Most of us will suffer from pain at least once in our lifetimes. This pain can be due to many reasons but often caused by musculoskeletal imbalances and/or dysfunction. Originating from factors like sedentary lifestyle, childbirth, direct trauma, surgery, stress related tension and others. This pain can be sudden and acute or can have a slow progression starting just as a niggle and growing to be a chronic pain syndrome. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) did a systemic review published in June 2016 stating that 43% of the UK population suffers from chronic pain.

The brain has an amazing adaptive capacity and will increase our pain threshold, so we can cope with it on a daily basis. The pain due to musculoskeletal imbalances can manifest itself in multiple and different areas of the body like the neck, lower back, as headaches, legs and feet and more commonly in the recent years on the arms and shoulders due to increased desk work. Certain types of chronic pain are long term and of autoimmune nature, but the great majority of mechanical pain can be resolved by changing the approach to how you use your body and making the most of its inherent capacity for self – correcting and self – healing.

In my 15 years’ experience as an osteopath I have seen many patients who thought that they needed to live with pain, having a pleasant surprise when the chronic pain has decreased or gone. However, it is hard to know where you should start from so to assist with it I have created a check list for you to go through and see if you need to modify or implement something new in your life, to help reducing your pain.

You should ask yourself the questions below:

• What is the cause of my pain and have I been diagnosed? If not, get yourself diagnosed by your doctor, osteopath or physiotherapist.

• How active am I? and is the activity that I am doing beneficial to my body? Where I have the right measure of not too little and not too much exercise.

• What is my posture like? Am I happy with the way I use my body? How many hours a day do I spend sitting at my computer or using my phone and what is happening to my body’s posture when I am doing that?

• Has my workstation been ergonomically assessed? If not ask HR to organise an ergonomic assessment of your workstation as you spend good part of your life sitting on it. However, if not possible you can find basic instructions on how to set up your work station on: https://lifehacker.com/how-to-ergonomically-optimize-your-workspace-30833302

• How toxic is my body? Modern life brings in the advantages of fast food where we compromise on nutritional value. The over consumption of sugar, E numbers and MSG flavour enhancers leads to slow increase of toxicity in our bodies which leads to low grade systemic inflammation.

• Last but not least, am I suffering from stress that has been unresolved and lasting for long periods of time. Stress can lead to postural compensation, muscle tension, poor breathing and all of this will have a negative effect to our biomechanical structures.

My name is Ana Mattos, I am an Osteopath, Naturopath and Musculoskeletal Specialist from London and I’ll be in Kuwait from the 18^th of November to the 04^th of December working with The Six Senses Spa and will be happy to assess and if suitable treat your condition. Together we can find solutions to improve your quality of life.

If you have any queries, please email me on: anamattososteopath@gmail.com or book an osteopathic consultation at Six Senses Kuwait in the Symphony Style Hotel Ph: +96525 770077