Tag: joint

Arthritis – don’t let the cold weather slow you down

Arthritis No Comments

The term arthritis means joint inflammation. The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthris (OA), which refers to degeneration of the joint surfaces. This degeneration leads to pain, stiffness, weakness, instability and sometimes locking and swelling. The most common joints to be affected are the large weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips, as well as the spine, hands and feet. OA can be caused by an injury to the joint or from repetitive stress and strain. As the joint surfaces begin to degenerate, they become stiff, painful, inflamed and can sometimes begin to form bony growths called osteophytes. The muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding the joints often become tight and tender and ultimately weak. As the cold weather approaches, sufferers of OA find that their symptoms often increase.

What can we do about OA?:

Well, once the damage is done to the joint, you can’t actually reverse that. But there are a great deal of treatment options to help manage the condition and prevent it from getting significantly worse.

  • Gentle exercise is important to keep the joints moving as freely as possible.
  • Strengthening the muscles around the joint also help to cushion the joint and prevent excessive negative joint movements. With arthritis of the spine, core stability exercises help to stabilise the damaged joints, much like braces and supports do.
  • Hands on physiotherapy techniques are very important for pain relief and optimising the muscle function around the joint. Physio’s use a variety of techniques such as joint mobilisation, muscle releases, acupuncture and electrotherapy to help minimise pain and improve function.
  • Hydrotherapy is another useful treatment technique which allows the joints to be exercised in a warm, relatively weightless environment.
  • Physiotherapists can also advise on appropriate braces or supports to help in more symptomatic cases. If you are suffering with the pain of arthritis, speak to a health professional about what can be done to help with your condition.

Rebecca Steele owns Hinteractive Physio and can be contacted on 5442 5556.

Avoiding Sporting Injuries – A Guide for Adults and Older Athletes

Physiotherapy No Comments

By Craig Steele (Sports Physiotherapist)

With winter well and truly upon us, we tend to start seeing the injuries flow into the clinic from various sports such as soccer, rugby, touch football and tennis. With Australians being encouraged to take up more activity and organised sport, it is timely to take a look at the causes of sports injuries and what we can do to minimise the risks of being injured in the first case.

The broad term of “sports injuries” refers to injury sustained whilst undertaking not only organised sport, but also physical activity/exercise. They can occur for a number of reasons including accidents, poor training surfaces, poor equipment, poor technique, lack of conditioning or inadequate warm up or stretching.

If starting a new sport, it is important to seek coaching to ensure that your technique is correct, you are using the correct equipment for your shape and size and you are exercising on the correct surfaces. Sports injuries can affect any part of your body, but typically relate to the musculoskeletal system (muscles, bones and joints). Some of the most common injuries are sprains, strains and fractures.

A sprain refers to stretching or tearing of the ligaments – the thick band that joins one bone to another. Sprains can range from Grade 1 (minimal stretch) to Grade 3 (complete tear of the ligament) and usually result from trauma such as a fall or knock from fellow competitors. It is important to know the Grade of sprain, as this dictates the course of rehabilitation. Symptoms include pain, swelling, laxity or inability to weight bear through the joint.

A strain is a pull or tear of the muscle or it’s tendon (attaches the muscle to the bone). It usually results from overstretching or overcontracting the muscle. Symptoms may include pain, muscle spasm and weakness.

How to Treat Sports Injuries:

If you experience a sporting injury, you should follow these principles until you can seek further assessment from a physiotherapist or suitably qualified health professional:
1. Rest – it is important to immobilise the area injured if the pain is severe, or reduce your activity as your pain dictates, especially in the first 24 hours.
2. Ice – apply ice packs to the injured area to reduce inflammation and swelling. Always put ice pack in a damp tea-towel to reduce the risk of ice burns and apply for no longer than 20min at a time. This can be applied regularly in the first 24-48 hours.
3. Compression – is used to support the area and reduce swelling. Bandages or tubular bandages such as “tubigrip” may be used
4. Elevation – elevating the injured area (especially for lower limb injuries) helps to reduce swelling in the area.

