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Category: Chronic

Peninsula OsteopathyChronic
By Gemma Percy Chronic, Hips

Caught in the Hips: Exploring FAI, Pinching Hips & Finding Relief

WHAT IS FEMORAL ACETABULAR IMPINGEMENT (FAI)?

Femoral Acetabular Impingement Syndrome (FAIS) is a condition that affects the hip joint, causing pain, discomfort, and reduced mobility. FAI can affect anybody, however is common amongst active individuals. In this blog post, we will delve into the causes, symptoms, and treatment options for FAIS to provide a comprehensive understanding of this condition.

FAI Syndrome is a common condition that can significantly impact an individual’s quality of life, especially if left untreated. Early recognition of symptoms and prompt intervention are key to managing FAIS effectively. 

Image reference: https://davidslattery.com/hip-conditions/femoroacetabular-impingement/description/

CAUSES: 

FAI is caused by an abnormality in the hip joint structure, resulting in abnormal contact between the ball (femoral head) and socket (acetabulum) of the hip joint. 

These abnormalities will typically develop during growth, but are also commonly caused by repetitive microtrauma and/or overuse.  Overuse and repetitive trauma are particularly associated with activities such as dancing, football and soccer that involve high and repetitive loading of the hip through motion.

SYMPTOMS: 

The symptoms of FAIS can vary in severity but often include:

  • Groin pain or discomfort, especially during physical activity or hip movement.
  • Pain or stiffness in the hip joint, particularly after prolonged sitting or activity.
  • Limited range of motion in the hip joint, which may affect activities like squatting or bending.
  • Clicking, catching, or locking sensations in the hip joint during movement.

It’s essential to note that symptoms may worsen over time if left untreated, leading to further joint damage and potentially osteoarthritis.

TREATMENT:

The treatment of FAI aims to relieve symptoms, improve hip function, and prevent further damage to the joint. The approach to treatment may vary depending on the severity of symptoms and the individual’s lifestyle. Here are some common treatment options:

  1. Conservative Management: This may include rest, activity modification, and physical therapy to strengthen the muscles around the hip joint, improve flexibility, and correct movement patterns.
  2. Injection Therapy: In some cases, corticosteroid injections or hyaluronic acid injections may be recommended to provide temporary relief from pain and inflammation. 
  3. Surgical Intervention: If conservative measures fail to provide adequate relief, surgical intervention may be considered. Arthroscopic hip surgery is often performed to address the underlying structural abnormalities causing impingement. 
  4. Rehabilitation: Following surgery, a structured rehabilitation program is crucial to optimize recovery and restore hip function. Physical therapy exercises and gradual return to activity under the guidance of a therapist or physician can help regain strength, flexibility, and mobility in the hip joint. 

Whether through conservative measures or surgical intervention, the goal of treatment is to alleviate pain, restore hip function, and improve overall quality of life for individuals affected by this condition. 

If you suspect you may have FAIS or are experiencing hip pain and discomfort, it’s essential to consult with a healthcare professional for proper evaluation and personalized treatment recommendations.



By Emma Hines Acute, Chronic, Massage

5 Reasons to Get Remedial Massage Therapy

Remedial massage therapy is a form of therapeutic massage that aims to address specific musculoskeletal issues and promote healing and recovery. There are many reasons why people might seek remedial massage, but here are 5 common ones:

  1. Pain Relief: Remedial massage is often sought to alleviate pain, whether it’s due to muscle tension, injury, or chronic conditions like back pain, neck pain, or headaches. The therapist uses various techniques and assessments to target the source of discomfort and provide relief.
  2. Injury Rehabilitation: Many people turn to remedial massage as part of their rehabilitation process after injuries, such as sprains, strains, or sports-related injuries. It can help speed up the healing process, reduce scar tissue, and improve mobility.
  3. Stress and Tension Reduction: Stress and tension can manifest in the form of muscle tightness and knots. Remedial massage techniques can help relax muscles, release built-up tension, and improve overall relaxation, contributing to better mental and physical wellbeing.
  4. Postural Issues: Poor posture is a common problem, often leading to chronic pain and discomfort. Remedial massage can help correct postural imbalances by releasing tight muscles and promoting better alignment.
  5. Range of Motion Improvement: Restricted range of motion can be due to various factors, including muscle tightness and joint stiffness. Remedial massage can help improve flexibility and joint mobility, making it easier to perform everyday activities and prevent future injuries.

