About Me

I am Poli Nikolova, a freelance physiotherapist. I completed my higher education in 2014. Since then, I have been practicing and living with Physiotherapy and the idea of being useful and continuously developing.

Professional Development

I develop my professional knowledge primarily in the field of orthopedics and traumatology, focusing on informing people about the importance of prevention. And this, of course, starts from an early childhood age.

Specializations and Initiatives

Seeing the problems rooted even in the youngest, I was prompted to develop my knowledge and in 2023, I completed a course for specific physiotherapeutic exercises for spinal curvatures. I also conduct free examinations of the musculoskeletal system for children.

Practice and Patients

Besides children, my practice is aimed at rehabilitating people of all ages with various problems and dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system. 70% of my patients have pain symptoms and syndromes of various natures in the SPINE.

Holistic Approach

In 10 years of practice, I realized that the success in treating ALL my patients lies in the Holistic approach, i.e., the comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach. Not just physical or manual therapy, but a personal attitude and guidance for every aspect of life.

Meeting with Ventsi and the Ergo-Chairs

At that time, while starting to develop this worldview in my practice, I met Ventsi and got acquainted with his ideas and the things he makes and… I was convinced once again that there are no coincidences  I was and still am quite thrilled when I saw and tried the ergo-chairs and the concept he applies. It was like a miracle to see something like this in the city where I work, because I am familiar with such chairs and had only seen them on foreign websites. Now I will explain why I am so thrilled that we have something so valuable at our fingertips, and a Bulgarian one at that:

Modern Dynamics and Challenges

We live in an era quite different from that of our ancestors 50 or even 20 years ago. The main difference is the dynamics of our daily lives. This is how I answer all my patients who ask me how come their grandmother didn't do physiotherapy or any interventions when she was their age? How come the growth of spinal curvatures in children is constantly rising? Why is the age limit of people with disc problems in the spine constantly dropping, and now most 30-year-olds suffer from some back pain? The answer is the static posture we are forced to be in, and for which we are not evolutionarily ready, because OUR SPINE IS DESIGNED FOR MOVEMENT.

Prevention and Advice

A large part of professions involves being in a seated position for a long period of time. And as I like to tell my patients, "Every profession has its negatives… this does not mean we constantly have to change our jobs or retrain. This obliges us to find the right approach in prevention." If you sit all day: Dedicate time at least twice a week to do appropriate exercises in a group or individually – swim, go to yoga, pilates, folk dances, walk in nature, something that will recharge your mind and tone your body. If you stand: Do anti-edema exercises every day, swim, and eat properly. Besides organizing activities outside the workplace, the working environment should be optimized as much as possible. You've all seen the pictures of how you should and shouldn't sit. They are great, but unfortunately difficult, not to say impossible, to implement… And here comes the wonderful work, or rather the vocation, of Ventsi and "Stoleto".

Anatomy and Benefits of the Ergo-Chair

In short, why the ergo-chair is useful: Our spine has a double S-shape. This is its correct position, which starts forming at 3 months of age, develops as the child starts walking, and grows with them until bone growth stops around 16 years of age. This shape and the vertebral structure of our spine provide us with great mobility and, at the same time, stability for our highly important spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. The shape and stability are ensured thanks to our muscles, intervertebral joints, and discs. Occupying one position for a long time, the so-called static posture, leads to the fatigue of certain muscles, their relaxation over time, and the shortening of others – this is what we call muscle imbalance. This imbalance leads to a change in the shape and position of the pelvis and our spine. This change leads to excessive compression of the intervertebral discs, one of the most common locations being the transition from a mobile to an immobile part, i.e., the spine-pelvis or the L5-S1 segment. The L4-L5 segment is also commonly affected, especially when sacralization occurs.

Movement and Function

I am telling you all this to try and explain why and how back pain occurs in people with a seated working posture. It is correct for a person to change their position every hour, to stand up, walk, and move their ankles, knees, and hip joints. This muscle activation makes unobstructed blood and lymph circulation possible, which happens thanks to the contraction and relaxation of the muscles. Stretching exercises help reduce muscle imbalance. All this is very beneficial for our body, but difficult to implement in practice. That is why I believe that optimizing the working environment is so important, and the ergo-chair is a wonderful solution that personally brings me satisfaction because I can complement my therapeutic approach and properly treat and prevent issues for my patients.

Experiment

And here is why it is so useful: I did an experiment with one of the children I work with. Without preliminary preparation, without her knowing, I made her sit sequentially on my office chair and the ergo-chair, and the result was clear. Due to the specific position of the hip, knee, and ankle joints, sitting on the ergo-chair maintains the normal physiological curve in the lumbar region of the spine, which also contributes to maintaining its overall correct S-shape. This, combined with the possibility of a slight "rocking" movement, stimulates the muscle activity of the abdomen, legs, and back, leading to normal blood and lymph circulation, which is necessary for the normal function of all tissues and organs. This is also supported by the angle in the hip joint, which directly affects blood circulation. On a regular chair, it can be 90 degrees or less, which will hinder the normal flow of blood and lymph. The ergo-chair distributes the sitting weight between the pelvis and the knees, and thus the lower back area is also relieved of the weight.

Personalized Solution and Recommendation

The advantages of the chair are many, but my favorite is the personal attitude of Ventsi and the entire "Stoleto" team. If I have a patient with tailbone or sacrum problems, "Stoleto" will make a custom chair for them according to their needs with decompressive zones and everything necessary… this is great. And for the variety of models with and without wheels, with and without a backrest or armrests, the variability in their work according to everyone's needs, I can only say "Bravo" and "I admire you". I would recommend the ergo-chairs to every patient of mine with a problem or as a prevention of one. If you have questions or want more clarification, do not hesitate to ask. And if you want to see and try it and you are in Vratsa, you are welcome.