The Nutri Centre

"This week’s talk was by Paul Boxcer.  Paul Boxcer is a Physiotherapist who qualified at the University of East London in South Africa and has worked in both in England and New Zealand, where he worked with the Canterbury University Rugby Team.

Paul’s personalised treatment approach, ‘Low Back Pain & Sciatica - A Personalised Treatment Approach’, started off as an ebook and then went on to be published.  Paul believes one can treat and resolve pain yourself.  80% of the population will suffer from non specific lower back pain.  The cause of this may be due to incorrect posture and movement patterns or a muscle imbalance.  Paul believes we can change this by stretching and strengthening muscles and Paul’s book explains how and provides clear illustrated exercises. 

Paul then went on to discuss that the body has an innate desire to heal itself from injury.  There are 3 main components including 7 steps, learning zones and practical advice.

The 7 steps include red flags where a GP would need to be involved, how to stop acutely inflamed pain, how to optimise your body’s healing potential, how to diagnose pain, getting moving again, stretching exercises and moving forward with core stability exercises.  The leaning zone is where Paul explains the functional anatomy of your lower back and the sciatic nerve, followed by some practical advice.  This includes working out where the pain is, assessing when the pain is present and possible reasons for it.  This may include having a poor posture and an incorrect sleeping position. Paul provides useful solutions to help with these issues for example he recommends propping up a couple of pillows under your right knee if sleeping on your left side.  He also believes people need to keep moving, stretching and remove inappropriate stresses from their lives.  Most importantly to listen to your body and above all do not replace your bed, rather adjust your sleeping position.

By Sue Mabbett – Nutri Centre Nutritionist"