral flexion- probably the most important movement for us to have. To incorporate a soothe, what I’m going to get you to do is just reach across with the opposite hand and apply some pressure to this muscle up here and apply some pressure to this muscle up here in your upper trapezius or levator scap muscle. So just feel in there and find a point that’s feeling a bit tight- it’s right there for me, and then we are going to incorporate breathing in through our nose. Then we’re going to the other side, and then we’re going to breathe back over this side. Just letting that relax. I’m going to go one more time- breathing over to this side. Now just swap hands, and one more. That’s it, now we go to rotation

Rotation 4:20

So, hand across and this time, we’re going to be focusing on rotation away from the side that our hand is. So, breathing in. Swapping over. Breathing in, breathing in. Last one. Shrug your shoulders up and let them relax.

Conclusion: 5:38

There we have it. Just a quick follow along to help you release some tension, improve the movement, and have a much healthier, happier spine.

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Kieran Whelan Kieran Whelan

Refresher course on our 7 tips for surviving the lock down

Yep. We are as over it as you are. A few weeks ago, Martin and I were excited as we thought it looked like we could ease some of the social distancing restrictions in the practice. We were both looking forward to working together on the same shift again and being able to see the other staff members we have had to keep separate to protect the practice.

Sadly, this has not turned out to be the case.

It goes without saying that I hoped never to refer to this blog post again. I never wanted members of our community to need a survival guide to another lock down, even less than I wanted to update it.

The good news though is that we know how to get through this, and even though it seems like this one is a little more stubborn, and we are all a bit more frustrated than last time and lets face it, wearing face masks all the time is uncomfortable and boring, it is important to remember that we are in fact all in this together and we WILL pull through sooner or later.

So without further ado , please feel free to refresh your memory of Align’s top 7 tips for surviving the lock down.

7 LOCK DOWN SURVIVAL TIPS

  1. Recognise that it is OK to be sad/angry/frustrated at the current situation. 

    Even if you don’t think your concerns or issues rate highly on the scale of how disastrous your issues can be, they still can have a large effect on your life and are therefore valid reasons for you to feel bad. 

    To recognise that how you feel about it all is important and you need to deal with that, not just say “it could be worse”. It could be, almost always, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t being affected now. 

    If you feel hard done by that the things you would normally be doing to feel like you aren’t happening at the moment, then you are allowed to be annoyed by that. Don’t carry stress around thinking that you help people by not complaining. You don’t, you just get more irritated. Recognise it’s OK to be mad and express it healthily, exercise vigorously or speak up if need be.

  2. Exercise. 

    I know right? obvious and boring, but it’s more powerful than you realise and usually overlooked. 

    One of our clients recently told me that they have discovered that without commuting and the incidental exercise they used to do purely from working in the city in an office, they have gone from averaging 8000 steps a day to fewer than 800. 

    In times of stress, volume of exercise is frequently one of the first casualties. Ironically, It’s also one of our best natural stress managers and anti depressants. 

    Ever regretted exercise? Ever felt MORE stressed after exercise even when it was only a small amount of it? No. No one has. Our nervous system registers stress by putting us in fight or flight, or survival mode. Still living on the other side of exercise tells our brain that we have successfully overcome a stressful situation and therefore we don’t need to be in survival mode.

  3. Take some time out.

    I know what you’re thinking, easier said than done right? Where are you going to find time or space when locked in your house with your family to have some time off? 

    I get it, sounds like a classic “this guy doesn’t have any kids” thing to say, but I don’t mean try find 45 minutes to fully relax. We all have lives to live, work to do and/or people to look after.

    What we are talking about here is finding even quick “mini breaks” throughout the day that allow you to reset for a second.

    Meditation is a great way to help relieve stress (as well as lots of other benefits). If you're looking to use your self isolation time to up your meditation game we highly recommend the Oak and Smiling Mind apps. Both are free and excellent!

    The Resilience Project has an app that is a daily well-being journal. This app is suitable for and has programs designed specifically for primary & secondary school students, as well as adults of all ages wanting to improve their mental well-being.

