On the Bloody Long Walk & Four Little Rockstars

I’m getting ready to pull out my hiking boots again. It’s been two years since I trained for the 100km Oxfam Trailwalker with a group of friends. We raised a lot of money for Oxfam & had a whole heap of fun along the way. Our next challenge is the The Bloody Long Walk which is a 35km walk in September. The event raises funds to support people living with mitochondrial disease.

Training for the Oxfam Trailwalker, 2017

On Friday night our team met at the Dandaragan Club armed with our training programs, diaries & monthly planners. Given that we have previously trained for a 100km event, we are feeling quietly confident that we can handle 35km once we’ve gotten back into some good training.  Training walks have been planned for the next few months, scheduled around hockey, golf, football, birthdays, school holidays etc…  so that by the time that the event comes around in September we will be prepared & ready to go.

Planning Meeting with some of the team for the Bloody Long Walk.

I absolutely can not wait to get out there & start walking again! If you’re interested in the event then check out the website for The Bloody Long Walk.

My Saturday was spent working in the morning & then attending the Moora School of Music Concert in the afternoon. There were some fantastic performances by our local young musicians, including four of my own little Piano Rockstars who totally nailed their piano pieces.

Four of my Piano Rockstars at the MSOM Concert

Emily, Georgie, Gus & Hayley I am so very proud of you all.

Frida on the bed at her Nana’s House in Perth

In other news, there are only two more sleeps until Frida will be back home with me in Moora. Thank you to everyone who has asked about her. Her paw has healed up nicely & she is ready to be scampering around muddy paddocks once again but this time with waterproof/prickle proof booties. It will be good to have her home – the clinic has seemed a bit empty without her. Have a great week everyone! ~ Love Allie X

On What’s Happening in Wongan, Paw Injuries and Moora School of Music

Hello Friends of Moora Chiro!

What a busy time of year this is! There have been lots of back & neck issues from long hours on the tractor during seeding, various injuries from winter sports (lots of hamstring, groin & calf sprains this season already) and a few arthritic flare ups from the weather turning cold and damp. Many of our patients swear that they can predict the likelihood of rainfall by how achy their joints are and I find that they’re pretty much always right.

June has been a slightly mixed up month for us because we’ve been sharing Janelle with another clinic. This means that instead of being in Wongan on her regular Tuesday, Janelle will be in Wongan for the next three Fridays. Friday 21st, 28th June and 5th July.

Janelle

Sadly, she will not be in Moora during June but come July we get to have Janelle all to ourselves again. She will be in Moora on Mondays and Wongan on Tuesdays. Until then, please bear with us as we deal with a little bit of congestion in our appointment book.

Frida’s absence at the clinic has been duly noted by our regular visitors and so I wanted to share what’s been happening in this post. A few weeks ago, Frida suffered an injury when a thorn became lodged in her front left paw. The thorn was removed and she was given a course of antibiotics. I was advised to keep the paw warm and dry so that it could have the best possible chance at healing. However, despite Jane’s & my best efforts at undressing and redressing her paw it would still get damp when Frida went outside. She would also get prickles stuck to the dressing and her paw continued to irritate her.

             Frida’s injured paw.

Feeling troubled by Frida’s discomfort, I did what any 40 year old woman does when she needs help. I called my Mum. Within moments of my describing Frida’s situation to her, my folks had formulated a plan to evacuate Frida from the wet and doublegee-rich conditions of the wheatbelt to the comforting warmth and dryness of my Mum & Dad’s townhouse in Perth.

After a few weeks of receiving impeccable care from her Nana & Papa, I am pleased to report that Frida’s paw is healing up beautifully. However, it has been decided that Frida should remain in Perth until her new doggie boots arrive. Her boots will help to protect her paws from the damp and the prickles so that she can return to Moora and happily scamper around muddy paddocks like she loves to do.

Frida & her Nana

I also want to use this post to mention that the next Moora School of Music Concert is scheduled for Saturday 22nd June at 2:00pm. This is a wonderful opportunity for our young musicians to perform in front of an audience at the Moora Performing Arts Centre and to gain some exposure in our community. If you are around that weekend then please come along and support our young people.

My piano students having a musical art lesson.

Four of my nine students will be performing in the concert. I already feel so proud of them for putting their hands up to be a part of this event. Thank you to Moora School of Music for organising the concert. My students and I are very excited about it.

Ok, that’s all from me for now. Have a great weekend everyone! Love Allie X

Me.

