Bradley Blair Osteopath

Bradley Blair Osteopath Osteopathy
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Does it actually matter where on the spine you manipulate? According to a 2021 systematic review — Nim et al. — the answ...
20/04/2026

Does it actually matter where on the spine you manipulate? According to a 2021 systematic review — Nim et al. — the answer might be no. Not because spinal manipulation doesn’t work. But because the mechanism appears to be far less site-specific than most of us were trained to believe.

Worth noting — the review has limitations. The lack of blinding in spinal manipulation research is a known problem, and most studies used a single intervention rather than a course of treatment. Short study durations and varied clinical presentations also make it harder to draw firm conclusions. The authors acknowledge this. But they also note that even with those limitations, the consistent absence of difference between groups actually strengthens the argument that site specificity is not the primary driver of outcomes.

Make of that what you will.

Studies in JAMA and The Lancet both found significant health benefits at around 7,000 steps a day — not 10,000. That num...
20/04/2026

Studies in JAMA and The Lancet both found significant health benefits at around 7,000 steps a day — not 10,000. That number was never based on science. It was a marketing decision. Swipe to find out where it really came from.

Your head isn’t destroying your spine. The story about your posture is doing far more damage than your posture ever coul...
20/04/2026

Your head isn’t destroying your spine. The story about your posture is doing far more damage than your posture ever could.

The scar tissue story around IASTM has been repeated so many times it’s become accepted fact in manual therapy. It isn’t...
20/04/2026

The scar tissue story around IASTM has been repeated so many times it’s become accepted fact in manual therapy. It isn’t. Here’s what the evidence says is actually going on.

When I first qualified, I was doing the rounds — going to clinics, taking meetings, hearing all the right things.“This i...
19/04/2026

When I first qualified, I was doing the rounds — going to clinics, taking meetings, hearing all the right things.
“This is a great opportunity for you.”

It never was.

Nobody tells you how hard it actually is to start out. You’re fresh, you’re eager, and there are people out there who will look you in the eye and promise you things they have absolutely no intention of delivering. They don’t come up with the goods.
They never do.

And here’s another thing nobody mentions — some clinics will ask you to pay rent. If you’ve got no patients and you’re not making money, walk away. Do not even entertain it. You’ll be haemorrhaging money for the privilege of sitting in an empty room.

The carousel above covers what to look out for and the questions you need to be asking before you commit to anything.
Just be careful out there. There are a lot of people who will tell you exactly what you want to hear.

That’s not the same as telling you the truth.

A question I get asked more than you’d think — which is better for lower back pain: osteopathy, chiropractic, or physiot...
19/04/2026

A question I get asked more than you’d think — which is better for lower back pain: osteopathy, chiropractic, or physiotherapy?

Honest answer? None of them is objectively better than the other. All three professions treat muscle and joint pain. All three have evidence behind them for lower back pain.

This carousel is a broad overview of each — not a dig at any profession. Every field has brilliant practitioners, and every field has ones you won’t click with. That’s just how it is.

What I’d say to any patient is this: when you go somewhere for help, ask yourself a few simple questions. Do you feel listened to? Do they take your concerns seriously? Do they explain what’s going on in a way that actually makes sense to you? Do you leave feeling better informed, not more worried?

Because at the end of the day, it often comes down to personal preference. Some people connect better with an osteopath. Some prefer a chiropractor. Some prefer a physio. And that’s completely fine.
Go where someone genuinely helps you.

Pain science doesn’t make your pain less real. It makes it make more sense. This carousel covers the basics — in plain E...
19/04/2026

Pain science doesn’t make your pain less real. It makes it make more sense. This carousel covers the basics — in plain English, without the jargon — because understanding what pain actually is might be the most useful thing I can give you.

Nearly every day in clinic — for 19 years — someone has asked me if their disc has slipped. So let me clear this up once...
19/04/2026

Nearly every day in clinic — for 19 years — someone has asked me if their disc has slipped. So let me clear this up once and for all.

First: discs don’t slip. They’re firmly attached to the vertebrae above and below. What most people are describing is a disc herniation or bulge — the gel-like substance inside the disc, think of it like chewing gum, can push through the outer ring and irritate the surrounding nerves. That’s a different thing entirely.

Now, before someone jumps in the comments with “what about spondylolisthesis?” — yes, I know. In spondylolisthesis, a vertebral body slips forward on the one below it. That’s the vertebra moving, not the disc. Two completely different structures, two completely different conditions. I’m not talking about that.

I’m talking about the everyday use of the phrase “slipped disc” — the one that sends patients into a panic, makes them think something has flown out of place, and has them convinced their spine is falling apart. It isn’t. And understanding what’s actually happening is the first step to getting better.

Spinal misalignment as a cause of everyday back pain is one of those ideas that sounds clinical, feels intuitive, and fa...
19/04/2026

Spinal misalignment as a cause of everyday back pain is one of those ideas that sounds clinical, feels intuitive, and falls apart under scrutiny. I’m not talking about scoliosis or genuine structural pathology. I’m talking about the routine claim that your back “went out” and needs putting back. It doesn’t work like that.

If someone has ever told you cupping pulls toxins out of your body, they meant well. They were just wrong. Here’s what’s...
19/04/2026

If someone has ever told you cupping pulls toxins out of your body, they meant well. They were just wrong. Here’s what’s actually happening.

Most of what we say about soft tissue therapy isn’t wrong because we’re bad practitioners. It’s wrong because we were ta...
18/04/2026

Most of what we say about soft tissue therapy isn’t wrong because we’re bad practitioners. It’s wrong because we were taught the wrong story. The mechanisms we learned in school, the language we use in clinic, the explanations we give patients — a lot of it hasn’t kept up with the evidence.

The Activator Method is one of the most popular chiropractic techniques out there. Low force, non-threatening, and patie...
18/04/2026

The Activator Method is one of the most popular chiropractic techniques out there. Low force, non-threatening, and patients often love it.

But when you actually look at what the method is built on — prone leg length analysis as a diagnostic tool, the vertebral subluxation as the thing being “corrected,” and a protocol that can never prove itself wrong — the foundations don’t hold up.

That doesn’t mean patients don’t feel better. Some do. But feeling better and the explanation for why are two very different things.

Address

Bradley Blair 5/42 Ormiston Road
Auckland
2019

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 8pm
Tuesday 9am - 8pm
Wednesday 9am - 8pm
Thursday 9am - 8pm
Friday 9am - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm

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