    Alternatively if meditation isn’t your thing, you can replicate some of the same effects by listening to songs you find especially soothing. The research into this phenomenon used the songs ‘Strawberry swing’ by Cold play, and “Someone like you” by Adel. Feel free to mix it up and don’t be afraid to admit to yourself that ‘Only time’ by Enya is your relaxation jam.

  4. Watch your posture.

    Never underestimate the importance of posture. Just like how research has shown that trying to have confident posture has been shown to release testosterone in our body that increases our feelings of strength and confidence, the opposite is true. 

    There is a reason that if I ask you to do an impersonation of a stressed or anxious person you slump forward and hold your shoulders tight and up near your ears. It’s because universally, that’s what our body does under extreme or chronic stress. 

    This posture increases stress chemicals in our body and just happens to be replicated by sitting for long periods, especially if using a computer, a laptop, a tablet or our phones. Sound familiar during iso anyone? 

    Lie on a foam roller along your spine from your head to your backside with your arms at 4 and 7 o’clock. Then just LIE THERE. If you can only manage 2 minutes, that is better than none. If you’re comfortable or have time to, then 15 minutes is better again. 

    If you can’t get access to a longer foam roller or posture pole, then in a pinch you can roll up a few beach towels, but a roller is best. 

    This position has the added bonus of improving your body and spinal health by decreasing stress and strain on your body, especially you neck, head and upper back. 

    Improved posture can decrease headaches and risk of injury. 

    If you have more questions about this position, want a photo of your posture that we measure to know exactly where you are at or want more information about what improved posture can do for you, please do not hesitate to get in touch as Martin and I would both love to be there to help. 

  5. Get Adjusted.

    This can also work towards your taking some time out, but do not neglect your health during this period. 

    Do not put up with ailments that make it even harder to get through the day. Or if there is some annoying issue that you have had for ages that you haven’t felt like you have had time to manage or keep injuring because of your daily routine, now that you’re out of your normal routine is the PERFECT time to get on top of it. 

    Don’t lose any momentum you had heading into this situation!

  6. Tune out the news every now and then.

    I know the temptation is to try stay up to date on every little bit of coronavirus news, but eventually it can become fatiguing. Every now and then avoid hearing about it or reading the new story on your newsfeed. 

    This goes hand in hand with having a time out, but I wanted to keep it separate as it is it’s own addiction to break. It doesn’t always help us to know the latest doom and gloom. It will still be there tomorrow. 

    Take the time you would spend on the news to have the time out I mentioned earlier. 

  7. Ask for help.

    Speak up. Let people know how you are feeling. It is OK not to find this situation easy, I know I haven’t. Find someone you can have a vent to or speak to someone professional who can help you if you’re feeling like you need specific help. 

    It goes without saying this but obviously, check in on your friends and family. We don’t want people coming out of this in worse shape if it can be helped. 

    Remember that you are not alone in this. Although the lockdown and it’s effects are felt individually as all our circumstances are our own, we are all in this situation together. We will all understand where you are coming from and everyone wants to help everyone else get through it. 

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Kieran Whelan Kieran Whelan

RIB PAIN AND CHIROPRACTIC PART 2: WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU VISIT US WITH RIB PAIN

If you have rib pain, pain in the rib area or you have pain in your mid back region and don’t know why, this post is about what you can expect if you came to see us as a chiropractor in South Melbourne

This is the second part of a 2 part post about rib pain, for the first post click here so that there aren’t any spoilers. 

Ok, so you’re up to date on part one? Excellent. 

Let’s face it...as chiropractors, back pain really is our thing. You might have already guessed but along with neck pain and headaches, back pain including the mid back and rib regions makes up a large number of the people who come to visit us initially.

Unsurprisingly therefore, it is important for us to be able to efficiently find out what is happening in these cases and be able to determine their best course of action to move forward. 

Ordinarily we would make a video of our assessment procedures of a specific region, however as Martin and Kieran are remaining separate from each other due to social distancing measures within the practice to combat the coronavirus, we haven’t been able to film one like we have for back pain and neck pain.

