The height of work surfaces – sink, draining board, table or working area – matters a great deal. The correct height varies with the job being done, as well as from person to person. The surface should be high enough so that you do not have to bend forwards, but not so high that you [...]

This is a technique involving the application of pressure to acupuncture points and meridians. According to oriental medicine, deep pressure applied to certain points will have a similar effect to the use of needles, although the points may differ from the needle points. Shiatsu was originally the Japanese form of Chinese acupressure, but has developed [...]

Depending on what has been learned so far, and on your symptoms, further tests may be carried out. In most cases, however, it is unlikely that they will have to be done; at any rate, not all of them. Most surgeons insist on some such investigation before deciding whether to recommend an operation. Some of [...]

As one gets older, the whole spine tends to become stiffen Not only is the total range of movement reduced, but the tissues in the spine are stiffer and change shape less readily, which reduces their shock-absorbing capacity. To some extent, degenerative change can produce similar effects locally in individual joints. A completely degenerated intervertebral [...]

The vertebral bodies are the weight-carrying parts of the vertebrae. They are separated by intervertebral discs, of which there are 23 – one between every adjoining pair of vertebral bodies. In normal use, these discs are very efficient shock-absorbers; without them every step and movement would jar. The disc is a very tough structure. Inside [...]