Tag: physiotherapy

Three Reasons to see a Physiotherapist

Physiotherapy No Comments

Most people associate physiotherapy with pain and injury management.  While helping you recover from pain is our specialty, physiotherapists are also able to help with many more issues. Here are three things that you may not have thought to visit a physiotherapist for.

 

Stiffness and Inflexibility

 

Almost all of us have experienced pain and stiffness after a day of increased or unaccustomed exercise. This kind of stiffness usually wears of quickly, and is referred to as DOMS (delayed onset muscles soreness). If however, you find yourself feeling stiff for longer periods, or even most the time – it might be time to see a physiotherapist. There are many different causes of stiffness and inflexibility; by far the most common is lack of movement. Our joints and muscles both lose flexibility if they are not regularly moved all the way through their range. Muscles can feel short and tight with a bouncy feeling of restriction and joints are more of a hard ‘blocked’ feeling when you try to move.

 

For this kind of stiffness, you may not even notice that you have lost range, as it can be very easy to adapt your movements to compensate. Your physiotherapist can help you to identify where you have areas of inflexibility and help you to exercise, stretch and mobilise your joints to get them back to a healthy range. Disease processes such as Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis can also cause prolonged stiffness and your physiotherapist is well equipped to help you deal with these conditions.

 

Reduced Strength or Weakness

 

There are many reasons for weakness in the body, from generalised disuse, weakness in one muscle group following injury, neurological weakness or structural weakness of joint following an injury. Weakness of any kind can predispose you to future injury and can be surprisingly difficult to resolve without targeted exercises. Your physiotherapist is able to determine the cause of your weakness and determine the best treatment to restore your muscle strength.

Reduced Balance

Keeping your balance is a very complicated process and your body works hard to make sure you stay on your feet. Humans have a very small base of support for our height and we use all our senses together to determine which movements we should make to stay upright, including our visual, vestibular, muscular and sensory systems. As balance is so important, if one part of our senses begins to weaken, the others will quickly compensate, so you may not notice that your balance has worsened until you fall or trip over.

As a general rule, our balance deteriorates as we age but this does not mean that falls should be an inevitable part of aging. Actively working to maintain or improve your balance can have a significant effect on your quality of life and confidence in getting around. Your physiotherapist is able to test all the aspects of your balance and provide effective rehabilitation to help keep you on your feet.

Return to Sport: Ankle Injuries

Sports Injuries No Comments

It’s coming up to sport season again. Footie boots, netball gear, orange slices and all of the aches and pains that are synonymous with kids sports. But how bad should an ache or a pain be before you go and see someone? Ankle sprains are the most common injury in active and sporting individuals. From a simple rolling of the ankle to a ligamentous tear, a physiotherapist can help. Mild sprain injuries result in a stretching of the ligaments which normally act as a passive restraint and support the ankle with twisting movements. As these ligaments stretch, it becomes easier and easier to re-injure the ankle. Ankle injuries can present with swelling, stiffness and pain.
Sometimes, pain may present in three ways; 1) pain only during activity, 2) pain upon rest following activity, or 3) pain upon waking the following morning after an activity. The presence of pain is the body’s way of warning you that a certain activity may be causing you harm, such as the stretching and tearing of the ligaments around the ankle. Pain following an activity indicates the presence of inflammation. Playing through pain may create a cycle of chronic inflammation which will hinder healing and prolong an injury. Inflammation is commonly treated with rest, ice, compression and elevation.
If your child is complaining of persisting pain and swelling around the ankle, it may be time to visit your local physiotherapist. With ligamentous stretching, the ankle becomes unstable and people may also experience a loss of balance. Commonly physiotherapists advise rest for 3-5 days in an acutely inflamed ankle, giving a compression bandage to help alleviate swelling. As pain diminishes with rest, your physio will prescribe exercises to help improve ankle stability to reduce recurrence risk.
The next big question is should your child use tape or a brace during sport? Ideally, the exercises prescribed by your physiotherapist will aim to improve stability. Though while the ankle is strengthening (which can take six to ten weeks) your child will be heading back to sport. There are pro’s and con’s to both options as seen in the table. Ultimately it is personal preference. If you are concerned about your children’s ankles in the upcoming sporting season, why not give our friendly physiotherapists a call at Hinteractive Physio on 5442 5556 and book an appointment.

PRO CON
TAPING
Not Bulky Skin irritation and pain with removal
Improves joint position awareness Expensive long term
Difficult to self apply
BRACING
Long lasting Bulky, difficult to fit in shoe
Easy to self apply Brace slipping with movement

Physiotherapy and Prostate Surgery

Men's Health No Comments

Prostate cancer is now the most diagnosed cancer in Australian men, and the second most common cancer to cause death in men, with over 20,000 men being diagnosed with the disease each year. Physiotherapists are encouraging people to speak more openly about men’s health and prostate cancer.  Local physiotherapist, Craig Steele wants to encourage men diagnosed with prostate cancer and who are to undergo surgery to seek pre and post surgery consultation with an appropriately trained physiotherapist.  Craig wants to raise awareness about the side effects of prostate cancer surgery, specifically incontinence and erectile dysfunction, as well as how a physiotherapist trained in pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation can help.  Up to 95% of men who have radical prostatectomy will experience incontinence, however most men will recover with the help of pelvic floor physiotherapy.

 

Whilst the awareness of treatment available for female incontinence is fairly well known, most men either don’t speak of their condition, or just assume that they need to put up with it.   Many men with prostate cancer believe that time will heal them post surgery and their continence will spontaneously return, however this is not always the case. With the help of a pelvic floor trained physiotherapist, men can regain their continence sooner.

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According to the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA), incontinence and erectile dysfunction are significant side effects arising from surgery to treat prostate cancer. Most men will be incontinent and have erectile dysfunction straight after the surgery and for around 5% of men, incontinence will persist a year later.

 

The APA encourages men to be proactive about “pre-habilitation” in preparation for prostate cancer surgery, using pelvic floor muscle exercises to help bladder control. Physiotherapy research has shown how pelvic floor exercises should be taught in order for men to benefit most from the program. These tailored exercises shorten the time and severity of men’s incontinence thus improving their quality of life.

 

If you or a loved one are about to undergo prostate surgery, or have already had an operation, physiotherapist Craig Steele from Hinteractive Physio can help you regain your pelvic floor muscle strength.  Craig has recently undergone specific training in this area with renowned physiotherapy leaders in the field.  He can be contacted on 5442 5556 to make an appointment.  As there is a great deal of education involved in this consultation, you may need to ask for an extended appointment slot.  Craig can also be contacted via email: hinteractivephysio@gmail.com

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.

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