London Marathon 2010

Well it is the first time for Virgin to host the London Marathon and it was my first time to treat Marathon runners post event.

Having met the others at the tube station and then taken a short walk to the Imperial War Museum (http://www.iwm.org.uk/) where the Spinal Injuries Association - SIA (http://www.spinal.co.uk/) were hosting their post Marathon Runners event ... we set up the room ready to treat the runners. We had a bit of a wait till the runners came in so after a talk of what was expected from us, a chat from a young guy with a C6 spinal cord injury and some lunch we were ready for action.

Excitement rose as the first two of the 69 runners entered the new treatment room. Seeing as there were about 20 BSO students there is was probably a bit over whelming for the runners having us all gather round them whilst Danny and Robin set about showing us how it was done .... not longer had the tutors started was it the student turn.

I started treating Andy a 42 year old guy who had just completed his first marathon in 4 hours and 4 minutes .. he was over the moon (as I would be to have merely completed a marathon let along in 4 hours). It wasn't long after my treatment had started that the muscles in his legs went into spasm.

Never have a felt a muscle spasm with such violent aggression. Andy was in agony !!! Having tried to stretch out the offending muscles Andy had to hop off the table and take matters into his own hands ... or rather his own legs by stretching out the muscles himself.

Robin joined us to show us some simple techniques to help Andy out .... but the key was to reduce the amount of pressure that I was applying to his muscles in order to not allow his muscles to react in such a manner. It was however quite nerve racking treating these spasms as during his run they never once went into spasm ... again with some reassurance from the tutors I was feeling confident to carry on.

The good thing about the day is that wasn't merely offering the runners a massage we were allowed to treat them with true osteopathic style and flair ... which included manipulation. Danny obtained consent from Andy and proceeded to show us how to perform a 'Sphinx' technique to the TL and how to do a prone CT Danny style leaving some very easy Dorsal Springing with multiple cavitation's to me.

Soon more runners had entered the treatment room hence it was time to wish Andy well with some post event advice on stretches and heat/ice therapy. Andy thanked us for our work and reassured me that he definitely benefited from his treatment.

Next on my plinth was Gemma a 45 year old hairdresser who had just completed her first Marathon in 5 hours 15 mins. Gemma was complaining of tightness in here lateral thighs. After and assessment and a consultation with Robin it was agreed to mobilise her TL and to work into her ITB. Gemma had never had Osteopathic Treatment before and neither had her husband seen osteopathic treatment hence he filmed me treating Gemma for prosperity lol

Having got Gemma into a wind-up position for a TL side lying rotation thrust on a very very high table and with no pillows I prayed that I would manage to mobilise her TL .... bilateral success was achieved and with some Dorsal Springing I realise how the muscles and the joints in the body react to such a onslaught of trauma such as a Marathon and how easily they gave themselves up to Osteopathy.

More and more runners had now started flowing through the doors hence the treatments needed to be fast and effective for all. A range of aches and pain were treated with hip flexors appearing to be the number one offender ... hence lots of side lying psoas MET's were performed by all. A few very ugly looking and bleeding feet were seen and a couple of twisted ankles and swollen knees were treated.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day and it really had spurred an interest to compete in a Marathon .... but more importantly has encouraged me to think about a career in Sports Osteopathy ....