Tips for Preventing Injury

1. No weekend warriors! – don’t be inactive through the week, then go and play lots of physical sports or overdo the exercise. Try to spread your activity throughout the week.
2. Increase your exercise level gradually, especially when starting back at sport or exercise
3. Ensure you have a good technique – coaching may be necessary
4. Accept your bodies limits and modify your activities as needed
5. Use the correct safety gear
6. Maintain good overall fitness. It is important to combine cardiovascular activity with weight training and stretching exercises.
7. Seek treatment early on if experiencing pain or discomfort.

Remember, it is always easier to treat conditions early before they become chronic. Physiotherapists are trained to accurately assess sports injuries and implement an appropriate treatment program. Sports

Physiotherapists have undergone extra tertiary level training to refine their skills in assessing the biomechanics of sport, assessment of injuries and the implementation of thorough and sports related treatment programs.

Craig Steele has a Masters Degree in Sports Physiotherapy and owns Hinteractive Physio. He can be contacted on 5442 5556.

Taking the Pain out of The Road Trip

Back Pain Headaches Physiotherapy No Comments

Well school holidays are just around the corner and Christmas is less than a month away, so many of us will be packing up the cars and starting the traditional road trip. For many people though, the thought of long car drives makes them cringe, with the memories of back aches and neck stiffness flooding back quickly. But it needn’t be such a painful experience! With some easy tips and a few exercises, you’ll be arriving at your destination full of the Christmas spirit instead of a belly full of paracetamol.

But like most things, preparation is the key. If you have any niggling problems, get them sorted out before you go away. This way, you are starting your trip in good physical condition, rather than having to stop half way for urgent treatment. If you have room in your vehicle, be sure to pack your own pillows. This reduces those “wry” necks when you wake on the first morning of sleeping in a strange bed with a strange pillow. Next step- check your car set-up. Make sure that your seat is adjusted to provide optimum lumbar support and reduced arm straining to reach the steering wheel. Headrests need to be positioned so that they are not pushing the head forward, as this will cause neck pain and stiffness.

Most people, and especially those with back pain, will find that the in-built lumbar support in their car seats is not enough to support the lower back on a long drive. Lumbar rolls (round or d-shaped foam rolls) are a cheap and effective way to support the lower back while driving. They are simply placed in the curve of the lower back between the chair and the spine, and help to hold the natural lumbar curvature of the spine. Place your backside as far back in the chair as it will go, to help reduce “slouching”.

Try and stop every hour or so to reduce muscle and joint fatigue. Simply go for a short walk and try the following stretches.

  1. Place your hands in the hollow in the lower back and gently arch backwards as far as comfortable. Repeat this 5-10 times.
  2. Place one heel on the ground with the toes pulled back. Lean forward, poking the bottom out the back until you feel the stretch in the back of the thigh. Hold 20 seconds and sway sides.
  3. Stretch your neck by looking on a diagonal into your armpit. Hold 20 seconds and swap sides.

Obviously, if you have any specific problems you should consult a therapist before you go, to get more specific exercises for your body. So with regular breaks, not only will you be protecting yourself from driver fatigue, but you will be doing your body a favour.

For more information on back supports or exercises, contact your health professional. Craig and Rebecca Steele own Hinteractive Physio and can be contacted on 5442 5556.

Keep Your Body Merry This Festive Season

Physiotherapy No Comments

Well Christmas is nearly here, yet again. As physio’s, we often seen a great deal of people who either injure themselves over the festive season, or who find that their aches and pains increase over this period. So, why is that you ask? Well there are probably a number of reasons.

Firstly, we all tend to take a break from our regular exercise routines, and over indulge in some Christmas cheer. Regular exercise is essential for maintaining muscle strength, co-ordination and joint mobility. It takes a long time to improve muscle strength, but only a short period of rest to undo all of that good work. Without regular exercise, the receptors in our joints that send feedback to the brain don’t function as well as they should. This can increase the likelihood of an injury while sending some fast ones down the pitch in backyard cricket, or while hurtling down the ‘slip and slide’.

