With so many different types of holistic therapies it has to be worth trying at least one natural therapy to see if it can help with your pain. I have written about over 50 of them on this blog and start with the top ten…
Reflexology – The main benefits of reflexology are that it unblocks energy channels and has a relaxing effect. It can also stimulate the body’s own healing mechanisms and help with pain relief.
Kinesiology – Kinesiology is a treatment which concentrates on getting your muscles to function correctly. It is believed that each muscles is connected to a specific part of your body.
Yoga – It is seen as a viable treatment for all sorts of aches, pains and physical ailments. Alongside its mental health benefits, doctors are choosing to prescribe yoga rather than painkillers to help people recover from injuries and manage pain.
Homeopathy – Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine founded by a German physician Samuel Hahnemann himself an orthodox Doctor (M.D) in 1796. Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine that uses small, highly diluted doses of natural substances to trigger the bodies own healing abilitie
Acupuncture – 2.3 million acupuncture treatments are carried out each year, traditional acupuncture is one of the most popular complementary therapies practiced in the UK today. Acupuncture works by stimulating your own body’s healing mechanisms to help with pain and recovery.
Ayurveda – Ayurveda focuses on the power of the mind to heal the body using herbal treatment, diet and yogic breathing. Practitioners focus on understanding the unique physiological processes, the environmental inputs, and the genetic predisposition that influence every person’s experience of health and disease.
Aromatherapy Massage – It is a method of healing using very concentrated essential oils that are often highly aromatic and are extracted from plants.
Alexander Technique – The process aims to change movement habits in everyday activities, helping people with chronic back pain, excessive stress and injury, by using simple and practical methods of balance in the body to release unnecessary tension.
Trigger Point Therapy – Trigger points are nodules that are contractions in bands of muscles that have tightened. The trigger points themselves cause local pain while simultaneously referring pain to other body parts. The referred pain is often located far from the trigger poin
Cupping Therapy – Cupping is the best deep tissue massage available and is a very safe therapy to have. It activates the lymphatic systems, clearing colon blockages, arteries and capillaries.
1.DRY JANUARY – 1st-31st January 2023 – About Dry January – It started in 2013 with 4,000 people. It’s come a long way since then, with over 100,000 signing up and 4 million taking part in 2020.
In 2011 Emily Robinson signs up for her first half marathon. It’s due to take place in February. She doesn’t like running much so to make the training easier, she decides to give up booze in January. She loses weight, sleeps better and feels like she has more energy to do the run. But something else happens…
Everyone wants to talk to her about what it’s like to give up drinking for a bit.
In January 2012, Emily joins Alcohol Change UK. She’s decided to give up drinking again this January. Now that she works for Alcohol Change UK, even more, people want to talk to her about giving up drinking for a month. This sparks off lots of different conversations about the benefits of having a break from drinking – especially after Christmas.
That got us thinking. If we got more people having a break from booze in January, could we have more people thinking about their drinking? And would they drink less after their month off because actually, they enjoyed the break so much?
The idea for the Dry January campaign was born. And so it goes on… 2023 is celebrating its 10th Anniversary…
2. LOVE YOUR LIVER MONTH – 1ST – 31ST January 2023 – at the same time as Dry January we have another campaign Love Your Liver Month which is a national awareness campaign devoted to liver health awareness and giving people the key steps needed to keep their liver healthy.
They write that 9 in 10 liver disease cases can be prevented. As part of their national campaign they offer a free online screener, arrange national roadshows and work with healthcare professionals.
You only have one liver, it’s important to know how to look after it.
Your liver is the largest organ inside your body and does hundreds of essential jobs.
Fighting infection and disease
Destroying poisons and drugs (including alcohol)
Cleaning the blood
Controlling the amount of cholesterol
Processing food once it has been digested
It works hard and can take a lot of abuse, but it is like an elastic band – it can only stretch so far before it breaks.
Paget’s disease affects the normal repair and renewal process of bone. Throughout life, bone is renewed and repaired through a process called bone remodelling. Paget’s disease is characterised by abnormalities in this process. The affected bone is renewed and repaired at an increased rate, adversely affecting the bone’s structure. Bone affected by Paget’s disease may be enlarged and misshapen.
Paget’s disease can occur in any bone, often causes no symptoms and may be found by chance. For those with symptoms, these may include pain, deformity and fracture. Either single or multiple bones may be affected with common sites being the spine, skull, pelvis and thigh (femur).
