Healthcare On The Costa Del Sol

This week is the last episode of Season 1 of Healthcare on the Costa del Sol! Whew, it's been a huge learning curve over the last 6 months and we have had such fabulous feedback from our lovely listeners. We are taking the rest of the summer off to regroup, rethink and will be back in the Autumn with new ideas, new voices and some interesting new ideas. Now back to this episode where we are joined by Peter Ormrod our resident audiologist (https://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/audiology/) talking about hearing changes and how these can have an impact on our physical and mental health.  When we can't hear well we miss out on so much feedback from the world around us which makes it hard for our body to know what's happening (walking on gravel sounds different to walking on grass for instance) and also means we miss out on so much of the social interaction that goes on around us. When we can't hear well the telephone becomes useless, spoken instructions from doctors about medications or other critical information ge

This week we are talking to Jane Machin, English speaking Optician from Optica Machin (http://opticamachin.com/) about eye health.  Learning about how and who to talk to when you have an eye problem here in Spain (always critical info!).  But we also look at how the eyes impact the rest of your body - we all know about the connection between your eyes and headaches, but did you know your eyes can also be affecting your neck pain and how well you walk?  We also cover what we call "red flags", those seemingly inconsequential symptoms that can indicate more worrying pathology or conditions.  Great stuff!

This week we are talking to Isabel Bracero from the Quiron Salud hospital in Marbella. (https://www.quironsalud.es/marbella/es/international-patient)   Isabel will be talking us through the range of services available within the private healthcare sector here on the Costa del Sol.  We know from personal experience with so many of our patients that they choose private healthcare for a number of reasons, wanting faster appointments, English speaking medical staff or inability to access public healthcare.  So we thought we'd find out whether private hospitals match up to those requirements, whether the services available are on a par with the public sector and how to access them.  Spoiler alert - at the Quiron the answer is usually yes! 

This week we are talking to Julie Colan, founder and creator of Secret Whispers (https://www.secretwhispers.co.uk/) and pelvic floor crusader (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1871247122951467/) . As many of you know I've worked with local midwife Anne Halpenny of Irish Midwives (http://www.irishmidwife.com/eng/welcome.html) for a very long time, supporting her antenatal classes by educating mums to be about the importance of their pelvic floors.  So it was brilliant to get a chance to chat to Julie about the importance of the pelvic floor and her ongoing education program teaching women that leaking is NOT a "normal" thing and that you can do something about it.  So in this episode we're going to talk about those infamous Kegel exercises that you all do every day (ha!), what you should be doing and also what the pelvic floor exercises mean for chaps as well.  Listen up ladies, you'll thank us later! 

This week we are talking to child psychologist Dr Alina Boukri (https://www.dr-alina.com/) . Bringing children up is confusing and complex. Add in a new country and different languages at home and at school it can all become even more complex. Today Alina focuses more on younger children and coping with language difficulties. Interestingly in multi lingual children they may only feel comfortable discussing certain topics in one language but not another (Alina speaks 5 languages so this is a little easier for her then it would be for me!). We cover her top tips for coping with three year old tantrums! How to listen when they haven't learnt to speak yet and how to teach them respect and positive body image. But we also deal with the signs that your child needs more help - how to tell the difference between "a bad day" and something more serious. We are hoping to make Dr Alina a regular guest so if you have questions you would like us to address in future episodes please send us a WhatsApp (https://wa.me/3469970

This week we are talking to Sonia Fendley from STM Nummos Life who is our health insurance expert.  Health insurance is tricky topic, especially with the recent changes to the requirements for residencia.  Today Sonia talks us through what’s required for residencia but also what else you might find useful if you already have health insurance. Let’s face it, no one reads all those pages of fine print that come with the policy but tune in for Sonia’s top tips on what is included and how to make the best use of what you are already paying for.  If you have more questions then as always get in touch but you can also attend the seminar that Sonia is holding at the clinic on Thursday 16 May! Check out the website for more details - https://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/patient-support-seminars/

