Fitness. It can be a savage little beast… yet oh so rewarding.
Dr Chris Rickson knows this. As a dancer and performer (you may have seen Chris in the New Year shows at Connections), Dr Rickson keeps his body in peak physical condition. Of course, it was lucky he had begun studying for his Osteopathy degree when he shattered his foot during training – the process of studying how the body could heal itself was an immense insight into his own experience.
Now, Dr Rickson is a registered osteopath whose unique insight into dance and physical fitness informs his practice of osteopathy.
‘It’s neuro-muscular-skeletal treatment, or manual medicine,’ Dr Rickson explained.
‘It’s a cross between a physio, chiro and GP I suppose. I look at the whole body as a unit, looking at the structure of it and how it functions and how it all interacts. So you look at the homeostatis of the body, the biomechanics, the ergonomics and their core stability.
‘It does work on the belief that the body has innate healing capacities and is able to heal itself.’
The focus moves toward the skeleton, joints, muscles, nerves, circulation, connective tissue and internal organs function and how all these parts interact. He acknowledges that society as it is, unfortunately, doesn’t work like this – our world isn’t as in sync as we’d like it to be.
‘I think these days, with technology as it is, I think everybody is on their electronic devices and they have a tendency to become a little lazy these days. As such when they start exercise and then they feel as though they have hurt something, which might not be the case at all. It could just be lactic acid and the like.’
The solution? Awareness.
Just as people learn about fashion if they like fashion, or read about cars if they like cars, people need a growing awareness of their own bodies and what they are capable of achieving. As such, we should treat our body like any other piece of specialised equipment in our lives and tune it up whenever possible.
‘Everybody needs tune-ups, normally about three or four times every year,’ Dr Rickson added.
‘I don’t like seeing people more than six times unless they are a chronic patient and if I can’t fix them in four to six times then there is a problem. But this is a good way to balance your body, to get everything in working order, get it all balanced and get a little education on how your body works and the best way for it to be maintained and everything.’
Dr Chris Rickson has offices in Vic Park, Mount Lawley and North Perth.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
