Top to Toe Members’ Health Event on Zoom – by us for us – Members working together for our Club
What a wonderful evening – we are so lucky to have these three experts in our Club who shared their knowledge and skill with us over Zoom on Mon 14 Sep. A great way to kick off our new Club Autumn “term”!
Sarah Lichman – The Eyes have it!
the screen to show us the eye in detail – see a Zoom screenshot here from the evening. The most common complaint from patients is sore and dry eyes and she recommends those people should use good quality viscous lubricating drops regularly. Cataracts are the most common cause of poor vision across the world and they are most common in females. Sun/UV light, diabetes and various drugs all have a negative impact. It is the most common surgery in the UK and most patients are blown away by the bright colours they can see when the cataracts are removed – Sarah said she never ceased to be amazed by this wonderful life-changing yet relatively cheap and common procedure. She explained the reasons for and the commonality of harmless floaters in the eyes but that we all need to be vigilant in spotting and reporting sudden rushes of floaters with flashes that could be a sign of a detached retina that can only be repaired if dealt with very quickly. If a detached retina is not repaired is causes sight loss. Good eye health is maintained with a good diet, exercise and optimal blood pressure. Great advice Sarah and well presented so that we could all understand no matter our level of knowledge beforehand.
Beverley Keech – All in the Middle!
“Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life” Giovanni Papini.
Bev was next up with a practical and interactive exercise in breathing and relaxation. Bev teaches the Alexander Technique professionally – and from this short session we already know that her teaching works! It was recommended that attendees sat on a dining chair for this 
interactive session to provide more support than a sofa. Bev’s soothing voice had us all following her instructions – feeling our ribs, our breaths, our feet and being in touch with our bodies as we relaxed and stetched out again afterwards. The Zoom screenshot here from the evening shows everyone participating. It took us all a few minutes to gather ourselves afterwards – a testimony to how good the session was – thanks Bev!
Ameeta Sabharwal – Beautiful Toes!
‘Healthy feet are Happy feet’ a talk on Foot Healthcare by Ameeta
Ameeta was a final presenter in our “top to toe” health evening – last but by no means least. Ameeta has been a foot health specialist for 25 years and seemed to delight in imparting just some of her knowledge with us. She started as a reflexologist before training in chiropody 
which she practices in her clinic at her home. Ameeta used slides to illustrate her talk – see a Zoom screenshot here. Did you know that one third of the bones in the body are in the feet (30!) ? Ameeta thinks that every day we experience a miracle when we step out of bed and our two eight inch feet carry our body through everything we need them to do! Common problems are minor injuries and more serious injuries like fractures. When we have fractures and/or surgery on our feet it isn’t easy to rest them to help them recover properly. Fungal, bacterial and viral infections of the feet are common and need to be treated. Diabetic foot care is very important – with circulation exercises to prevent and manage peripheral neuropathy. Once feet are clean and dry it is good to apply urea based moisturisers (they are soaked in by the skin to soften it rather than barrier creams). A great tip is to massage cream onto one foot with the other. Ameeta recommends hard skin is removed with a pumice and that you cut your nails (or get them cut) regularly. More great advice is to buy shoes in the afternoon when you feet will be more swollen otherwise your shoes may be too tight. After lockdown she warns that our shoes may feel tight because they will have spread if we’ve been wearing slippers all the time… Feet often swell because of the number of bones there so there are things you can do to reduce the swelling like rolling a tennis ball with your feet, writing in the air with you feet when you are sitting or lying down and wriggling your feet around generally. Great advice Ameeta – thank you so much!
After the 3 sessions we covered some Club business, led by Denise Powell who is sharing the chair with Ameeta until the end of the year. Denise informed us about the Programme for the rest of the year including the online Regional meeting on 10 Oct and the online Soroptimist Conference 30-31 Oct – Members need to keep an eye on email and the website while things are so fluid www.sigbi.org/st-albans/club-programme
There was also time for people to catch up a little with one another – while we can’t meet face to face to Zoom is certainly a great way to stay connected and it was lovely that so many of our Members could join in for the evening. This particular evening was an example of “by us, for us” that Denise said we will be hearing more of. One of the great things about being a Soroptimist is that we all look out for one another – and COVID-19 has really brought this to the fore.