Keep in mind that remedial massage therapy is a highly individualised treatment, and the specific reasons for seeking it may vary from person to person. Remedial massage therapists aim to assess your unique needs and tailor the treatment accordingly.

 

By Mitch Mee Acute, Chronic, Elbow, Hips, Knee, Overuse, Tendon pain

Overcoming Overuse Injuries: A Guide to Prevention and Healing

In today’s fast-paced world, many of us lead active lives and engage in various physical activities. While being active provides numerous health benefits, it can also lead to overuse injuries. Overuse injuries occur when repetitive movements put excessive stress on specific parts of the body, resulting in pain and discomfort. Fortunately, our team at Peninsula Osteopathy & Allied Health put together some information on common causes and types of overuse injuries, how we can assist you to address these injuries and how you can help yourself!

Overuse injuries typically develop gradually and can affect anyone engaged in repetitive activities. Some common causes include:

  • Repetitive Motion: Repeatedly performing the same movements, such as running, jumping, or throwing, can strain the involved muscles, tendons, and joints.
  • Training Errors: Increasing exercise intensity, duration, or frequency too rapidly without allowing adequate time for recovery can overload the body, leading to injuries.
  • Poor Technique: Incorrect posture, improper form, or flawed biomechanics during physical activities can place undue stress on certain body parts, making them susceptible to overuse injuries.
  • Inadequate Rest and Recovery: Failing to incorporate rest days into your exercise routine can prevent your body from healing and repairing itself, increasing the risk of overuse injuries.

Common types of overuse injuries include:

  • Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow: Characterised by pain and inflammation/irritation in the tendons of the elbow, typically caused by repetitive wrist and forearm movements.
  • Runner’s Knee (Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome): A common knee condition resulting from excessive stress on the kneecap, causing pain during running or activities involving knee bending.
  • Shin Splints: Pain along the shinbone (tibia) caused by inflammation of the muscles, tendons, and bone tissue due to repetitive impact activities like running or jumping.
  • Achilles Tendinitis: An inflammation of the Achilles tendon, the large tendon at the back of the ankle, caused by repetitive strain or overuse.

Here at POAH, our osteopaths can play crucial roles in the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of overuse injuries. We are able to assist you with:

  • Accurate Diagnosis: We will conduct a thorough assessment to identify the specific cause of your overuse injury and determine the best course of treatment.
  • Individualised Treatment Plans: Based on your diagnosis, we will develop personalised treatment plans incorporating a range of techniques such as manual therapy, exercise prescription, stretching, and strengthening exercises.
  • Rehabilitation and Exercise Programs: We can guide you through progressive exercise programs aimed at restoring strength, flexibility, and function, while ensuring you regain optimal movement patterns.
  • Education and Prevention: Finally we can provide valuable guidance on proper technique, training modifications, and injury prevention strategies to reduce the likelihood of recurring overuse injuries.

While professional guidance is crucial, self-management also plays an important role in the recovery process. Here are some practical tips for managing overuse injuries:

  • Rest and Recovery: Allow your body sufficient time to rest and heal. Modify or temporarily halt activities that exacerbate your symptoms.
  • Pain Management: Ice and heat pack strategies can be effective pain relievers, often personal preference dictates whether hot or cold will benefit you more. Over-the-counter pain relievers or anti-inflammatory medications, used under medical guidance, can also help manage pain and inflammation. Please ensure you consult with your medical practitioner to determine what is the most appropriate for you.
  • Proper Technique and Form: Pay attention to your body mechanics and ensure you are using correct posture and technique during activities to reduce unnecessary strain on vulnerable areas.
  • Gradual Return to Activity: When your symptoms improve, gradually reintroduce activities, starting with low impact and gradually increasing intensity and duration.
  • Cross-training: Engage in alternative activities that work different muscle groups, reducing the repetitive strain on the injured area while maintaining overall fitness.
  • Stretching and Strengthening: Perform specific stretches and exercises recommended by our team to enhance flexibility and strengthen the affected area.