Instead I am afraid you’ll have to come on this journey ‘old school’ and use your imagination while I explain our process. 

Please be aware, this description is for general purposes only and is not an exhaustive description of what you may personally experience. 

Each person is different and so are their injuries, so we treat every client individually depending on their presentation. 

For example, rib pain sufferers might require a neurological examination, for others we might require X-rays and for some, we may not be the ideal first place for their care at all! 

We take pride in our initial examination's ability to individually assess rib pain sufferers quickly and effectively to determine their needs and best course of action.

Please see this explanation of a potential first visit with us as a guide to understand our thinking. 

STEP ONE: HISTORY

To be begin, we need to make sure that you get to tell us all that you need to tell me about your rib pain, things like; 

  • When did it start?

  • How did it start?

  • What makes it better? 

  • When did it start? 

  • What makes it worse? 

  • What does it feel like? 

  • Does it change when you move/sit/stand/lie down?

However mostly we want to understand is; what does the pain mean to you? 

For a lot of people, the pain is only a part of the problem. 

A big part of it is the impact that it's having on your life. 

What are the things that the pain is stopping you from doing that you love to do or need to do in your life? 

It’s really important that you get to tell us all about your rib pain so that we know what's going on. 

STEP TWO: PALPATION

Next when you come to see us complaining of rib pain, is a palpatory assessment. 

What we’re looking for with that assessment are areas where the joints are restricted in the motion.

When they are out of balance, they are not able to move the same left and right. 

We also want to see if there are areas where there's increased muscle tension and/or the presence of tenderness.

We are looking for the areas where things are just not working how they should. 

Once we've done that palpatory assessment of the area that is giving you problems, we will often also extend the examination beyond that area of pain because your spine is linked with the way the whole body works and so we will often then extend up into assessing how your neck is working or in other related areas.

STEP THREE: SHOW US YOUR MOVES

When we are assessing somebody who's come to see us with rib pain is to assess how they bend, move and twist. 

Often when you have rib issues that will affect how far you can go one way compared to the other. The way we measure that is we use inclinometry, which is where we use an accurate measuring tool to see how far you can bend to the left comfortably and then compare the left side to how far you can move to the right. Simple as that.

STEP FOUR: ASSESS ALIGNMENT

The next step when we are assessing somebody who has come to see us with rib pain is we assess the alignment of their spine.

Posture is the window for us to be able to assess alignment.

To do this, we use specialised software where we can take a photo from the side and from the front. 

We then digitise those photos and then analyse them to see if there are indications of misalignment in the spine.

The way the software works is that we first take a photo and it uses the iPad to make sure that we have a photo that is absolutely vertical. 

The software then places a grid around exactly where straight up and down is and then we can compare landmarks on you that should also be aligned to see exactly how straight up and down or symmetrical your posture is.

So, you have looked at all that, what now? 

After going through the above and/or any other investigations that your issue demands, and determining that we ARE the right people to help you with your rib pain, we would get you underway as soon as possible. 

If you have any further questions or concerns about rib pain, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us. 

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Kieran Whelan Kieran Whelan

HOW TO SET UP YOUR HOME WORK SPACE IN 4 STEPS - LAPTOP EDITION

2018, when I first posted this video was a simpler time.

Game of thrones hadn’t been ruined yet, Britain was still in the EU and working from home was an occasional thing, dare I say it, a luxury for most. 

Flash forward to today and a lot of us are still having to work form home due to the coronavirus, and many may actually CHOOSE to stay working from home as part of continued social distancing efforts. 

Whatever your reason, it’s important that we make the most of our workstation when we are at home as our health and keeping our body working at its best are perhaps more important right now than ever before.

As a chiropractor for Albert Park, Melbourne and South Melbourne,  Martin and I see a number of clients who suffer from tension headaches, neck or low back pain, high or sore shoulders, or other postural issues such as forward head posture. 

Every day ergonomics are paramount to the ongoing care of these clients to allow for optimum function and increased stability. As a result, despite this video being 2 years old, Martin and I still refer people to it regularly. 

