It has been amazing to be back in the treatment room for the first two weeks of the year.
It is funny how you start a business with an opportunity to do it your way, no one telling you how to treat, what times and you are in charge. You gain the ultimate freedom and can provide Chiropractic care the way you want, then as time goes on the demands of the opportunity take you away from the real reason you started it in the first place.
Another thing in life that seems backwards to me…..I’m enjoying seeing you all. I’m going to be in the clinic for two more weeks as I train up our new Chiropractor, Dr Iris, she has a wealth of experience and joins us from a clinic in London.
We are on a recruitment drive this week. Michelle and I are jetting down to sunny Bournemouth to the AECC (Chiropractic college) future pathways event where all the graduating students can meet clinic owners and see if there are any good fits for them.
I have never done this type of ‘speed dating’ recruitment before. I’m quite old school in that respect, phone call, face to face interview and then work it out from there. This should be fun. If you have any advice we are all ears!
It will be great to be back in ‘sunny’ Bournemouth. I don’t think Michelle has been before, but I keep telling her it is very similar to Camps Bay in Cape Town; I don’t think she is buying it somehow.
This week we have been doing some work with compression fractures. Hopefully you won’t need any help with this, and this blog will shed some light on how you can avoid having one as well.
If you are a female and post-menopausal or have a family history of osteoporosis, then this is going to be for you to ensure you can reduce the risk of a compression fracture. If you are MALE then DON’T stop reading as there will be some information for you as well. Men are not immune to compression fractures.
What are compression fractures?
This is where a vertebra in the spine gets compressed as causes a fracture. The vertebra are blocks of bone that support the framework of the spine.
You can break both sides of the bone and the bone squashes and the height compresses. If both sides of the bone, front and back compress this is a true compression fracture. If just the front of the bone fractures, this can cause a wedge-shaped appearance and this is a wedge fracture.
How do compression fractures happen?
The first way is from a severe fall like a skiing injury or fall down the stairs. This can affect someone even if they have healthy bones. The shear impact can cause the vertebra to compress.
The second way and most common is where the patient has osteoporosis or osteopenia and has a fall or trip, it can be severe but can also be a minor stumble and because the bone is weakened it can cause it to fracture.
I like to explain osteoporosis and the simple way to explain it is to liken it to a ‘crunchie’ chocolate bar.
Our vertebra are like crunchie chocolate bars as they have a thin layer of chocolate on the outside and then a honeycomb inside. With osteoporosis the bone fails to develop, and the inside crunchie chocolate bar starts to disappear, and the bone can appear ‘moth eaten’ on an x-ray with patches where there is not much bone.
This is weaker and more susceptible to a fracture. Common places are the spine, wrist and hips.
How do you prevent a compression fracture?
- Avoid bending your back when you are picking objects up. When you are gardening or lifting luggage on holiday, ensure you keep your back flat and engage your glutes to ensure your back stays stable.
When you flex your back it leaves the thoracic (mid back) part of your spine susceptible to a compression fracture. Try and keep it straight.


2. Don’t slump down on a chair. When you are feeling tired at the end of the day, we often don’t use our glutes and core to slowly lower ourselves into a hard chair. We let our glutes cushion the impact, but this sudden impact can put force through your spine and can cause a compression fracture.
Make sure you slowly control yourself into a chair and use your glutes and core to lower down slowly. Or use your arms to support yourself when you descend.

3. Diet. A lack of calcium and vitamin D can impact bone formation. It can upset the balance of resorption vs formation. Therefore, a good vitamin d supplement and eating nuts, raw leafy greens like spinach and kale are good sources of calcium to help your bones.
4. Resistance exercise. This is the best way to prevent a fracture, bone adapts to the demands that are placed upon it. If you can use weights to train your body the bone will have force put through it from the muscle and this causes it to get stronger.
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If you do know someone who wants more advice, please send them our details. You can send them this assessment as well to diagnose their back pain. It is a great tool to understand where your back pain is coming from, it is free and takes 60 seconds. Click here for assessment