12 minute read
VARICOSE VEINS
Orthopaedic services
Nuffield Health Cardiff and Vale Hospitals
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We offer a wide range of orthopaedic treatments and provide minimum waiting times with our rapid access clinics.
Treatments include:
Hip and knee
Hand/wrist, elbow and shoulder
Back and spinal
Foot and ankle.
For more information call 02920 836714 or visit nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/cardiff-and-vale
Making Healing a Priority
Meet the Founders of Calon Lân Healing, helping people to thrive one session at a time.
Richard and Lorna are hosts of the South Wales Wellness Show and are co-owners of Calon Lân Healing, a holistic therapy practice based in South Wales and Northern Ireland. Here they share their amazing journey from corporate work to inner work. If you’d told us 10 years ago we would be running a wellness show and a thriving healing practice, and collaborating with inspirational speakers, teachers and celebrities from around the world we would have thought you were mad! Our own journey of transformation began when we fell in love while working as senior consultants on a high profile IT project in South Wales. On the face of it, after 20 years in the corporate world, we were both at the peak of our careers and had material success, but were finding no real fulfilment in our day jobs.
We began to challenge each other and our ways of thinking, and started to explore mindfulness and meditation, alongside reading all the self-help books we could get our hands on. Around this time, we were looking around for ways to inject more meaning in our lives and started volunteering with a community project for the homeless. This challenged us in ways that we didn’t expect and ignited a spark in us for being of service to others. A chance advert for a diploma in Hypnotherapy and Counselling led us both into a journey of learning and self-discovery so that we could in turn help those around us. Since then, we have explored, studied and experienced a wide variety of healing techniques and practices that we now incorporate into the services that we provide for people all around the world.
We created our healing practice in 2020 called Calon Lân Healing and have had the privilege of helping clients on their own journeys of self- discovery and healing, through the use of Coaching, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Shamanic practices, Quantum Healing and Past Life Regression. We recognise that the healing journey is a continual process of increasing our awareness and uncovering the aspects of ourselves that we have ignored over the years. We encourage our clients to explore their emotions, challenge their negative beliefs and do the work needed to be able to love themselves fully. We are all on this journey together and we want to create safe spaces where people can explore new ideas and be open to change. At the start of 2022, we were offered the opportunity to become the new hosts of the South Wales Wellness Show and we knew immediately that this was the right thing for us to do. We could see first hand the toll that the lockdowns had taken, both on those trying to maintain small businesses, and more generally on people’s mental health and their ability to connect and engage meaningfully with each other. To us, the wellness show is a unique opportunity to support local businesses and raise people’s awareness of the vast range of holistic therapies, products and services available to support their health and wellbeing. We have been fortunate enough to meet a large number of inspirational healing practitioners and teachers over the past few years and are excited for them to share their insights and knowledge with the people of South Wales. South Wales Wellness Show will be taking place on Sunday 16th October in The Great Hall in Cardiff Student’s Union. Our vision for the show is to help people reclaim their power, reconnect with themselves and each other, and take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. Tickets are on sale at www.thewellnessshow.co.uk and are priced at £20. All workshops, talks and breakout sessions are included in the ticket price.
www.calonlanhealing.co.uk info@calonlanhealing.co.uk www.facebook.com/calonlanhealing
Taking Control of Varicose Veins
Huw Davies and Lewis Meecham have recently strengthened the team at Nuffield Health Cardiff and Vale Hospitals with their combined skills. We get familiar on all things 'Varicose Veins' to help you make the right decision for treatment.
Varicose vein and leg ulcer treatment is available privately at Nuffield Health Cardiff and Vale Hospitals. Recently two consultant vascular surgeons have joined the team, working there in addition to their NHS practice, where they have already gained in-depth experience and research knowledge. Venous disease specialists Huw Davies and Lewis Meecham have many research papers and a wealth of NHS and private patients who have benefitted from their skills and expertise. A range of walk in/walk out treatments, depending on the diagnosis, are available.
Huw Davies says, “Patients should definitely seek early attention for their veins if they are concerned - it's well documented that varicose veins affects people's quality of life and that interventions improve their symptoms. Whilst the majority will only suffer mild symptoms and cosmetic issues, some patients with varicose veins will go on to develop skin damage from their veins - this includes venous eczema or haemosiderin deposition, which is a brown staining of the skin.
L- R Consultant Vascular Surgeons Mr Huw Davies and Mr Lewis Meecham have recently strengthened the team at Nuffield Health Cardiff and Vale Hospitals
Also possible is lipodermato-sclerosis, which means an inflammation and hardening of the fat underneath the skin, even in the thinnest legs, resulting in hardening and reddening of the skin, pain and a tapering of the legs above the ankles and of course most worryingly - leg ulcers.”
Treatments are minimally invasive, can be performed under local anaesthetic, have a rapid recovery and speedy return to work and activities. Both of the new Nuffield Health consultants in Cardiff use radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which is similar to laser treatment but uses electricity to generate heat to surgically remove the vein rather than light and ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy as well as the surgical treatment option of phlebectomy.
Huw Davies explains, “I've developed a particular interest in ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy - this minimally invasive technique is quick and effective in the right hands and is an excellent option to both RFA and phlebectomy. Having an intimate knowledge of these techniques allows me to combine them as appropriate and develop a bespoke treatment package for each individual patient. We were both trained in foam sclerotherapy in a UK unit which has published its results extensively and achieves excellent short, mid and long term results from this treatment.”