The risk of developing Paget’s disease increases with age and it is most commonly diagnosed in those over 50 years. Paget’s disease is the second most common metabolic bone disease after osteoporosis. Approximately 1% of people in the UK, over the age of 55 years, are thought to be affected. The condition is also common in other European countries such as France, Spain and Italy and in people of European descent who have emigrated to other regions of the world, such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada.
Their campaign in January will involve lots of stories talking about what it’s like to have cervical cancer, raising awareness of the need for action and also stressing how important it is that those diagnosed get the support and care they need at every stage.
In January, they are hosting events at Westminister and Holyrood to showcase our new report about the impact of cervical cancer and raise awareness of how it can be eliminated. Get your MP involved by writing to them and asking them to attend.
220,000 women and people with a cervix every year are told they have cervical cell changes after their screening, and many more are given an HPV diagnosis. This can mean more tests and treatments, and for some, it can be incredibly hard.
Everyone’s experience is different, but we want everyone to have the information and support they need. So we want you to join us and share tips, and facts, and most importantly help others know they aren’t alone. They ask you to get involved by…
Use social media to talk about cervical screening: shout about why it’s so important and share your tips to make it easier
Share your experience of colposcopy or getting unexpected cervical screening results: what do you wish you had known and what would you say to someone feeling anxious about theirs?
Share our tips, information and signpost to our support services
Get your workplace involved and display posters or even take on a fundraising challenge
Join in and use #CervicalCancerPreventionWeek so others can find you!
5. NATIONAL BLOOD DONOR MONTH – 1ST-31st January 2023 – A bit about National Blood Donor Month – The month of January is usually a period of critical blood shortages. People stop donating blood during the holidays and when they get sick during cold and flu season. Blood drives also get snowed out during the winter months.
More than 50 years ago — on December 31, 1969 — the president of the United States signed a proclamation designating January as National Blood Donor Month (NBDM). The new monthly observance was meant to honour voluntary blood donors and to encourage more people to give blood at a time when more blood is needed.
Throughout the decades, AABB marked NBDM with a series of activities that highlight the importance of blood donation. Follow AABB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to participate in our NBDM activities.
6. GOOD CARE MONTH 1st– 31st January 2023 – Good Care Month is all about inspiring the public to choose a career in care and promoting your organisation and vacancies.
Whether you are a Domiciliary, Residential, Day Service, Supported Living service or any other type of care provider, everyone can get involved in Good Care Month…
We want to see videos from those who work in care, people who receive care and support, and managers or recruiters.
Simply share your video snippets with HCPA and we will link them to your organisation and vacancies to help promote careers in care.
Need some help? Click here for our handy video guide on what you can include in your video snippets, how to film and send them to HCPA. It’s really easy and can all be done on a smartphone!
7. BLUE MONDAY 16th January 2023 – January’s third Monday, “Blue Monday”, is thought to be the most depressing day of the year, due to a combination of bad weather, long nights and the lingering aftermath of the festive glut.
The idea of Blue Monday was first conceived by Dr. Cliff Arnall in 2005 and it was published as part of a press release by Sky Travel.
The life coach and psychologist created a formula to determine the ‘saddest’ day of the year, and landed on today, because of the bad weather, dark nights, post-Christmas debt and failed New Year’s resolutions.
Despite originally being coined as a marketing tool to get people to book holidays, the term has moved into common parlance.
Many argue Blue Monday does not exist and instead of booking a holiday because you’re supposed to be feeling sad, donate to charity instead, said The Metro.
Blue Monday is the name given to the third Monday of January every year. It is claimed to be the most depressing day of the year. The reason for this includes factors like the cold, wet weather, short daylight days, Christmas debt, the time elapsed since your last payday, Christmas seems like a distant memory, you’ve already failed with your New Year’s resolutions, and it feels like a long time until the summer. For most of us, this means our motivational levels are low. In more recent years, the day has been re-named Brew Monday, to encourage people to spend some time talking to each other whilst having a cuppa.
8. NATIONAL HUG DAY – 21st January – According to National Today – National Hugging Day was created in 1986 by Kevin Zaborney. His friend was the granddaughter of the proprietors of Chase’s Calendar of Events. Zaborney chose January 21 because it was the time between the winter holiday season and the new year’s birthdays, which he noticed was a time people tend to feel low in spirits. He also felt that Americans were often too embarrassed to show affection in public and hoped National Hugging Day would change that, though he never actually thought it would catch on.