Alcohol is another major contributor to festive season injuries. Most people are aware of the balance effects of alcohol, so it is easy to see how it leads to increased falls and ligament damage. Ladies tottering around on high heels at Christmas parties are at a significantly higher risk of hurting an ankle or knee, especially if consuming alcohol. So ladies, no dancing in soaring high heels after a few champers’ at the Christmas party! At least take off the heels!

Overnight visits to relatives houses often involve sleeping in a strange bed, on a strange mattress and pillow. This often results in a wry neck upon waking, which is certainly not what you want during the Christmas break. Remember to take you own pillow when possible, and stretch your neck and back regularly to avoid muscle tightness.
So there you have it! Keep active, limit the alcohol (especially while wearing those killer heels) and stretch regularly to avoid a painful Christmas break. If you do happen to injure yourself this holiday period, seek help straight away. The sooner your injuries are attended to, the quicker you will be back to the holiday fun.

Craig and Rebecca Steele operate Hinteractive Physio and can be contacted on 5442 5556.

What is Physiotherapy and Can it Help Me?

Back Pain Headaches Physiotherapy No Comments

As physiotherapists, we are often asked what we do and how it benefits the client. Physiotherapists primarily deal with movement. Another words, we ensure that your body functions and moves in an optimal, pain free and effective way. Problems with movement can be related to congenital (birth) issues, be a result of an accident, sporting or workplace injury, or be due to a major medical event such as a stroke or neurological condition. So whether you are young and active or elderly and sedentary, chances are at some stage in your life, you may benefit from physiotherapy.

Physiotherapists use a variety of techniques to ensure the optimal functioning of the muscles, joints and nerves. These include joint mobilisation or manipulation, muscle releases/massage, muscle retraining, exercise programs, electrotherapy to speed up healing and reduce inflammation, strapping and assistance with using various aids or braces. These techniques are used to help treat a variety of problems, including:

*Back pain
* Neck pain, headaches and whiplash,
*Arthritis
*Sports Injuries
* Rehabilitation from neurological disorders such as stroke, head injuries
* Upper limb pain including RSI, rotator cuff strains, tennis elbow etc
* Childrens problems such as cerebral palsy
* Pregnancy pain and weakness as well as incontinence

When you visit a physiotherapist, they will take a detailed history, perform a thorough physical examination, provide hands on treatment to address the problems found, advise you on the best course of management for your condition, and provide a home exercise program for you to optimise your physiotherapy consultation. The number of consultations required will depend on the severity and duration of your problems. If you have any queries about how physiotherapy may help you, please call your local physio who will be more than happy to answer any questions.

Rebecca Steele owns Hinteractive Physio in Cooroy and can be contacted on 5442 5556.

Are Your Kids Shoes Wearing You Out?

Feet No Comments

It is back to school for the second half of the year and already some children have worn their shoes to within a few footsteps of the expected mileage. Some kids just wear their shoes down through activity and sometimes through poor foot posture / control inside their shoes. Early in the year we as parents are bombarded with lots of good information about getting our kids shoes correctly fitted for their foot-type and size, but we need to be vigilant for the latter half of the year also for wear and fit. Your little-ones feet will grow 90% of their adult size in their first 12 or so years and will go through 17 full shoe sizes! It is not uncommon during a year with very active growth spurts to have to upsize your child’s shoes.

Our children are spending around 30 hours a week in their school shoes, which is in excess of 1200 hours each year or 15,000 hours during their total school years! And as their feet are developing at such an incredible pace, it’s imperative that kids wear school shoes specifically designed to support the requirements of their growing feet. Wearing correctly fitted school shoes reduces the risk of injury, improves comfort and can enhance performance when they are at play. Because of the greater flexibility in a child’s foot compared to an adult’s foot, childhood foot problems are less common than adult foot problems. That doesn’t mean that foot pain and even foot injuries don’t still occur when a child routinely plays hard in overly flimsy shoes. Children may not be mature enough to realize that a foot condition is developing until the pain can no longer be ignored and thus may not receive a diagnosis as early as they should. Just like adults, active kids need shoes that provide adequate arch support and heel support and absorb shock to reduce stress to joints while they exercise. The major difference between an adult’s and a child’s therapeutic school / running shoe is that a child’s shoe tends to provide less motion control to allow little feet to continue to grow and develop without unnatural hindrance.

