Despite a few hiccups at the start addressing a staffing issue in our Tokyo office Okinawa Sports and Spinal is still on track to offer English speaking off-base Physical Therapy and Sports massage in Sunabe Okinawa from the 4th of July.
Brent Verco is also due to resume Chiropractic services from Wednesday the 14th of June. To make an appointment with a Chiropractor, Physical therapist or book a Sports massage please click here
Just a heads up that Brent will be available evenings in Niseko until Sunday the 11th of June for Mobile Chiropractic appointments before heading back down to Okinawa on the 12th of June. Currently managing some building work in between slower demand over the non peak period.
We hope you are enjoying the start of another amazing Niseko Summer and look forward to helping manage your injuries over this time. Maki is also available for remedial massage over summer on reduced hours so if you are looking for quality Chiropractic and massage in Niseko in June we hope you can keep Niseko chiropractic and massage in mind.
Great to see the new clinic in Sunabe coming together. We still have some availability from tommorrow Sunday the 14th of May.
Today we took delivery of the new Chiropractic table and was very impressed with the built quality. No doubt this will be a steady workhorse for years to come.
If you are seeking an English speaking Chiropractor in Okinawa Japan we hope you can keep Sunabe Chiropractic in mind. Now operating in junction with the Okinawa physio to become Okinawa Sports and Spinal.
for online bookings please go to
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?business_id=94455
Just a heads up that Niseko Chiropractic will be open for Chiropractic and massage through Golden Week.
If you would like to Consult Brent or Maki please head over to your appointments page.
Brent will be available in Niseko until the 15th of May before heading back down to Okinawa
Please note that from April 2023 Okinawa Okinawa Sports and Spinal have moved to our new address in Sunabe.
If you were seeing Sunabe Chiropractic at the the ” old purple house ” that address is no longer being used so please come find us at our new location which is just around the corner.
The full address
1-477 Miyaki Chatan-Cho
If you are driving from route 58 turn into the Sunabe turn-off near the Family Mart and drive past the fishermans co-op that is opposite the Sanae Supermarket. Turn right at the 2nd set of lights and then continue on until the first set of lights where you turn left heading towards ” All season wetsuits ” surf shop.
At the surf shop turn right and then we are on the first Corner.
We have one Parking place reserved for guests right out the front. If this is taken you may temporally use the additional guest parking but please do not park under the covered carport as this space is used by the upstairs tenant.
If both these options are unavailable please park houses down on the Seawall.
And just like that it was over.
One day it was dumping pow for was a truly epic February up in Niseko and then the taps turned off in one instant. This year feels like just like the season of 2020 when it just all came to grinding halt.
I usually try and keep our posts positive and take a nice pic that I hope makes you think ” oh it’s beautiful world ” but not today.
Today is ” Muddy March ” and one of the few times of the year where living in Niseko just doesn’t blow your mind. Take your pick, pouring rain, windy, cold or muddy. It’s sometimes just not so nice to be in Niseko in the very early spring.
If you are planning a trip next year try for late feb as your cut off for still getting great conditions here.
On the upside it has given us locals a chance to breath after the craziest season on record and even better my family is coming down to join me for a days in Okinawa this trip so hopefully they can get away for a bit too.
Thanks again to all my returning clients and the chance to meet some new ones this year and I hope that you may get to revisit Niseko again soon.
We are also hopping to have some updates on a more permanent Okinawa location moving forward too, Watch this space 🙂
And it was perfect timing with some mates from Okinawa coming up visit and we find time to ride the POW for 3 days in a row and also manage a season first visit to Rusutsu.
After managing everybody elses snowboarding niggles on ageing bodies I was finally able to collect my own ! Never entered a season as unfit as this year and it’s a mistake I will be not be repeating next year. My everything hurts !
Just a heads up that due to growing demand I have been able to extend my Okinawa visit another 5 days and will be now be taking appointments up until Saturday the 4th of March.
My last day taking Niseko appointments will be Sunday the 19th of Feb. I will be back in Niseko from the 6th of March.
It Was great to see some old clients again this season and for those that did make it up to the worlds best powder for the first time I hope you had a great time and hope to see you again in the future.
For Niseko bookings click on the link below
Dear Tokyo and Okinawa clients of Niseko Chiropractic.
Just a courtesy massage to let you know that Brent will be returning to Okinawa from the 25th of Jan 2023 and Tokyo from the 3rd of Feburay.
Apologies for the delay in getting back down south again but it’s so busy up Niseko after the borders have been closed for 2 years.
To my Niseko Clients I will be taking Niseko bookings again from the 9th of Feb.
To make a Chiropractic booking at one of our locations please go to
After the most hectic season on record for Niseko Chiropractic and Niseko mobile remedial massage we know finally have some bookings available within a few days.
If you would like to book a mobile massage in Niseko with Maki she now has availability most days from the 18th of Jan onwards.
Our specility is 90 minute sessions which allows a bit more time to get to stronger pressure in mutitple areas. We do expect peak demand again over chinease new year so it’s best to book ahead to avoid dispapointment.
