Dear Tokyo clients of Niseko Chiropractic.
Just a courtesy massage to let you know that Brent will be returning to Tokyo from the 3rd of Feburay 2023.
Apologies for the delay in getting back down south again but it’s so busy up Niseko after the borders have been closed for 2 years.
To make a Chiropractic booking for an English speaking Chiropractor in Tokyo at our Ebisu lococation please go to
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?business_id=884386216470906756
Just a quick ” Heads up ” that I have increased the availability for the next Okinawa visit.
After loosing a good chunk of punters from the last PCS season there seems to be a lot of demand again which I really greatful for so much to loyal band of Oki peeps for keeping our famliy fed over challenging times.
In more crazy news it seems like the demand for Niseko tourism has suprised even the optimistic of our Niseko business community and after discussin with the wise wife we have have come up with something resembling a plan to account for the deamand for Chiropractic services in Niseko.
At this stage we will extend the next Okinawa visit from the 23rd Nov right through the 4th of Dec and that will be my last Okinawa rotation before I am island bound once again Island bound in mid to late Jan 2023.
After 2 years ” on ice ” I do need to put some effort into getting the Niesko business back on track and it’s also been challenging being on the road so much away from family. It will be nice to be home for a few weeks straight again.
I still have some Tokyo Availability this week up until this Saturday the 5th November for anybody does want to touch base in Tokyo this trip.
I have really enjoyed my time in the big city and the party life has not got the better of me anymore and I do forsee Tokyo as being an important part of our future providing English speaking Chiropractic in Japan.
If you have ever had a bad migraine headache you would know understand just how horrible they are and would give anything just for them to stop.
The great thing about reasearch is sometimes it can yeild resuls that we may not think to be to be a first glance and this certainly the case with a recent paper that adresses the question
A recently published paper in the ” Journal of headache and pain ” reviewed 1195 migraine cases reported in 21 papers on the subject of Migraine headache and concluded that strenght and weight training actually results in the best improvement for migraine sufferes.
Not that the authors are arguing you head down to squat university when you room is spinnng and your about to stab your eye with spoon but if are a migraine sufferer you may be well adviced to start a weight training program weekly as a preventative measure.
And it’s more interesting too. Even though exercise was effective it was the high intenstity stuff that had a better result than the low intenstity workouts.
Of course both these are not mutally exclusive and you may be better planning on weight training a few times a week and also incorporting some high intensity cardio workouts as well.
The paper looked a few possibilities.
Migraines are incredibly complex but there is a leading thoery that there some dysnfuction of the way the trigiminal nerve and nerves from the muscles interact at perhaps weights helps normalise this.
There is also a close association between migraine headaches and neck pain so maybe just adressing the neck pain through better muslce tone reduces the chances of frequency of migraine.
In regards to the high intensity exercise, it’s much more likely to cause chemical changes in the brain as endorphines and other chemicals are released so perhaps thay have a mediating role.
At any rate I doubt the ” why ” question will be understood with certianty any time soon but if you are migraine sufferer you really should try at least a weights program and see if makes any differences on the frequeuncy and intensity of your migraine.
Woldeamanuel, Y.W., Oliveira, A.B.D. What is the efficacy of aerobic exercise versus strength training in the treatment of migraine? A systematic review and network meta-analysis of clinical trials. J Headache Pain 23, 134 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-022-01503-y
Had a great time in Okinawa again but heading back to the big smoke from this Friday the 28th of October.
If anybody is seeking an English speaking western trained Chiropractor in Tokyo we will be working from our new Ebisu clinic from this Friday the 28th of October.
For online bookings please go to
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?business_id=884386216470906756
There are 2 questions that Chiropractors get asked a lot
The first question is lot easier to answer than the 2nd one.
In a health joint the joint is essentially a sealed cavity occupied by a small amount of synovial fluid that acts as a lubricant and also carries nutrients around the joint. This is why it’s important to stay hydrated but that’s a topic for another blog !
When you rapidly expand a joint, as happens in spinal manipulation and ” cracking ” your knuckles the space suddenly gets much larger. Becuase the pressure in the joint and fluid drops very rapidly gas comes out of the liquid which causes a ” popping sound ” . Think of it a bit like the bubbles in a can of Coke. when you pop the lid you decreased the pressure and gas comes out.
What the noise certainly isnt is bones cracking. If that was to occur we are going to have to call our malpractice insurer but in 20 years of doing this and over 20,000 treatements delivered I am happy to say this has never happened !