“Patients are most often concerned by either the symptoms or the cosmetic appearance of their veins. Some do not even have visible veins showing but suffer from significant symptoms such as pain, aching, heaviness and leg swelling on a daily basis, which reduces both their physical well-being and affects their mental health. The only way to identify these people is through taking a careful history and examination by a vein expert and ultrasound imaging. Even if the damage is mainly cosmetic, it is important to have a venous ultrasound to rule out underlying deep varicose veins that require treatment first, as otherwise they will have a rapid recurrence of their veins. These tools enable us to make the optimal recommendation for treatment”.
Vein specialists Huw Davies and Lewis Meecham are working on further improving services for patients in South East Wales. Their international research in this area is vital. The NICE guidelines on superficial venous disease were a major step forward and it also recognised that compression stockings are not an adequate long term management option. Huw Davies ran an award winning and the largest multi-centre study across Europe on the safety of ultrasound guided scleropathy involving 8056 patients. Lewis Meecham is also a fluent Welsh speaker.
To make an appointment to have your visible veins or your symptoms checked, please ring Nuffield Health Cardiff and Vale Hospitals on 02920 836714 or go to: www.nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/ cardiff-and-vale
My name is Lauren, I am the founder of EMPOWERED WOMEN FITNESS. I am a mother, a qualified personal trainer, and fitness instructor. My passion is fitness and my mission is to help as many women as I possibly can to gain strength and confidence through the power of fitness. www.empoweredwomenfitness.co.uk
Finding
STRENGTH
A look back at how fitness empowered our columnist Lauren Green to find strength within and go on to help many other women on their journey.
Make a plan, write it down and work on it every single day - looking back in order to look forwards My baby was only 6 months old, I was at the lowest point in my life, I had no self confidence, I felt like giving up. Then I found fitness. I found that through this hard time in my life, exercise was helping me. Helping me to build strength, helping me to build confidence physically and mentally. I knew I wasn’t the first woman to go through tough times and I knew I wouldn't be the last. So I made a plan EMPOWERED WOMEN FITNESS. I did my nvq level 3 in personal training, I applied for a place in university on a strength and conditioning course, I set up workshops and classes to empower women through the power of health and fitness. My workshops were at full capacity, my classes were booming, my 1-2-1 clients were rapidly increasing. I gave 110% effort into working on my plan and my hard work was just starting to pay off.
It was March 2020, rumours of lockdown were arising. I like most people was afraid, I was afraid that the gym was closing and that I wouldn't be able to exercise, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to help all of these amazing women, I was afraid that I would no longer be able to do what I love. I thought long and hard about this, I cried, I lost sleep and then I came up with an idea. I was going to do something I had never done before. I was going to go live on instagram to do a virtual workout. The thought of this made my stomach turn, I was so nervous, I thought about how embarrassing it would be if no one tuned into my live workout but then i also thought about the possibilities of how amazing it could be. I was overwhelmed by the amazing response, in such a scary and uncertain time I was able to help hundreds of women through the power of fitness, I built an online community of women from all over Wales, England and even some women from overseas an we came together every day and worked out online.
The plan that I had first made had to change because of the circumstances of the pandemic but my goal has always remained the same, to empower women physically and mentally through the power of fitness. It is from having this goal, making this planning, and refusing to give up I have built my business to what it is today. Three years later I still train online every day, I am able to train an unlimited amount of women live and also these workouts are saved for women to use again. I have helped hundreds maybe thousands of women in their fitness journey. I have now grown my online business, I have created a system where I am also able to design personalised meal plans and workout plans for my clients to further help them to achieve their fitness goals. I absolutely love what I do, I love the feeling I get each time one of my clients achieves a goal that we have set. Fitness is my passion, fitness helped me through the hardest time of my life and continues to do so every single day. Only look back to see how far you have come.
www.empoweredfitplan.com @empoweredwomenfitness
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High Street, Health Fix at Nourish Cardiff
Llandaff High Street is now home to Nourish, a brand-new salad/deli bar that has everything to keep your body feeling it’s best.
Nestled within the beautiful local shops and quaint public houses along Llandaff High Street, Nourish has arrived, offering local customers a selection of only the freshest produce. Smoothies, salads and only the best nutrition are on offer to ensure their customers are not only eating the best but feeling their best as well. The team at Nourish believe only the best diet is key to gaining optimum health, taking great pride to ensure only the freshest product from local suppliers is on offer. Their eco-friendly store sells healthy breakfasts, salads, smoothies, fresh juices, and shots all made to takeaway. Lunch offerings consist of baked potatoes, with a choice of mouth-watering fillings, wraps and homemade soups to warm us up through this next season change. The idea from the team at Nourish is to help educate and inform their customers on a completely new approach to food. Fast food doesn’t need to be bad for our health, instead the team are committed to guiding their customers on a pathway of healthy change, leading to better energy levels, sharper mental clarity and better overall health and wellbeing. All their food is cooked daily from scratch from their on-site kitchen, using only the best seasonal ingredients. Nourish are also keen to promote their healthy school run offerings. Whether it’s a quick breakfast stop off for the kids or ensuring the after school pick up doesn’t need to be a fast chocolate intake. Instead, their offerings of smoothies and wholesome wraps will ensure hunger is kept at bay for the youngest of customers.
Pop in to Nourish today: 27 Llandaff High Street Instagram @nourishcardiff