You can book your Niseko chiropractic and mobile massage appointments on the link below
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings#service
Niseko’s mobile remedial massage and Chiropractic service took a break for some family time over the Christmas period but we are back in action with appointments available from the 28th of Dec.
If you would like book a mobile 90 minute remedial massage you can see our availability and book online on the link below
It’s not suprising given her reputation but we are already getting a lot of interest and bookings in the return of Maki Moloney after she took some time off to start a new family last season.
If you are seeking mobile massage in Niseko with a firmer pressure and looking for a 90 minute season rather than the stadard hour we strongly suggest you book more massage here in Niseko at least a few days ahead to avoid disapointment.
Maki is taking massage bookings right through the 2022/23 season and entire upcoming season is now available for mobile massage bookings in Niseko.
To learn more about the Niseko Mobile massage now offered by Niseko Chiropracic please go to
Niseko Chiropractic is very excited to welcome Maki Moloney to our line up for this upcoming 2022 Niseko season.
There has always been a gap in the Niseko market for Mobile treatments that feature a therapeutic level of pressure and we are super excited to feature legendry local therapist Maki to our practioner line up.
You an choose between the Sweedish oil massage style or the more traditional dry Shiatsu style with more elbow pressure.
Maki has the training and experience to find and release your knots so you can be get back on the slopes in tip top condition and ride to your full potential.
Maki also concentrate on 90 minute sessions on rather than the traditional 60 minute mobile sessions allowing more time to for the tissues to relax and also time to concetrate on more than area. In short a 90 minute session yeilds far superior results than the standard Niseko massage timeframe.
Maki combines her Japanese Shiatsu training with western swedish techniques to get great results every time.
To book your Mobile Massage in Niseko please go to
Niseko Chirorpactic official opens again on December the 14th but if any Niseko locals or property owners are town just letting you now Brent is available for some limited hours consultations from now until the 21st of November.
If you would like to consult an english speaking Chiropractor for the management of your soft tissue injuries in Niseko you can book online at
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?appointment_type_id=517686
Wow.
What a crazy few years. When covid first hit in Feb 2020 we had no idea it would go affect us all for so long. It has certainly been a tough time for all Niseko businesses but thankfully with a skill as portable as Chiropractic we were able to find work in other parts of Japan.
Niseko mobile Chiropractic aims to provide a top end experience for guests that have sustained musculoskeletal injuries whilst enjoying their time in Niseko or those seeeking remedial levels of deep tissue with our popular 2 hour sessions.
If you would to experience our services in the comfort of your Niseko accomodation we hope you can consider using our English Speaking mobile Chiropractic serice in Japan.
Our primary practitioner has 20 years experience and a track record of many happy clients over the 4 years we have been in operation in Niseko.
If you would like to schedule an appointment please use the link below
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?appointment_type_id=517686
If you have ever had a bad migraine headache you would know understand just how horrible they are and would give anything just for them to stop.
The great thing about reasearch is sometimes it can yeild resuls that we may not think to be to be a first glance and this certainly the case with a recent paper that adresses the question
A recently published paper in the ” Journal of headache and pain ” reviewed 1195 migraine cases reported in 21 papers on the subject of Migraine headache and concluded that strenght and weight training actually results in the best improvement for migraine sufferes.
Not that the authors are arguing you head down to squat university when you room is spinnng and your about to stab your eye with spoon but if are a migraine sufferer you may be well adviced to start a weight training program weekly as a preventative measure.
And it’s more interesting too. Even though exercise was effective it was the high intenstity stuff that had a better result than the low intenstity workouts.
Of course both these are not mutally exclusive and you may be better planning on weight training a few times a week and also incorporting some high intensity cardio workouts as well.
The paper looked a few possibilities.
Migraines are incredibly complex but there is a leading thoery that there some dysnfuction of the way the trigiminal nerve and nerves from the muscles interact at perhaps weights helps normalise this.
There is also a close association between migraine headaches and neck pain so maybe just adressing the neck pain through better muslce tone reduces the chances of frequency of migraine.
In regards to the high intensity exercise, it’s much more likely to cause chemical changes in the brain as endorphines and other chemicals are released so perhaps thay have a mediating role.
At any rate I doubt the ” why ” question will be understood with certianty any time soon but if you are migraine sufferer you really should try at least a weights program and see if makes any differences on the frequeuncy and intensity of your migraine.
Woldeamanuel, Y.W., Oliveira, A.B.D. What is the efficacy of aerobic exercise versus strength training in the treatment of migraine? A systematic review and network meta-analysis of clinical trials. J Headache Pain 23, 134 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-022-01503-y
https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-022-01503-y
After 2.5 years Niseko now finally gears up for the influx of international tourism.
As of today the 11th of October 2022 Japan is now reopened for Visa free independant tourism.
Essentially the travel rules are now the same as pre-covid apart from the fact that you either need to be tripple vaccinated or provide a negative PCR covid tests.
Many had already booked their Niseko accomodation this season in the hope that this was the case and their optimism has been rewarded with some below market rates. For those that did not Niseko Chiropractic recomends booking early to avoid the Niseko rush.