Overuse injuries may try to slow you down, but they won’t stop you! Your passion for the activities you love is worth preserving, and your well-being matters. That’s why the team at Peninsula Osteopathy & Allied Health is here, ready to be your allies in recovery and vitality.

Don’t let pain hold you back. With our expert care and your commitment to self-management, we’ll help you reclaim your active, pain-free lifestyle. Remember, the sooner you act, the faster you’ll thrive. Reach out to us today and let’s conquer those overuse injuries together. Your journey to a healthier, happier you starts now!

By Josh Roberts Acute, Arthritis, Chronic, Exercises, Injury, Overuse

Navigating Injury: The Art of Pacing and Progression

At Peninsula Osteopathy, we understand that injuries can be both physically and emotionally challenging. Whether you’re recovering from a strain, sprain, or a more serious injury, the journey to healing requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. In this blog, we delve into the importance of pacing activities and effectively progressing or regressing rehabilitation exercises, offering insights that can significantly enhance your recovery process.

Pacing: A Key to Successful Recovery

Pacing, often referred to as finding your “activity threshold,” is a fundamental principle in injury rehabilitation. It involves striking the right balance between engaging in activity and allowing your body the necessary rest it needs to heal. Here’s how to implement pacing:

  1. Listen to Your Body: The first step in effective pacing is tuning in to your body’s signals. If an activity causes pain, discomfort, or fatigue, it’s crucial to acknowledge these signals and adjust accordingly.
  2. Gradual Progress: The journey to recovery is not a sprint but a marathon. Start with gentle activities that don’t strain the injured area and gradually increase the duration and intensity as your body responds positively.
  3. Prevent Overexertion: Pushing yourself too hard too soon can lead to setbacks and potentially delay your healing process. Pacing helps prevent overexertion and promotes a gradual return to your usual activities.
  4. Build Confidence: Pacing allows you to build confidence in your body’s ability to heal and adapt. It also reduces the anxiety that can arise from the fear of re-injury.

Progressing and Regressing Exercises: Your Customised Approach

Progressing and regressing rehabilitation exercises play a pivotal role in your recovery journey. These strategies involve tailoring exercises to your current abilities while ensuring that you challenge your body within its limits. Here’s how to effectively utilise them:

Progression: As your body heals and gains strength, progression becomes essential:

  1. Increase Intensity: Gradually add resistance or weights to your exercises. This stimulates muscle growth and strengthens the injured area.
  2. Expand Reps and Sets: Slowly increase the number of repetitions and sets to improve endurance and muscle conditioning.
  3. Embrace Complexity: Integrate more complex variations of exercises. This engages multiple muscle groups, enhancing overall strength.

Regression: There might be times when you need to take a step back to support your recovery:

  1. Reduce Intensity: Lower the resistance or weight to prevent strain, especially if you experience discomfort.
  2. Limit Range of Motion: If a movement causes pain, reduce the range of motion or opt for a modified version.
  3. Utilise Support: Incorporate assistive tools like bands or stability aids to provide support during exercises.

Musculoskeletal injury recovery is a process that demands patience, resilience, and expert guidance. At Peninsula Osteopathy, our expert practitioners are here to guide you through every step of your recovery journey. Pacing activities and skilfully adjusting exercise intensity are two powerful tools that can expedite your journey to healing. At Peninsula Osteopathy, we’re dedicated to providing you with the support and knowledge you need to make informed choices about your recovery. Remember, every step you take towards progress, no matter how small, is a step towards regaining your strength, mobility, and overall well-being.

By Josh Roberts Acute, Arthritis, Chronic, Exercises, Injury, Overuse, Strength

5 Ways Your Rehab is Helping

Rehabilitation exercises are a staple of injury recovery, however we’re all guilty of letting them fall by the wayside from time to time. This blog will show you the many interesting ways in which your exercises are effective, hopefully inspiring you to persevere with them! (And spoiler alert, its not all about strengthening weak muscles!).

1. Motor recruitment & coordination

Rehab exercises can rewire the brain maps responsible for controlling and recruiting certain muscles and patterns, improving the technique and efficiency of your movement. In early stage rehab, the use of external constraints can decrease the number of potential movement solutions – helping to offload painful areas and teach the body how to utilise pain-free movement patterns.

