Discussions

I'm looking for recommendations for an experienced and good massage therapist for deep-tissue/sports massage. In the Trie-sur-Baise/Lannemezan/Mirande area if possible. Please email me directly with suggestions. Thank you.

Can anyone recommend a good osteopath in the condom/valence area or within reasonable travelling distance. Does not need to be english speaking. Please pm with details. Thank you

I know it is not tick season right now, but I have just been diagnosed wih Lyme disease I thought I'd just post this as a reminder to us all. Having spent the spring  and summer picking ticks off the cats it would appear that I missed one on myself.  I have no knowledge of being bitten, no rash or bulls-eye mark, no flu or fever and as I have knee problems anyway, I ignored the first signs in my knees.  I only went to the doctor when I had terrible pain and swelling in my shoulder and ankle which came up almost overnight. The doctor assumed rheumatoid arthritis, as had I, and we only did the Lyme test as an after thought.  I'm now on a course of twice daily injections which will the be followed up by treatment for the Lyme arthritis.  Only time will tell how bad the damage to the joints is, but having spent last season skiing off piste all day, I now struggle to walk the 50m to the letterbox and back!  I am quite grumpy ... Wishing you all a happy, healthy and tick free 2014. Stella

Many of you may be familiar with the Parkruns in Britain. Basically they are a 5k run, every Saturday morning, timed, no entry fee, just turn up and compete against yourself. I ran the parkrun in Poole 4 weeks ago and over 400 people turned up. I have contacted Parkrun UK and they are planning to try a Parkrun in South West France in 2014. If anyone fancys burning off the Christmas excess I will be holding a practice Parkrun around Castelnau Magnoac lake on Saturday 28th December, meeting at the south car park from 9pm for a 9-30 start. A lap of the lake is 2.4 mile (4k), totally traffic free, and off road. You can run it, speed walk it or go round with your dog or pram. If you want to get timed just bring and piece of paper with name, sex and date of birth and hand it in when you finish. Hope to see you there.

I have a brilliant and highly qualified chiropractor and acupuncturist working in the UK. He has treated a complex and painful back very successfully of mine. Having left Zimbabwe originally he is not financially awash with money. However he is interested in coming to SW France with his family to restart his life and work. Is there much of a demand for an English speaking high quality chiropractor? What professional working problems would he face? Would his South African and UK  qualifications be recognised? He has many years experience and his UK appointment book is full but he is working for someone else. Would he make a living here? Any positive information would be useful so that I can feed it back to him. Ken.

My dear wife was vdiagnosed with alzheimer's 6 years ago and is now at "mid stage " as this is an isolating illness it may be that other British couples are in the same situation. If so please get in contact, just to exchange information and mutual support.

Can anyone recommend a good, sympathetic dentist in the Gers (Auch, Condom, or further afield) who also does cosmetic dentistry: teeth whitening, veneers, etc?

Does anyone know of an English speaking dentist they would recommend in the above area - or a little further afield? Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Hi all, can anyone recommend a kind, good Dentist. Hopefully near Maubourguet/Marciac, but I will travel of course! Thanks in advance Dids

Has anyone managed to print off an English version of this form, I know you have to fill it in in French but understanding the contents in the first place is crucial so that I can complete it correctly. My French is not that good yet but not from the want of trying, any help would be appreciated. Thanks Annieb  

Help, after an unsatisfactory session with an eye doctor in Condom , who clearly had only 5 mins to spare for any patient , we are looking for  someone who Will conduct proper tests .... Near Lectoure or fleurance ..

Hi can anyone recommend someone who does sports massage, or massage relating to back problems?Please e-mail me by response. Located in the Boulogne sur Gesse 31 area.Thanks

Can anyone recommend an English/English speaking Hairdresser and Nail technician please.  Moibile or otherwise. Thank you.

Hi I'm looking for any type of Pilates, yoga or general exercise classes in the Lannemezan area and not having much luck. Anybody know anyone around here? Possibly private classes too.ThanksLaura

We may be looking for a new family doctor - any tips?  I know it is a major problem here - there are too few.  Live between Lectoure and  Condom.  We had the mayor of Lectoure as physician until he retired.  Then we went to his partner but were discouraged by the fact that he worked alone and when he was on vacation - there was no partner there.  The 3rd,  had a partner but now unfortunately he is also handling a dwindling practice alone.  I see signs since then, that he is becoming forgetful and that is the major concern at the moment.   Language is not an issue, but it would be an plu if the doc had a little English or German.  I jokingly say that our Vet is the best qualified medical man I've met. thanks! Lançon

Does anyone know of a good physio - massage and reducation - in the Mirande area ? Also, looking for a fitness trainer for short-term fitness plan. Any advice appreciated.