If you have not stared your pre ski season training yet we suggest you do so and if you do need an english speaking mobile Chiropractor to come to your Niseko accomodation we hope you can keep us in mind.
If you would like to book a Niseko appointment please go to our appointments page
We hope to see many old clients again and thanks for not giving up on Niseko !
Since starting to consult in Tokyo we have been managing a lot more cervical disc herniation.
Whilst cervical discs herniations are not as common as their lumbar cousins they can cause a great deal of misery and when it starts to affect your arms can really drive you crazy.
The good news is some recent research published in the BMC of MSK disorders has shed light onto the fact that the correct exercises, performed just a few times a day can actually increase the size of the Intervertebral foramen or IVF which is the space between your vertebra where your spinal nerves comes out.
Just an 8 week program was enough to achieve clinically meaningful results and both flexion towards the size of injury and away seemed beneficial, as well as the ” Chin tuck exercises” so if you are suffering from cervical disc injuries there is hope that a trial of conservative care may help.
To make an appointment out our Sunabe, Tokyo and Niseko clinics go to
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings#location
Wu, SK., Chen, HY., You, JY. et al. Outcomes of active cervical therapeutic exercise on dynamic intervertebral foramen changes in neck pain patients with disc herniation. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 23, 728 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-022-05670-6
If you suffer Chronic neck pain ( neck pain that lasts more than 3 months ) you are not alone. Recent research found that Chronic neck pain makes up 14.6% (1 ) of all MSK problems that present to practitioners like Chiropractors and PT. Up to 50% of adults will experience neck pain at least once this year but for most the problem quickly resolves.
Sadly not all people have a quick recover and if you are one of the unlucky people that has experienced neck pain for more than 3 months you know the effect it can have on your quality of life and wellbeing. In the military community in Okinawa there does seem to be a little more neck pain that I used to see back in Australia which I attribute to some hard training coupled with the effects of desk based computer work.
A recent study ( 1) some great research by looking at the results in changes of Range of motion (ROM ) between a group that received exercises only against a group that received manual therapy as well as doing some exercises.
The found that ROM was significantly better when the subjects got manual therapy at the same time as doing starting some exercises. The thinking is some the manual therapy gives better movement of the joints which the allows the exercises to be more effective.
You can read the full paper of the link below but for now the take home message for chronic neck pain is that a multi-model approach looking at manual therapy and exercises is going to yield the best results.
If you would like to make an appointment with an English speaking Chiropractor at either Sunabe Okinawa or Niseko you can book your Chiropractic appointment on the link below
https://niseko-chiropractic.cliniko.com/bookings?business_id=94455#service
Life 2022, 12(5), 714; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12050714
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/12/5/714/htm
There have been some amazing improvements over the last few decades in imaging for lower back pain. most notably the MRI scan ( considered the gold standard ) has the ability to clearly show soft tissues such as discs, ligaments and muscles as well as give an overview of bones. There has also been crazy advances in CT imaging such as the gap is now a lot more narrow.
But with the advance comes another problem.
Counter- intuitively getting an image taken is often associated with poorer outcomes for our patients due to some of the psychological reasons associated with seeing your insides less than perfect and also reinforcement from our treating Dr’s that we are truly broken. Early MRI in patients with non-specific LBP has been shown to result in more back surgery, increased use of opioids and a higher pain score (1)
That’s not to say that imaging is not vitally important and necessary in many circumstances. It’s just that we need to make sure the image is ordered in the appropriate conditions.
A recent study looking at over 4000 referrals from Denmark looked at problem and concluded that 75% of MRI imaging referrals for lower back were either inappropriate or did not contain enough information to make a call (2) Only 25% of imaging referrals meet the standards of appropriate lower back imaging referral as agreed by the Nice imaging guidelines. This is is keeping with other research which also finds similar rates of over-imaging (3) As clinicians we need to do better !
The final decision for image should really be up to your treating Dr to decide and there is often things happening we may not be aware of but it is important to remember that most instances of lower back pain get better within 4 weeks so just having a sore back is not reason enough alone to order imaging.
For imaging to recommended early before 6 weeks of symptoms we are really looking for other ” red flags” such as neurological symptoms, rapidly worsening symptoms or suspicion of fracture or serious injury to warrant an image at early stage.
So if your primary care physician has decided not to order an image they may be not slack or not thorough they might just be following best practise ! That being said if you feel something is not right you should always go with your gut and mention it to your Dr.
2. Krogh, S.B., Jensen, T.S., Rolving, N. et al. Appropriateness of referrals from primary care for lumbar MRI. Chiropr Man Therap 30, 9 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12998-022-00418-4
3. Jenkins HJ, Downie AS, Maher CG, Moloney NA, Magnussen JS, Hancock MJ. Imaging for low back pain: Is clinical use consistent with guidelines? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Spine J. 2018;18:2266–77.
Please do not hesitate to contact Niseko Chiropractic if you have any questions.We apologize in advance if there is some delay in our response during peak periods. You can contact Niseko Chiropractic at info@nisekochiropracic.com
Copyright by Niseko Chiropractic 2018. All rights reserved.