As you progress, the rehab should gradually increase the degrees of available motion to move from rigid movement to fluid and variable movement – more closely mimicking the requirements of a full and active life.

2. Cognitive restructuring

We often fear certain activities and movements as we believe they can make our injury worse. Frequent low load exercise can help to restructure our relationship with movement. By repeating safe movements we can change the way we think about exercise and physical activity, which allows us to do more of our necessary daily tasks and get back to our loved recreational activities.

3. Nociceptive desensitisation

Nociception is the process of nerves sending messages to the brain from a particular body part that something is harmful. The brain then processes and codes the nerve signal and can create a sensation of pain.

During injury these nociceptive nerves can become more sensitive, due to many factors including inflammation at the injured body part. Exercising the sore body part causes the brain to respond to this demand by acclimating to the sensation, thereby decreasing the body’s pain response to the particular stimuli. The body gets used to the stimulus and it therefore becomes tolerable, no longer eliciting the pain response.

4. Descending pain inhibition

This phenomena is similar to taking medications that are designed to decrease pain, like panadol. Exercise causes nerves and chemicals to be stimulated that have a hypoalgesic effect – meaning they directly dampen the sensation of pain.

5. Progressive strength

Although early rehabilitation isn’t focused on building strength, it sets the foundation for further exercise progression. A good rehabilitation program should always be progressing towards a higher goal. As the aforementioned characteristics are achieved, the exercise prescription should increase its intensity – either by increasing load/weight, increasing volume, decreasing rest periods, or progressing to a more challenging movement.

Conclusion

Rehabilitation exercises are not just mundane routines, but powerful tools that facilitate a holistic recovery journey. They serve as more than just a means to strengthen weak muscles; they actively engage the brain, reshape our perceptions, and recalibrate our pain responses. Through consistent practice, we not only rehabilitate our bodies but also transform our relationship with movement and pain. Embracing these exercises not only aids in physical recovery but empowers us mentally, allowing us to reclaim our lives, one pain-free step at a time. So, let these insights inspire you to persevere with your exercises, for they are not just a path to recovery, but a gateway to a stronger, more resilient you.

By Demi Donegan Acute, Chronic, Injury, Neck, Nerve Pain, Overuse, Strength

Pins and Needles?

Why do I have tingling in my hands?

Hand numbness can be caused by damage, irritation, or compression of one of the nerves or a branch of one of the nerves in your arm and wrist.

Diseases affecting the peripheral nerves, such as diabetes, also can cause numbness, although with diabetes, similar symptoms usually occur first in your feet.

Uncommonly, numbness may be caused by problems in your brain or spinal cord, although in such cases arm or hand weakness or loss of function also occurs.

‘Pins and needles’ (paresthesia) is a sensation of uncomfortable tingling, prickling, itching or skin crawling, usually felt in the hands or feet. The affected area is sometimes said to have ‘fallen asleep’.

A common cause of pins and needles is leaning or lying awkwardly on an arm or leg, which either presses against the nerves or reduces the blood supply to the local area. Changing position usually quickly restores normal feeling as the nerves start sending messages to the brain and spinal cord again.

Symptoms of pins and needles

Common features of pins and needles include:

  • prickling and tingling sensation
  • numbness
  • return of normal feeling a few minutes after changing position.

Hands, arms, legs and feet are the parts of the body most commonly affected.

Pressure-related pins and needles
The nerves of the body send information back to the brain and spinal cord. When a sensory nerve is pressed by being in a cramped or awkward position the messages are interrupted, which can cause pins and needles.

Once pressure is taken off the nerve, functioning resumes. An uncomfortable prickling sensation is caused by the restarting of pain messages from nerves to the brain. This usually resolves within minutes. An example of this is when you hit your elbow and feel a tingling sensation in your little finger.

Pinched nerves and pins and needles

Nerves can be compressed or ‘pinched’ by bones and other tissue. Some examples include:

Carpal tunnel syndrome – the main nerve that services the hand runs through a ring of wrist bones. Inflamed and swollen tendon membranes reduce the amount of room inside the wrist and irritate or compress the nerve. Symptoms include pins and needles, pain and weakness in the hand.