 

On 2017 & 2018

It’s the start of 2018 and I find myself reflecting on the beginning of 2017 at Moora Chiropractic which kicked off with a tidal wave of shoulder injuries. There were all sorts of varieties of damaged shoulders belonging to all sorts of people. Lots of folk had been fishing over at the coast & had irritated the soft tissues around the shoulder by throwing in line after line, hoping to catch a big one to throw on the BBQ for dinner.

Then there were the shoulders of the people who’d been travelling – they were all tight from sitting on planes or in cars, and from sleeping in squashed positions on camping beds. I had to do lots of deep tissue work to get some of those shoulder muscles freed up again. That’s the trick with getting shoulders right – you have to free up all of the soft tissues that surround the shoulder joint & not just focus on the site of pain.

Ultrasound therapy is an excellent tool for reducing inflammation around the shoulder & for accelerating the body’s own healing process. Acupuncture is good too, especially if there are active trigger points in the muscles around the shoulder that need to be released in order to restore an efficient movement pattern. You can’t just treat at the site of pain – that might reduce symptoms in the short term but long term functional improvement takes a more comprehensive approach.

 

For most shoulder injuries, I tend to use a combination of soft tissue therapy, ultrasound, acupuncture and exercise prescription. I’ll also clear restrictions through the mid back and neck in order to maximise movement in the body and to reduce tension in the tissues.

Every so often, there is one stubborn shoulder that doesn’t respond to physical therapy, perhaps because there is too much tissue damage present for me to be able to help. I’ll often refer these people to a General Practitioner for a cortisone injection or for specialist consultation. Some people don’t want cortisone because they’ve had a bad reaction to it in the past or because they don’t have the time to be driving to Perth for injections. I tend to work with those people for a bit longer & often they will respond with more intensive work.

I’m suspecting a similar wave of shoulder injuries this January but maybe that won’t happen. Maybe shoulder injuries won’t be fashionable anymore and there will be an influx of plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis cases instead, like there was towards the end of 2017. There are always different trends and patterns in the community that I need to respond and adapt to. That’s one of most fun aspects of being a Moora Chiropractor. I never know what’s going to walk through the door!

This year I’m hoping to get to a few more live conferences for professional learning to help me to continue to serve our community in an efficient way. Last year I did most of my professional development online but this year I’d like to attend more in person learning workshops as I find them a more challenging and interactive way to learn.

I’m still away for a week but the wonderful Dr Charlene Lees is around and will be in Wongan Hills on Tuesday 9th January and in Moora on Thursday 11th January. I’ll hit the ground running on Monday 15th January in Moora and will see what everyone has in store for me then. In the meantime, I wish all of you & your loved ones a fantastic 2018. THANK YOU for having me as your Chiropractor – I absolutely LOVE working with you. See you back in Moora on the 15th ~ Allie X

Our New Website

I’ve been working with Erin & Danny on a new website & I think it’s finally ready to launch.

Erin, me & Danny.

The website has been created by Danny from Moora I.T. who is also providing the hosting service. Images of the clinic were taken by Erin McPherson. A big thank you to both Danny & Erin for your work in creating this site – you’re the best web design team ever!

Our aim was to create a website that provided more information about what we do here. We provide a lot more than regular Chiropractic Care we wanted to communicate that in a visually appealing way. I’m sure that the site will evolve as we move forward but right now I’m really happy with the style, the colours and the content.

Thanks again to Danny & Erin for your guidance & support ~ Allie X

Moora Chiropractic Clinic

 

 

On Valentines Day, Love & Frida

Valentines Day is a day to reflect on LOVE and on all the wonderful and unexpected ways that it comes into our lives. For example, in the form of a salt & pepper Schnauzer that was unexpectedly

Frida as a puppy

dropped on my doorstep by my sister two years ago. I fell in love with her instantly and we’ve pretty much been inseparable since.

Many of my patients have seen little Frida at the clinic. There is a rule that she stays in her bed while I’m working in the treatment room, but my patients love to conspire against me with her. I will often walk into the reception area to find Frida happily curled up in the lap of a farmer.

As far as Frida is concerned, there is no better place than Moora. She loves her morning walks around the paddock, especially if there’s been rain overnight and there are plenty of muddy puddles to splash through.

Usually, when I go cycling I have to leave Frida

Trying out our new K9 Sports Sack

at home but then I heard about K9 Sports Sacks which are designed to carry your furry friend on your back while you hike or cycle. So that’s what I’ve bought us for Valentines Day! At this stage we’ve only tried walking around with it but so far so good. We’ll tackle a bike ride together soon. Happy Valentines Day to everyone ~ Love Allie & Frida X