Claudia Dove Osteopathy

Stress gets a bad rep. Like yea too much stress is not desirable. But we do need it. ➡️

Did you know cortisol has anti-inflammatory effects? It’s a normal response to stress, but prolonged stress alters how your body responds to cortisol and well, it starts to become cortisol-resistent. And that’s not good 👀 ➡️

This is where it gets hard. Balance.

You can have a good day, feel great and do loads, only to feel naff afterwards. Or you can become so cautious about symptoms that you barely challenge yourself at all. Neither extreme is particularly useful.

Everyday is not the same either. Your capacity can change depending on sleep, stress, previous activity, illness, nutrition and everything else life throws at you. ➡️

We often talk about stress as though it’s something we should try to eliminate. But challenge is a normal part of being human, and a normal part of rehabilitation.

If we label every increase in symptoms, discomfort or fatigue as a sign that something is wrong, it can be easy to become fearful of movement and start avoiding things that matter to us.

That doesn’t mean symptoms should be ignored or that you should push through everything (not a big fan of “no pain no gain”). Or trying to make your life completely stress-free. Like that’s possible!! It’s to help your body become more capable of handling the demands that matter to you.

Good stress and bad stress is WHOLE nother topic 👀 but anyways…➡️

Recovery isn’t sitting on the sofa doom scrolling 👀 obviously there’s a lot more to it (post in coming here I think 🙈).

Sleep, nutrition, socialising, movement, manual therapy, wellbeing practices ect, are things included. ➡️

There’s a lot that goes into rehab that I’ve obviously not managed to fit into 6 slides 🙃

Pain, training history, sleep, stress, recovery, confidence, goals, previous experiences and what your body is currently capable of all matter.

There isn’t one perfect amount of exercise, one perfect recovery strategy or one formula that works for everyone. Sometimes the answer is to load more. Sometimes it’s to modify. Sometimes you need to work on confidence and movement. Sometimes a bit of hands-on treatment helps you

I think each of these deserve a post separately. 😅

These are just somethings I talk about on a weekly, maybe daily basis in and out of clinic!

Any questions of these or have any of your own?

You were probably told not to go cross-eyed as a kid 👀

But eye movements are closely linked to the nervous system, and that includes how we move.

In clinic, I often use convergence (eyes coming together) to support spinal flexion, and divergence to help with extension, especially when someone feels stiff, guarded, or ‘stuck’. That’s in your back or your neck particularly!

It’s not a standalone fix, and it’s not something everyone needs, but it can be a useful piece of the puzzle alongside hands-on treatment and movement.

Small inputs can sometimes create meaningful changes.

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📍 Truro & Falmouth