In the video, Martin (using Kieran as the perfect ergonomics model) talks us through the correct ergonomics of how to set up our laptops as a workstation.

To see our top 4 tips for setting up a desk top computer, click here

Please enjoy the quick video, for your convenience, the ergonomics demo has been transcribed below. 

Hi, this is Martin and Kieran from Align Chiropractic, we're here today to give you a quick video that will answer one of the most commonly asked questions that we get in the practice every day.

HOW SHOULD YOU HAVE YOUR DESK SET UP SO THAT YOU CAN LOOK AFTER YOUR SPINE AND YOUR POSTURE WHEN YOU'RE SPENDING TIME AT YOUR COMPUTER

The first example we're going to do today is how to set it up for a laptop. Laptops are always a little bit more of a compromise than a desktop because you can't separate the screen but we’re going to go through how you can set it up so that your posture is in as close to the optimal position as possible. 

STEP 1: SEAT HEIGHT

The first point that we want to address is make sure, we can't see this but just take my word for it, Kieran's feet are flat on the floor. 

So we don't want crossed legs because it’s going to create twisting and torsion through our pelvis and lower back and create tension there. 

We want to make sure that the height of the chair, if you've got a gas lift chair, is up high enough so that your hip is either level with your knee so that we've got a straight line there, or you want the hips slightly higher than the knees.

What you don't want, because it's going to create a real curve in your back is knees higher than hips. 

So first point; set up the gas lift so that you're at that height. 

STEP 2: KEYBOARD AND ARM POSITION

we also want to have when we've got a hand on the keyboard there we want to make sure that we have pretty close to a 90 degree angle here. 

The main thing you don't want to have is to have the keyboard a lot lower, so this is particularly important for shorter people. 

If you have the chair too low then you're in a position where you start having to bunch up and create a lot of tension in your shoulders to be able to keep your hands on the keyboard. 

We want the set up so that we have hands easily on the keyboard with elbows roughly at about that 90 degrees or slightly more open. 

So we want to move our chair in or out so that with our hands comfortably on the keys we've got our hip and shoulder lined up because what we're really wanting to do here is have the big weight of the chest balanced over our hip.

What we don't want to be is so far back that we start to do this kind of thing, where there's a lot more tension on both the lower back and shoulders. Similarly, we don't want to be leaning all the way forward because it's going to tire out our back. 

STEP 3: HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE SCREEN POSITION?

So, a nice comfortable position of the chair, then this is the bit where we always have the little bit of a compromise with the laptop where we want to get your head balanced over your shoulder, but if you're looking down at a screen on a laptop, then that's always going to be a little bit tricky. 

The idea with the laptop is, make sure that you realise that you're always going to have a little bit of your head posture forward rather than balance the weight of your head over your shoulder so it’s really important to take micro breaks. 

STEP 4: MICRO BREAKS

There are programs you can get that will remind you every 20-25 minutes to just stop for a minute, relax your arms way aside have a little micro break, turn your head all the way to the left, all the way around to the right, just drop your shoulders up and down a little bit and then you can get back to work.

So there it is, a couple of key points that you can use to set up your desk or your laptop in the optimal position, thanks.

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Kieran Whelan Kieran Whelan

How to set up your home work space in 4 steps - Desk top computer edition

As a chiropractor for South Melbourne and Albert Park and Seeing as though a lot of our community will be working from home for a little while longer, I thought I would take the opportunity to repost some of our more relevant blog entries. This one was from 2018 but is even more on point today, Martin and I still refer people to it regularly.

This post is gives our 4 steps for setting up your desk top computer to work from home.

It is especially good for people worried about or who suffer from tension headaches, neck or low back pain, high or sore shoulders, or other postural issues such as forward head posture.

In the video, Martin (using Kieran as an ergonomics model extraordinaire) talks us through the correct ergonomics of how to set up our desktop as a workstation.

Please enjoy the quick video. 

For your convenience, the ergonomics demo has been transcribed below.

