"Hip-Hinges" ...

Putting some ideas together about this whole area - see this new page on this site.

But grateful thanks to Roger McCarthy (his website is http://www.bodyology.co.uk/, and he is based in Bracknell, UK) for all his input and guidance on this.

Update on Friday, March 2, 2012 at 7:41AM by Michael Smith

Roger McCarthy has also recommended this book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steps-Pain-Free-Back-Solutions-Shoulder/dp/0979303605) which I’ve ordered, and will report back on …

Lumbar Disc Degeneration - Partly Because Of Our Genes?

This study showed how a tendency to get lumbar disc degeneration, and for that degeneration to cause low back pain (which a lot of degenerate discs do NOT) is likely partly due to our genes …

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110202143804.htm

Replacement Intervertebral Discs ... coming or not?

Went to a spinal surgery conference at the weekend. A large part of the event was about the way that discs gets into trouble - through ageing, through trauma etc. - and the question about how soon we would have replacement artificial dics was asked.

Interestingly, the surgeon was quite pessimistic. Apart from the technical challenges of designing discs that will both work and last for a decent period of time, the challenges of having to operate through the front of the body (through the abdomen or through the front of the neck) are quite formidable.

A long way off yet, it seems ...

Neck problems can lead to headaches ...

Nothing surprising here, you might well argue. Certainly, osteopaths have found - over the last century or so of practice - that disorders of function in the neck can contribute to, or outright cause, various headache patterns. One of the presumed mechanisms is functional hypermobility of particular joint and muscle complexes in the neck, often caused by stiffness or altered function elsewhere in the neck or lower down.

A recent study shed some light on this ... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090803122721.htm