Cervical nerve root irritation – nerves in the neck exit the spinal cord via small holes between the vertebrae. These small holes can be narrowed by inflammation, injury or outgrowths of bone tissue (bone spurs). The nerves are irritated or compressed, causing pins and needles and, sometimes, referred pain into the arms

Sciatica – the legs and feet are serviced by the sciatic nerve, which starts between the vertebrae of the lower back. This nerve can be irritated or compressed due to problems in the lower back or pelvic or buttock area causing pins and needles, and sometimes pain, down the legs.

When to seek medical advice for pins and needles

The occasional bout of pins and needles is a harmless event. However, chronic pins and needles can be a warning of some other underlying disorder.

Always see your doctor if you experience frequent or persistent bouts of pins and needles.

Treatment for pins and needles

Treatment depends on the cause. For example, carpal tunnel syndrome may be treated with rest, splinting and medications such as anti-inflammatory and diuretic medications.

A compressed or irritated nerve may require treatment such as osteopathy, medication or (in some cases) surgery to ease the pressure and allow full nerve functioning to resume.

By Demi Donegan Acute, Chronic, Exercises

Lower Back Pain

Low back pain is pain felt in your lower back or lumbar spine. Most people have lower back pain at some point in their life. For most people back pain comes on quickly (acute back pain), but then improves or goes away within three to six weeks. However, it is common for it to come back, with some people going on to develop more persistent pain (that lasts for more than three months).

What causes lower back pain?

The causes of back pain are not fully understood. Most people with back pain don’t have any significant damage to their spine. The pain comes from the muscles, ligaments and joints.

Common contributors to back pain include:

  • repetitive or heavy lifting (manual handling)
  • sudden awkward movement
  • not getting enough regular physical activity (being sedentary)
  • poor posture
  • stress – muscle tension.

What to do if you have back pain?

  • Stay as active as possible – talk to your Osteopath or doctor if you need specific advice for your situation
  • Manage your stress
  • Relaxing – learn some relaxation techniques to reduce stress levels, try some heat packs or gentle exercise to calm your nervous system
  • Learn more about your particular injury – what makes it better, what makes it worse?
  • Lift and carry safely – ask for help if something is too heavy to lift alone.

Exercise and low back pain:

Exercise is great medicine for lower back pain, with no specific type being the best. Just stay as active as you can, allowing for the restrictions in movement that may come with pain. If you enjoy gardening, then staying active may mean pottering in your garden, even if heavy jobs such as digging or pruning are too much for you. If you run regularly, staying active may mean continuing training but reducing the distances you run each week. This will all depend on the severity and presentation of your pain. Speak to your Osteopath or GP for specific advice for your situation.

If you are having persistent low back pain, a strengthening program may be necessary to help you overcome or manage your presentation. This should be relevant to the way you prefer to exercise.For example if you stayed active by walking, to gain further health benefits you now need to walk further or faster, walk up hills, or carry extra weights. It is important to seek guidance in this as each presentation of back pain is different and should be tailored to you.

By Josh Roberts Arthritis, Chronic, Hips, Knee

Arthritis – Understanding Your Aching Joints

Arthritis
Arthritis is a condition affecting the joints, where the quality of the joint surface degrades and can lead to stiffness, tenderness, and swelling. There are several types of arthritis, the most common being Osteoarthritis (OA), affecting 1 in 5 Australians over the age of 45, or 1 in 3 people over 75 years old. OA is a multifactorial condition, with many contributing factors that lead to a decline in joint health. There are also other types of arthritis that can be due to autoimmune processes; like Rheumatoid Arthritis or Psoriatic Arthritis, so it’s important to be correctly diagnosed to get the care you need.

What is Osteoarthritis?
People commonly think of OA as “wear and tear”, but that isn’t entirely accurate. In fact, cartilage can respond quite well to load, as seen in studies of recreational runners that have shown their joint health to be superior to their inactive counterparts. Rather than just mechanical load on a joint (i.e. running, jumping, etc), OA is primarily caused by metabolic processes (i.e. chemicals, hormones and proteins in the blood) which can be directly improved with healthy lifestyle choices, such as diet and physical activity.