Most kids are actively participating in winter sports regimes through clubs or at school, and have given their school shoes a right hammering by now. The leather on our boys school shoes has had a severe beating and already the forefoot and heels are showing some signs of wear. As parents we all need to have a look at our kids shoes and make sure that the wear is occurring evenly or somewhat near enough for the type of activity the your little one participates mostly in. This wear pattern may well be an early indicator of some more complex foot and leg conditions that create imbalances during growth.

Clinically we see children with lower limb complaints from activity in poorly supporting shoes and even hip and spinal issues arising from the similar footwear issues. It is important at this stage of the year, with winter sports in full flight, to monitor your child’s wear and tear on their shoes and their body. Just like checking your tyre wear on the car, your child’s shoes may indicate an alignment issue. This may indicate some preventive measures in the form of better footwear for control or even an orthotic intervention for more serious foot control issues. We do need to be mindful in the growing child of some less common complications arising from their feet such as spinal curvature and hip weakness as a result of foot posture or leg length discrepancies. School shoes can even tell a story though wear and tear of postural imbalances from heavy schoolbags worn incorrectly resulting in hip and spinal pressures that are imbalanced.

If you have concerns about your child’s feet or lower limb biomechanics, contact an experienced physiotherapist or podiatrist who can guide you on the correct course of action.

Craig Steele is a sports physiotherapist at Hinteractive Physio. He can be contacted on 5442 5556.

Is your Headache a Pain in the Neck?

Headaches No Comments

Headaches where the pain originates in the cervical spine (upper spine), neck and upper shoulders are often referred to as a “cervicogenic” headache. Many times, these headaches can be a byproduct of injuries such as whiplash, joint or muscle trauma and more commonly due to poor prolonged posture or even cases of severe stress.

Headaches are one of the most common ailments in modern society, approximately 12-15% of the population suffers from headaches each year. Usually these are minor stress or tension related headaches, and in some people are more severe migraine headaches. Unfortunately, one type of headache that is often overlooked and misdiagnosed is the cervicogenic headache.

Cervicogenic headaches are one of the most common types of headache, and are clinically defined as pain that is present in the head, but which originates in the cervical spine. The pain associated with this condition is an example of referred pain. This occurs because the nerves that supply the sensation in the upper neck also supply the skin overlying the head, forehead, jawline, back of the ear and behind the eye. Pain that begins in the base of your neck in the cervical spine and then progressively spreads upwards into the head is a typical symptom of cervicogenic headache.

There are two symptoms that are classic to those with cervicogenic headaches.

 

  • The first is that the headache can be made worse or actually onset by head or neck movement.
  • The second is that there is marked tenderness in the suboccipital (base of head) region.

A thorough examination by your physiotherapist or doctor is usually sufficient to diagnose cervicogenic headache. Occasionally further investigations may be required, such as Xray or CT scan / MRI if there are some complicating symptoms and circumstances. These headaches arising from the neck generally respond quite quickly to treatment and a complete resolution of symptoms can be expected if there are no underlying causes still present. In some cases where the headaches are quite long-term (chronic) your physiotherapist may have to address your posture (study, work and sleep), spinal stiffness, muscle weakness / tightness and imbalances, along with advice on exercises, pillows for sleep and other lifestyle factors. Immediate treatment is the best management for all headaches caused by the neck that do not resolve within a few days of rest and analgesia.

Local physiotherapist, Craig Steele, has had extensive experience in treating headaches and neck / jaw problems related to cervicogenic headaches. He can be contacted at Hinteractive Physio on 5442 5556 for consultations and further advice regarding your treatment.

MENU

Navigation