Hi, Martin and Kieran and we are here to give you a quick instructional video on how to set up your desktop computer so that it puts you in the best position to look after your precious spine and nervous system that you have, given that we are spending so much of our day working on computers.  

We have got a separate video that shows you how to set up for a laptop. There are some similarities but there are a couple of really key differences when you’re setting up for a desktop, so we'll run through everything here as well. 

Just like with the laptop setup, key thing is we're gonna start from the bottom up.  

STEP 1: SEAT HEIGHT AND FOOT POSITION

First thing is, Kieran has his feet absolutely flat on the floor, he’s not crossing his legs which would create a twisting torsion through your lower back then cause tension to build up through the day. 

Next, we set the height of the chair. If you have a gas lift chair, you want the height of a chair so that your hip is either at the same level as his knee, so we've got a horizontal line, or so that the hip is slightly higher than your knee because that allows him to maintain a really good lower back position. 

If you sit with your hips lower than your knees it's really easy of get into a rounded posture, causing horrible loading up of tension in your lower back. 

STEP 2: POSITION YOUR ARMS, ELBOWS, KEYBOARD AND MOUSE

So once we've got that position we then want to make sure that the height is still okay for his elbow position. 

What we really want is as close to possible as a 90 degree angle at the elbow so that you can have relaxed shoulders while your hands are on the keyboard. 

What we don't want is to be sitting too high, so that you have to reach down or too low, so that you’re scrunching shoulders up to get your fingers onto the keyboard. 

That height looks pretty good.

Then what we want to do is to zoom in or out, so that we've got a nice relaxed position here. 

If Kieran was too far back he'd be reaching and then having to use all those shoulder muscles to hold his hands on the keyboard. 

What we want is that so that his arms are nice and relaxed by his side while he's using the keyboard. 

The same rule applies to the mouse.

A lot of people may have the keyboard set up right but then end up having the mouse right across the desk where it’s causing a peep of pressure through their shoulder that feeds back up into your neck and causes all sorts of problems. 

So once we've got that set up, this is where it's a bit different to the laptop setup. 

3. SCREEN POSITION

With a desktop, the screen can be moved to two different positions depending on how often you needing to look at your keyboard. 

If you touch type or you're doing a lot of data entry where you're very rarely looking down at the keyboard, then you really want the screen to be a bit higher than we've got it here. In that case, the landmark that I always use is the absolute dead center of the screen.

If you are the type of person who needs to look down at the keys periodically you don't want the screen too high, otherwise you make yourself dizzy going up and down. 

So the compromise in this instance is to have the centre of the screen at about chin level and that way you're never looking too far up, and you're just working in this range. 

If you're the sort of person who can touch type and you don’t really need to look at your keys, then you can go up higher which has the advantage of having a posture where your head is more balanced over your shoulders. 

What we have here is a set up that is good for Kieran if he can touch type. 

If he doesn't often need to look down at the keys he can spend all of his time just looking straight ahead at the screen. 

So for this setup, what we've done is put a couple of books underneath the screen here, to raise it up, allowing us to have the centre of the screen at the point where it's hitting here, in-between the lip level or the tip of his nose.

That's a really comfortable posture for him to be able to look at the screen and have his head posture really nicely balanced over the shoulder, meaning a nice relaxed position through here. 

When you're in that position, you are not building up so much tension on your neck and shoulders etc. by looking down all the time. 

Remember, this setup is only for people who can touch type but it's a really optimal position that'll mean that he feels nice and comfortable for hours and hours of work. 

STEP 4: AS ALWAYS, TAKE MICRO BREAKS

There are programs you can get that will remind you every 20-25 minutes to just stop for a minute, relax your arms way aside have a little micro break, turn your head all the way to the left, all the way around to the right, just drop your shoulders up and down a little bit and then you can get back to work.

I hope you found this video helpful please feel free to shoot us a message and let us know what you think.

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Kieran Whelan Kieran Whelan

What is happening at Align due to the Coronavirus Pandemic? 

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There are really two ways to answer this question…in one sense, a lot, in another more important sense, not much. 