Look at that - I wrote a book! Well not a novel type book, but an amalgamation of 30 years experience and the latest research on how to help YOU manage your back pain. I was inspired to put all the information in one place after reading the summary of the HUGE back pain care study in the American Medical Journal, The Lancet last year. The summary, in essence, was that most healthcare practitioners were giving out of date and sometimes down right bad advice to their patients for back pain. And I've had all kinds of utter rubbish repeated to me by confused patients in pain. So I sat down and put together a summary of the right advice, based on the latest research. And then made it available to everyone I could via the wonders of the internet!  And now you can listen to that advice as well!  Or download it here - https://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/free-guide-7-myths-about-back-pain-your-doctor-got-wrong/

Today I talk to Anne Halpenny from First Aid Spain. Anne is a nurse and a midwife who I have worked with for well over a decade. But today we chat after our First Aid course at the clinic. Would you know what to do?  Anne starts her course asking about situations when you might have wanted or used your previous knowledge of First Aid. And asks if we would know what to do in these situations. We go from our (fortunately limited!) real life experiences to simulations and techniques. We also talk about what to do in an emergency and Anne talks us through what to do, with or without First Aid training, if you do end up on the scene in an emergency. Important points - Emergency number in EUROPE - 112 And make sure you listen to the end for Anne's top tip in an emergency - it's not what you think! Want to brush up your first aid on the coast? There are 3 places left on our First Aid course on 9 April 2019. reception@theBodyworksClinic.com (mailto:reception@theBodyworksClinic.com) to book a place or get details of f

Our 3rd episode! And this time we are talking to the ever lovely Rebecca Richards, our British trained Acupuncturist (https://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/acupuncture-2/) here at the clinic. We went into details about how to check that your acupuncturist is qualified to treat you (yeah, I know, I’m always on about the qualifications but it is really, REALLY important! I only want to interview people I trust to give you accurate information!). So here are the links that Rebecca mentions – British Acupuncture Council (https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/) and the European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (https://www.etcma.org/) . We also discuss what acupuncture can be used to treat and what you might feel during and after treatment. Explaining the understanding we have of why acupuncture can help with certain conditions as the science has come a loooooooong way from some of the vague mutterings about “energy” or “chi” that used to be associated with acupuncture. Also discussed are how to manage long term chr

More and more research tells us that staying active and social combats a laundry list of illnesses and conditions. (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101115074040.htm) We talk to Brian Gregory, organiser of Walking Football Spain (https://walkingfootballspain.com/) about how his players have created an active, vibrant community on the coast for locals and expats helping to keep them healthy and active. And with increasing research discussing how loneliness (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/10/22/656594050/a-new-prescription-for-depression-join-a-team-and-get-sweaty) can also have a huge impact on health, we also talk about the friendships and community that happen in the bar after each game  With players in their 90's Brian explains how the young whippersnappers of only 50 are struggling to keep to the "only walking" rule dispelling some of the nonsense about what you can and can't do as we get older (https://www.rd.com/health/fitness/myths-shouldnt-believe-fitness-after-50). For tho

Estelle Mitchell from the Bodyworks Clinic talking with Emmie about how to choose a health professional - for any health problem you might have, here in Spain! Based on her article for the Euro Weekly News called 5 Tips for Choosing a Health Professional (https://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/5-tips-for-choosing-a-health-professional/) and also based on Dr Jyri Lepisto's article "10 Tips for choosing a surgeon (https://www.thebodyworksclinic.com/top-10-tips-choosing-surgeon/) ", Estelle takes a broad look at how to find the right health professional for you in the South of Spain. Important links - Check that your Physiotherapist / Osteopath / Chiropractor is registered with the Colegio de Fisioterapeutas de Andalucia - https://www.colfisio.org/ ALL Doctors must also be registered with the Colegio de Medicos - https://www.cgcom.es/colegios Podiatrists also have a colegio - https://www.colegiopodologosandalucia.org/inicio/index.php Side note - Lawyers and architects also have Colegios. This is basically a professi

Introduction to Healthcare on the Costa del Sol