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SUMMER FUN Did the waves get the better of you? I can tell as soon as someone walks through the door – the classic forehead graze. A surfing injury: typical of this time of year; people out having a fantastic time in the waves. But with that, as many surfers will know, are the classic wipe-outs! And for those who are really unlucky, a nasty whack to the forehead as they get dumped onto the sandy ocean floor. It’s just a graze, isn’t it? Well, although the embarrassing graze makes for a good story over the BBQ, it also means that your head had been subjected to a significant ‘compaction trauma’. This creates a lot of problems including headaches, neck- and upper-back pain, dizziness and lack of concentration. Some people get a nasty ‘pinching’ feeling lower down in their neck too. This means that one or more of the joints in your neck have also been affected – a bit like trapping your seatbelt in the car door. The Science bit The base of the skull is actually a very important area – not
only is it where the spinal cord relays information to the brain, but there are lots of very sensitive muscles nearby too, and they don’t like being squashed, stretched or twisted in an uncontrolled manner. In fact, if they get too tight, they can actually prevent blood draining back out of your brain (the most chemically active area), and it kind of floats around in a toxic soup. No wonder this causes headaches! Get it sorted for summer Both neck pain and headaches caused by these kinds of injuries can be sorted really easily with the right treatment. But don’t leave it too long! If it hasn’t gone away within a week, it’s not going to. And just because you no longer feel pain, the joint compression and restrictions will still be there, as will the tight muscles. So, if you have had a whack to the head, been caught off guard by the waves crashing on top of you – or are suffering some of the symptoms above – give me a call. Get sorted for more summer fun! Holly Royal B.Ost ThreeSixty Osteopathy