The word “hug” is believed to come from the word “hugga” meaning “to comfort” in the Old Norse language, first appearing approximately 450 years ago. However, the history of hugging itself is a bit more uncertain. What is known is that it is only very recently (within the past 50 years) that we have seen a full acceptance of hugging in public, separating it from other distinguished displays of affection such as kissing. The widespread adoption of hugging over the recent years has been debated to be due to two primary reasons: the reduced formality of dress code and manners between relationships, along with the changing behaviors of political figures in pursuit of a more relatable, warm-hearted perception to the public.
Nowadays, we don’t even think about the fact that hugging in public was considered indecent PDA. We hug to greet friends and family, to say goodbye, or to congratulate someone. To console someone or to show support. We hug before sports and performance teams begin their match, and to show a general sign of affection between intimate relationships. There are also Free Hugs charity fundraisers!
The Festival of Sleep Day was created for people that would like to get some “shut eye” and relaxation after the holidays.
After the Christmas shopping and present opening deadlines and the New Year celebrations, it’s time to celebrate — in “Sleep Land”. Observe this wacky and unofficial holiday on January 3rd.
Race Against Dementia is a global charity founded by Sir Jackie Stewart OBE in 2016 to raise awareness and funds with the mission to advance worldwide research and development in the pursuit of a dementia cure or treatment.
Since his wife Helen, Lady Stewart was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, Sir Jackie Stewart and his team have been racing to beat dementia with a Formula One attitude, by finding new ways to accelerate research and achieve RAD’s objectives. Grand Prix racing thrives on innovation, skill and passion. It has seen the fastest technological change of any business, industry or sport in the world and Race Against Dementia is working with F1 industry leaders to deliver results in the dementia research laboratory.
Race Against Dementia Day is a day dedicated to raising funds to help beat dementia. Everyone can get involved and make a change by joining the race. The aim is to raise £127,000 for Race Against Dementia charity. 1 in 3 people born today will die of dementia. That is the equivalent of 127,000 babies born in the UK every day and the goal is to raise £1 for each of these babies. The funds raised for RAD Day will provide support for the Race Against Dementia Fellows’ Leadership A programme that aims to develop the Fellows’ skills and take them to an F1 level of collaboration, teamwork and innovation.
Race Against Dementia Day will take place on 21 January each year, which is also Lady Stewart’s birthday. Lady Stewart’s diagnosis inspired Sir Jackie to establish the charity.
The Bowen Technique has now joined the group of complementary therapies to be recognised by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) which provides an independent national standard of excellence.
CNHC is the only voluntary regulatory body for complementary healthcare to have official backing from the government. Its key function is to enhance public protection by setting standards for registration with CNHC.
The BOWEN technique was developed by Thomas Ambrose Bowen an osteopath from Australia in the 1960s and 1970s.
It has been called miraculous and is a soft tissue remedial therapy that involves the therapist using fingers and thumbs to move over muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascia in various body parts.
The Bowen technique’s main feature is that the therapist leaves the patient to rest for a short while, allowing the body to decide what action needs to be taken in response to the moves given (sounds sooooo relaxing).
In Bowen Therapy, as well as the muscles, you work on the fascia. Fascia is an important, highly mobile, connective tissue, which runs throughout your body. It is via the fascia that we often address levels of tension and discomfort.
We purposefully move the fascia in a particular way to stimulate or relax muscle fibres in order to achieve:
Improved posture and flexibility
Pain relief
Improved mobility
You will also feel less stressed following a treatment, having taken time out of busy schedules to address your issues.
It’s a gentle non-invasive relaxing therapy to help free the body to its natural balance and healing. The Bowen Technique is a recognised hands-on complementary therapy, which many turn to for significant relief from troubling aches and pains and (often) to address long-standing problems.
The therapist uses only the thumbs and fingers to make gentle rolling movements over precise junctions of muscles, nerve pathways and blood and lymph circulation with periods of rest in between to allow the body to assimilate and respond to the information.
These moves send signals via the brain to the body’s soft tissues to realign and relax so that they can return to their natural, healthy state before tension or injury occurred. Pain is then released as the process of healing begins.
Increasing awareness and understanding of the role of fascia within the body have underpinned our appreciation that the body should be looked at holistically (as a whole).
The Bowen Therapy Professional Association is an independent organisation of Bowen Therapists run by Bowen Therapists. The website is full of information on the Bowen Technique and has a list of therapists.
You can also find a great video on youtube on how the Bowen Technique can help with the pain of Fibromyalgia.
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