I’m beginning to feel like the Rev I. AM. Jolly with the end of year review!

January 2021, do you remember the snow? Despite another lockdown we managed to have lots of snow and sledging fun. I occasionally gave the kids a shot!

The clinics were still able to stay open to help those experiencing the odd sledging accident and online appointments were ensuring most clients were being seen.

The experience from the first lockdown meant many of you now understood how effective online sessions can be and how they can save you time and get you the same results as in clinic.

As the vaccination programme got underway I was impressed by the scale and efficiency of the operation as myself and the team were treated to our first dose.

We managed to join many of you together in a golfers or running injuries webinar session. These were really well received and gave us the opportunity to help lots of you reach your fitness goals and prepare for being released from lockdown. These were great sessions and full of advice to fill the time in lockdown and something I am keen to do again – hopefully this time without the restrictions in place. So please do let me know what topic you would like to see feature.

The easing of restrictions in Spring and the improvement to the weather meant there was lots of over zealous gym going, running and golfing that resulted in a few pulls and strains. Seeing these normal injuries again gave us all some hope that society was returning to something a little more familiar. It also gave me the opportunity to reiterate the importance of strategies to avoid injuries like strength and conditioning, nutrition and a tailored progressive training programme.

It felt great to see so many of you so motivated to get moving and enjoying life again. It was also great to see you all face to face and bring back sports massages to help you all destress and recover.

Over the year I have loved the replies I get from these emails and my most controversial or highest response rate had nothing do with sciatica, or back pain or how to manage plantar fasciitis. Nope, it had to do with football. Scotland qualifying for the Euros was brilliant to see but when I confessed to supporting the England team in the European Championship final, it really irked some of you – I hope I can be forgiven!

Come the summer the second vaccinations were being rolled out en masse and I was feeling optimistic that the brighter weather would bring a more normal way of life and there was a summer of sport to enjoy despite the prospect of another staycation.

Staycations and better weather brought the bikes out and the injuries to go with it. We kept as many clients as possible in the saddle and keeping up with the kids before the schools returned. I have loved my staycations and made me appreciate our beautiful country so much, but I do miss travelling and taking the kids to experience a beach without a woolly hat in August! With my eldest now starting school I also miss the cheaper holiday times.

The continued opening up of the world gave me the opportunity to make one of the biggest steps in the business’s history and open our own premises in the heart of Clarkston. You have all been so positive about our new home and we as a team have benefited so much from the move already. We continue to grow and improve and to know we have our own home to welcome you to gives us many reasons to be optimistic for the future.

It was a long time dream realised that has made my aspirations and goals for all our clients and both our clinics come into even sharper focus. I’m really proud of both our clinics and our team and their support this year has been invaluable. I really believe the private sector will play a key role in supporting our wonderful NHS in the future but unfortunately it’s sad to see the waiting lists continue to grow, especially for hip and knee replacements.

With the summer over, office working returning and our lifestyles changing again, back pain was, as always, top of the list of complaints. Back care awareness week gave us the opportunity to address the worry and frustration dealing with back pain can cause, and the support and encouragement we believe is needed to weather the recovery process.

The uncertainty of recovery, can at the best of times be extremely stressful, not to mention dealing with unprecedented changes experienced over the last few years. There were some sobering statistics relating to stress and anxiety that I know impact upon not only pain management but outlook, motivation and developing the right mindset for recovery. Mindset is key to any success in life and so is resilience.

These last 2 years have really tested that resilience but the uncertainty that this situation has brought to peoples lives and the division caused by media and social media is not healthy. The next pandemic could be a mental health pandemic. The best way for us all to help this is to listen to people with different opinions, learn to see the world from a different perspective and continue to be kind to everyone. The world doesn’t need any more hate, anger or division, it needs love, care and attention. COP26 highlighted that we are all just a small part of the world and that it needs everyone to pull together.

So with that, we wanted to thank you for all your support. Encourage you all to hang in there. After any Winter, comes Spring and hope. There may be a lot of negativity around but there is also positivity, you just need to look a bit harder to see it.

Keep up the exercise habits you have, restart if you need to, forgive yourself if you have eaten too much and connect with a friend you may have lost touch with. Control the controllables.

We are still grateful to those on the frontline and the neighbourhood support may not be the same as those early days but we can all still make a difference to someone. I am extremely grateful to you all for all your support and I’m grateful to our amazing team.

Keep it going, we are stronger than we think, more resilient than we believe and we are all capable of being even better in 2022.

Be a positive force for good in 2022, be grateful for what we have and what we have achieved and drown out the negativity and complaining on social media. In fact delete social media, stop watching the news and get back to using the time for the things you enjoy.

I know in 5 years time I’ll never remember what I watched on the news, but I will remember that time Arran and Ava put on a Christmas show in the living room!

Wishing you and your families a happy, healthy and active 2022. We will be here whenever you need us.

 

We help active people aged 40+ who live in/near Clarkston or Largs get back to enjoying full and active lives without worrying about pain relief, making your injury worse or needing surgery. If you or someone you know needs some help to begin to recover from an injury or pain you can get in touch by calling 0333 301 0205, email treatment@optimalphysio.co.uk or book a session online here – https://optimalphysio.selectandbook.com