Heading to the TEE with the Experts
Heading to the TEE with the Experts
Creating Champions on the tee takes more than training and nutrition, it actually starts within, your head. High-performance athletes refer to the HEAD as the most important tool (focus, visuliaztion and in a nutshell it’s our Head Office for all operations of the body). XDL founder Olna Ford recently suffered hospitalisation with specialists expecting a possible stroke and brain aneurysm. For all those that have have mild or severe headaches, injurys or concerns with their head we thought it prudent to invite an expert to the tee and highlight this very import issue and in the same conversation the HEADACHE CLINIC decided to support our sport so we can get the message out to our Nation. Super proud to be involved with such an important movement for better awareness about the support for headache sufferers. High-performance XDL athletes and Golfers can definitely benefit from this knowledge as it’s along time in competion if you have a headache and we know how this impacts performance on and off the tee.
Headaches and migraines may be common ailments, but one woman is getting to the root of the problem for those who find themselves locked in a dark room or popping painkillers.
When The Headache Clinic founder and senior headache consultant Helen Tufui ran down her home hallway nearly 10 years ago, she never thought she would be telling a story of experiencing mild concussion after stumbling and hitting her head hard on a door frame.
She said it was “like someone had hit a reset button in my brain, everything just immediately stopped in my head”.
Following the knock, she had ongoing symptoms, including nausea, pounding headaches, dizziness and visual disturbance, and she said they were affecting her “everyday life”.
“The lack of energy and constant headache was the worst. It just really drags you down. As a mum of four children and working full time, I was exhausted all the time. Simple tasks can become really hard to face, and it can have a major effect on your mental health.”
Then one day while stopped in her car at traffic lights, she said she had a eureka moment.
“I was prodding around my neck and hit a spot that reproduced my headache symptoms. With my physiotherapy knowledge I immediately knew there was a link between my neck and the persistent symptoms.
“From there everything just fell into place.”
She changed her career path from physiotherapy to work exclusively in the area of headache, migraine and concussion after completing training in Australia and Canada.
“Getting to the source of my symptoms was life-changing, and now I get to help our patients get their life back. It is truly the most rewarding experience to have that kind of impact on a person’s life.”
Nine years on, Tufui has a team of passionate clinicians and seven Headache Clinics – Auckland, Cambridge, Nelson, Rangiora, Christchurch, Dunedin and the original centre in Invercargill, which opened in 2014.
A Wellington clinic is soon to be added and has been prompted by demand for the service from the Wellington region, she said.
Tufui said since opening eight years ago, their team of clinicians had helped “thousands” across the country.
“We have patients who have lived with their symptoms for more than 25 years and others who have been unable to work due to persistent post-concussion symptoms. Providing relief or resolving their symptoms is simply life changing.”
If you suffer with headache, migraine or concussion symptoms get in touch with Helen and her team at The Headache Clinic.
0800 HEADACHE