Let me explain. 

We have been getting a lot of questions from client’s including but not limited to; is Align still open? Is it OK to see chiropractors at the moment? And can people over 70 receive care? 

The answer to those 3 are yes, yes, and yes they can, we have special measures in place to decrease risk for clients in higher risk categories. 

I hardly need to tell you, in the last few weeks in Victoria/Australia/the world, things have been a bit different. 

None of us have been immune to the effects of social distancing and shutdowns, as it appears to effect nearly all facets of our day to day life. 

At Align, we have had to adapt quickly to this new set of circumstances. 

As I said earlier, there HAVE been some noticeable changes at Align and I wanted to outline the steps most relevant to keeping our community safe to you below. 

So…What are the changes? 

1. We have adopted more stringent sanitising procedures, increased our frequency of cleaning frequently touched surfaces, hand sanitiser is now present at the front desk as well as in the adjusting areas should you want it and provided single use hand towels for the bathroom. 

2. We have adopted social distancing measures within the practice by revising our booking procedures to limit the number of client’s that will need to access the building around the same time. 

In addition to this, we have removed some of our waiting room furniture to allow for more distance between clients. 

3. Sadly, we have had to remove some of the fun things in our beautiful waiting area that are frequently touched, like our magazines, coloured pencils, books and toys. 

Fear not, the little garage WILL return, but we hope that all of our community, big and small will understand that for the moment we have to minimise risk of transmission.

4. We have had to split our fantastic team into an A team and a B team…I won’t get into the debate here as to which team is which, but as the person writing this, I can’t help but think Kieran’s team has an edge in naming rights here. 

We have done this to protect our clients, minimising risk of spread, and importantly, ensure that care can continue to provide care in case Martin or myself had to self isolate. 

Separating the chiropractors out like this has changed our daily booking capacity so it is possible your usual time may not always be available. We recommend booking in advance to ensure continued convenience. 

So…in what way is Align staying the same? 

I am glad you asked. 

No matter what, Martin and myself, along with the rest of the Align team are still committed to providing chiropractic care for the people of South Melbourne, Albert Park, Port Melbourne, Melbourne city, South Yarra…anywhere the current restrictions of movement will allow to travel to our practice. 

That means, that as long as allied health professionals are allowed to stay open, we will be providing care. 

In Australia we have been fortunate for several obvious reasons, one of which is the fact that some types of primary contact Allied health practitioners (In this instance, Chiropractors) have been encouraged to stay open for client’s to receive care and where possible ease the burden on emergency rooms. 

Martin and I know chiropractors around the world and we are unaware of any jurisdictions where practices have not been shut as part of larger more draconian lock down measures. 

It has truely been an honour to get to be in practice and serve our community during this time. 

As well, even though Martin and I are not practicing the same hours as before, we are still open our regular 6 days of the week.

As always, our team at Align has stepped up to this new challenge. If you or a loved one are in a higher risk category please contact our front desk, we are providing opportunities for our most vulnerable to visit the practice completely by themselves, or wait in the comfort of their own cars before entering the practice to limit time exposure. 

Above all, we would like our community to know, you are not alone. 

We have had a number of our clients mention that we have been their only trip outside other than the supermarket for weeks and we are humbled by your trust in us. 

We do not take this responsibility lightly. 

Please don’t feel like you have to tough it out or go it alone through this period, we are here to help. Please do not think that because your issues might seem insignificant compared to others that you shouldn’t address them. 

This applies both physically and mentally. This is a very stressful time, for everyone. Even if you personally don’t feel you should be stressed, the very fact that everyone around you currently IS stressed, puts your nervous system on high alert too. 

Do not underestimate the need to take care of yourself through this time. 

Over the next few weeks I will be writing a lot about what you can be doing to ease stress levels, physical strain and make themes of this current situation. 

Like you, we are looking forward to having a sense of normality return. 

Personally I am looking forward to working along side the whole team in the practice again, and see the burden of this current situation lifted off our client’s shoulders. 

Wishing you all the very best, 

Kieran.

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