Does anyone have any experience of this hospital? What is it like? Food etc? (do you pay for food?)Thanks

Apparently HERE IS AN ACTUAL CUSTOMER REVIEW FROM A MAN ON AMAZON.CO.UK AFTER USING VEET HAIR REMOVAL CREAM FOR MENAfter having been told my danglies looked like an elderly Rastafarian I decided to take the plunge and buy some of this as previous shaving attempts had only been mildly successful and I nearly put my back out trying to reach the more difficult bits. Being a bit of a romantic I thought I would do the deed on the missus's birthday as a bit if a treat.I ordered it well in advance and working in the North Sea I considered myself a bit above some of the characters writing the previous reviews and wrote them off as soft office types...Oh my fellow sufferers how wrong I was. I waited until the other half was tucked up in bed and after giving some vague hints about a special surprise I went down to the bathroom. Initially all went well and I applied the gel and stood waiting for something to happen. I didn’t have long to wait.At first there was a gentle warmth which in a matter of seconds was replaced by an intense burning and a feeling I can only describe as like being given a barbed wire wedgie by two people intent on hitting the ceiling with my head. Religion hadn't featured much in my life until that night but I suddenly became willing to convert to any religion to stop the violent burning around the turd tunnel and what seemed like the the destruction of the meat and two veg. Struggling not to bite through my bottom lip I tried to wash the gel off in the sink and only succeeded in blocking the plughole with a mat of hair. Through the haze of tears I struggled out of the bathroom across the hall into the kitchen, by this time walking was not really possible and I crawled the final yard to the fridge in the hope of some form of cold relief. I yanked the freezer drawer out and found a tub of ice cream, toe the lid off and positioned it under me. The relief was fantastic but only temporary as it melted fairly quickly and the fiery stabbing returned. Due to the shape of the ice cream tub I hadn’t managed to give the starfish any treatment and I groped around in the draw for something else as I was sure my vision was going to fail fairly soon. I grabbed a bag of what I later found out was frozen sprouts and tore it open trying to be quiet as I did so. I took a handful of them and an tried in vain to clench some between the cheeks of my arse. This was not doing the trick as some of the gel had found its way up the chutney channel and it felt like the space shuttle was running its engines behind me.This was probably and hopefully the only time in my life I was going to wish there was a gay snowman in the kitchen which should give you some idea of the depths I was willing to sink to in order to ease the pain. The only solution my pain crazed mind could come up with was to gently ease one of the sprouts where no veg had gone before.Unfortunately, alerted by the strange grunts coming from the kitchen the other half chose that moment to come and investigate and was greeted by the sight of me, arse in the air, strawberry ice cream dripping from my bell end pushing a sprout up my arse while muttering “ooooohhh that feels good” Understandably this was a shock to her and she let out a scream and as I hadn’t heard her come in it caused an involuntary spasm of shock in myself which resulted in the sprout being ejected at quite some speed in her direction. I can understand that having a sprout fired against your leg at 11 at night in the kitchen probably wasn’t the special surprise she was expecting and having to explain to the kids the next day what the strange hollow in the ice cream was didn’t improve my status…so to sum it up, VEET removes hair, dignity and self-respect 

First, does anyone know of a good dentist in the Vic Fezensac, Plaisance area of the Gers - we are willing to travel a bit but not hundreds of k - and English speaking would be good but not esential and preferably on the cpam. Second, likewise for a hairdresser - English would be good as they tend to understand the style you want, but a good french one if you know any.   Thanks all - understand you will have to pm recomendations.

I just wanted to reccomend to anyone who sufferes with back problems to try the Bowen Technique, there is an excellent practioner nr Castlenau Magnoac.   So many of us  suffer with a bad backs  and I  had tried many types of treatments - with very little success. I tried,  Katie Ashton and the Bowen Treatment and I could not belive that through her gentle and expert treatments I can move properly again. Not only is she good at her job she is a joy to visit as she really is interested in people and how to help them. I really could not believe how this method relieved not only  back pain but other aches dissapeared too, which I was not expecting. Fabulous!