Short answer is probably not.
In a meta- review published Octber 2022 Morman and Newell reviewed 5 quality studies on the subject and concluded that the presence or absense of a ” pop ” did not have any measurable outcome on patients pain levels after a series of treatments.
Most chiropractors ( and patients ) including myself would propably prefer to hear it as it let’s us know that we have provided the joint with the right amount and direction of thrust to create a neurological response that is only seen in high velocity low amplitude thrusts otherwise known.
What is more important is that the joint ” free’s up ” a bit after a therapuetic intervention and this can be achieved by many different methods. So there is good news too if you are one of those people reading this that prefers the lower force techniques. It’s quite possible that techniques not incorporating the “pop ” are still just as effective.
This is probably yet another example of why Chiropractic needs to attapt and change in light of new evidence. There are plenty of the ” old guard ” that will go noise hunting to make that joint sing rather than bother to retest the joint and see if there has been a change in tone and range of motion.
And once again that old cavete. There are probably times when it probably really does matter too we just don’t have any good way of indentify what those clinical presentations may look like and how to correctly identify them.
The good news is it’s your body and that puts you in a unique to postition to help practioners understand what works best for you. If you are looking for an English speakin Chiropractor in Tokyo we hope you may consider our services.
To make an appointment please go to
Thanks so much to all that came to support our opening week at our new location in Ebisu Tokyo.
It was really nice to get a warm reception from Tokyo’s Expat community and we were heartened by the responce and level of interest.
If you have not yet booked and wished to consult a Chiropractor in Tokyo with native level English ( Well Australian anyway ) I hope you can consider giving us a try.
We are currently rotating between Niseko, Okinawa and Tokyo so apologies that we are not able to offer this as a month round service but with your support we will get there !
Big thanks to the staff at Physic Chiropractic that also assisted in a smooth transition and warm welcome.
To book online for an English speaking Chiropractor in Tokyo please to go
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?business_id=884386216470906756
Thanks to all our clients for helping to support the transition to our new premisies in Ebisu.
Just a note to say that we are now booked out this trip but will be returning to Tokyo from Friday the 28th of October. If you are seeking a Western trained Chiropractor that also holds Japanese registration and insurance I hope you may be willing to give our clinic a try.
Please not the reason that we are not available all of the month is that we are currently also consutling in Niseko Hokkaido and Okinawa whilst also trying to spend some quality time with family.
As the business grows ( which is happening sooner than expected ! ) we do hope to be able to source a quality overseas trained Chiropractor that can assist us in our Tokyo operation and we do thank you for understanding this as Tokyo international Chiropractic gets past it’s growing pains.
If you would like to shedule an appoinment in English for a Chiropractic visit in Tokyo please go
http://www.tokyointernationalchiropractic.com/appointments
From the 3rd of October Tokyo International Chiropractic will be providing an English speaking Chiropractic service in the heart of Tokyo in the popular city of Ebisu.
The easiest way to get to us is by train. We are 300 metres from Ebisu station it’s an easy and convenient walk which is much closer than our Shimashi location.
Once you arrive at Ebisu station along the Yamanote line ( next station from Shibuya ) take the East exit from the train station and take the walking map shown above. If you find yourself going past ” tequila and taco’s ” you are probably going the right way !
Once you arrive at the front of the ” Hero ” building take the signs indicating ” Physic Chiropractic ” and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. Please leave your shoes at the door.
It’s also an easy 10 minute walk down from Shibuya station as well.
If you would like it with your own phone here is google maps link
https://goo.gl/maps/RF4Shw8Z2yFXyKjy8
Physical Address
Level 3 1 Chome-15-6 Hiroo, Shibuya City, Tokyo 150-0012
Tokyo international chiropractic is very excited to announce the opening of our new Ebisu clinic providing and English speaking Chiropractor in Tokyo. We have teamed with Sato-san from Phsyic Chiropractic to offer an english speaking chiropractic service for ex-pats and visitors of Tokyo Japan.
If you would like to give us a try please visit our new Ebisu clinic from the 3rd of October. It’s conveniently located 350 metres from Ebisu station and is also and easy walk from Shibuya station.
Please note that we will no longer be consulting from our Shimbashi space.
A google maps link of our new space is provide below.
Since working in Okinawa for the last 2 years we have had the privilege of assisting many women through the pregnancy process providing english speaking low force chiropractic care to primarily the military population down there. There is a running joke down there most of the SOFA members in okinawa are here for their ” 2 baby tour ” . Well at least I used to think it was a joke.
