Pain - friend or foe?

Nagging pain is an ailment that can seriously affect your enjoyment of life. Your sleep can suffer, your mood can plummet like a stone. It can affect your work, your relationships, everything you do daily.

Even low levels of pain can slowly eat away at you. Pain is something that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, but before you reach for the painkillers to supress the pain, realise that pain is an early warning system to tell you that all is not right. Perhaps ask yourself "what could be the cause and what changes can I make to ensure it doesnít come back in the future?"

How do I choose the right practitioner?

I recently fell and hurt my back. I had a look in the local phone directory but was very confused about which therapist to choose. Can you advise me on how to choose the right practitioner for me?

A good health practitioner will be happy to answer questions regarding how they work.

Here are a few things to find out.

1. Are they registered with their health care regulator? This is essential for osteopaths, chiropractors and physiotherapists. This can often be checked on the website of the appropriate regulatory body.
2. Ask about their approach to treatment eg. do they use manipulation, massage or cranio sacral style of treatment? Get them to explain their type of treatment to find out if this is something you would be happy with.
3. Describe your problem and ask if they are familiar with treating it.
4. Ask the practitioner the length of time for an initial consultation and subsequent treatments.
5. Ask the practitioner the cost of the initial treatment and follow up sessions.
6. Ask the practitioner for a treatment plan and an estimate for the number of treatments. Does this sound reasonable? If necessary get a second or even third opinion.
7. Be wary of practitioners who make dramatic claims about their ability to heal you.
8. Good practitioners of any healthcare system should be prepared to talk to your regular doctor.
9. Trust your instincts. If you are not happy with the treatment you are getting, donít be afraid to change to another more suitable practitioner.