Lower back pain is very common in pregnancy and usually peaks in the middle of the 3rd trimester with as many as 75% of women reporting pain in either the lower back area or lower down over the joints of the sacrum ( 1). Most women reported on average that this pain was rated as around 4/10 on a visual analog scale so it’s fair to say it hurts, and can make life pretty uncomfortable.
Post partum pain is also very common with 24.7% of women reporting lower back pain that persists after birth (4) . In fact we would argue Post partum issues are not given their fair share of attention or research.
Surprising it’s not as well understood as you think.
One of the pain factors is the obvious one of the weight gain of a little human now growing inside your belly but its not just the weight but the way your posture changes that also causes more stress on your joints and ligaments.
There are also some hormonal changes at play. As your body prepares for pregnancy a hormone called relaxin readies the body for birth and soften the ligaments around our joints, particularly the sacro-illiac joints on either side of the sacrum.
Interesting the relaxin levels actually spike around the 1st trimester but it takes a few weeks for the effects to be fully translated in the body. The graph below is handy reference for the various hormones at play.
Then there are are also some genetic and individual variations. If you already have a history of low back pain you are in more of a high risk group.
One of the best predictors of pain in pregnancy seems to be one when you carrying over 15Kg of extra weight over your normal healthy weight (2) so if you are planning on getting pregnant or in the very early stages and are overweight it may be well worth your time to consult with a health profession on coming up with plan to address this.
Carrying a kilo’s was also associated with a much higher risk of developing pain that lasts months to years after birth. Interestingly researchers found that just a few extra kilos ( under 10 ) was so significantly related to low back pain so you don’t have to go crazy just try to set the goal that you are not carrying more than the 10-15gk of extra weight.
There is also some good evidence that exercise therapy can reduce pain over pregnancy’s. The jury is still out on what seems to be most effective. Is it yoga or piliates or core work ? Crossfit ? Even from a good review of the literature published this year we still don’t know ( 4).
There was some weak findings that work on ” core ” was better than general exercises but What does seem to be most important is that you do something and that it’s safe. Try and find a qualified fitness instructor that really takes the time to understand your needs and most importantly pick something that you enjoy.
Lastly I we should talk about the role of manual therapy. Many women report great results with Chiropractic or physio interventions right up to the birth. Whilst most of a chiropractors job is to get stuck joints moving again often in pregnancy we are faced with joints that may be too mobile.
As such the approach tends to change a bit from traditional chiropractic techniques to more lower force joint mobs and muscle work to increase comfort levels although I do find chiro adjustments can still be very helpful in the mid thoracic spine throughout pregnancy.
I guess I also have to bring the often misunderstand Webster technique. Webster is a chiropractic technique that has a system of analysis that involves leg length and SI joint checks and then some specific release work around the pelvic ligaments and the round ligament of the uterus. The Webster technique is not an ‘external cephalic version ” were the pressure is applied over the uterus itself.
Yes there is some anecdotal evidence from Chiropractors, proponents selling or teaching the webster technique ( major conflict of interest ! ) and mothers themselves that a potential breech birth was corrected soon after a webster procedure sadly this has not yet been verified in a well designed randomized controlled trial and it makes me slightly angry and disappointed that this study has yet to be done all these years later. It’s impossible to say from a research perspective how many of these births may have resolved by themselves and how many were directly helped from the Webster protocol.
Most of the benefit of Webster in my humble opinion is simply increased comfort around the pelvis and less pain levels.
So I think as Chiropractor webster is one tool of many for the evaluation of a pregnant patient we must be guarded in what we can state with certainty as to what it can and can’t achieve and I truly hope that in a few short years we have better published data in the research literature.
This question was addressed in a comprehensive research review in 2016 of multiple studies and they concluded that manual therapy and manipulation was safe for the pregnant population. To date not single case of adverse events to relating to the pregnancy itself has been published (4).
The only rare complications of manual therapy where in line with the sort of risks that would be still be present in non pregnant population.
That being said our experience is that once the hypermobility of late stage pregnancy is reached there are simply better lower force techniques to reach for to support pregnant women such as side lying ligament release work and activator.
If you would like to schedule an appointment with an English speaking Chiropractor in Tokyo to assist with your pregnancy you can book online at
www.tokyointernationalchiropractic.com/appointments
If we can assist you or an answer any questions please give Tokyo international Chiropractic a call or email.
Office phone
+818081527136