Osteoarthritis Management
People with arthritis often reduce their physical activity in an attempt to minimise the “damage”. They may start walking less and even cease the leisure activities they love most. But what they’re really sacrificing is cardiovascular health, mood, mental wellbeing, bone density, muscular strength, and increasing their risk of a variety of chronic conditions. And because OA has an important metabolic component, staying active can actually improve joint health!

There are several factors that can be utilised to assist in OA management.

  • Managing load; working out what activities stir up the joint pain and decreasing or modifying how they are undertaken.
  • Diet; healthy foods can assist in maintaining good metabolic function and decreasing inflammation, managing weight and boosting energy levels.
  • Pacing; having adequate rest and recovery between bouts of activity. This includes breaking up one long activity such as vacuuming the house, into shorter bouts with rest breaks or rest days in between.
  • Graded exposure; starting with a tolerable amount of activity and very gradually increasing your exposure to the activity, as tolerance rises.
  • Resistance training; build up muscle strength, balance and movement quality to decrease joint forces during activity

To learn more about Pacing and Graded Exposure, read our blog “Simple Tips for Living with Osteoarthritis”. For more information on the causes of Osteoarthritis and how to overcome it, read our blog “6 Golden Rules for Osteoarthritis Management”.

By Gemma Percy Chronic, Elbow, Injury, Overuse, Running, Sporting, Tendon pain

Overuse injury – The what, why’s and how’s answered.

What is an overuse injury?

An overuse injury, sometimes referred to as a chronic injury, refers to an injury that is associated with repeated stress or micro-trauma over time. Unlike an acute injury, such as an ankle sprain, over use injuries typically have no specific incident that caused the pain, rather it will typically gradually worsen with activity with a steady increase in pain. Common overuse injuries include tendinopathies, bursitis, stress fractures/bone stress and shin splints.

It is common to see overuse injuries in the athletic population however they can be seen in all population groups – whether your 10 years old starting netball for the first time, 37 and trying to return to a loved past time or 71 and wanting to start walking more, you must know your limits. Overuse injuries are often related to activities that require repetitive stimulus such as long distance running, swimming, occupation demands such as typing and computer mouse use.

What causes an overuse injury?

An overuse injury will occur for a number of reasons and is related to a break down of tissue structure when the load input exceeds the tolerable level for that specific tissue. Common causes of overuse injuries can include:
• A sudden and/or significant increased load; including but not limited to increased intensity of training, increased hours of training, increased frequency of training
• A change to training conditions; including but not limited to addition of hills, change of footwear, change of training surface
• Return to activity after period of inactivity – e.g. start of sporting season return to walking after surgery etc.
• Inadequate rest periods – leads to increased muscle fatigue and therefore increase load/reliance on tendons, bones and other structures.

How to prevent an overuse injury?

Given that the biggest and arguably only cause of an overuse injury is overload it goes without saying that the best chance at preventing an overuse injury is to follow a progressive loading program and avoid going in too hard too soon.

When starting a new exercise routine or looking at increasing your current training regime it is crucial to have a graded and steady increase. This may look like short periods of work in combination with periods of rest when starting running/walking/swimming or other exercise routines. Ensuring you take regular rest days in the early stages of beginning an exercise routine to allow for adequate muscle recovery is another vital key in reducing your risk of overuse and injury.

If you are an avid exercise goer and looking to increase or alter your current regime following the guidelines of progressive overload will limit placing too much demand on your body systems too soon. Progressive overload can be applied by changes to duration/intensity, frequency, exercise technique/execution or external load – in any of these cases an incremental increase of no more than 10% is advised to reduce the risk of overload and injury.

In the case of overuse injuries in day to day life or with work place demands consideration may given to desk ergonomics and/or technique of repeated movements to attempt to reduce strain on specific body parts that may be at risk over overuse.

How to treat an overuse injury?

Unfortunately due to the slow progression and repeated micro trauma of overuse injuries it is often too late for preventative measures by time your pain develops. If you develop pain that you believe may be an overuse injury it is important to seek medical advice to ensure you receive advise specific to your injury and needs.

When visiting your healthcare provider (Osteopath or Myotherpaist etc.) you can expect your practitioner to assess your tolerance to specific loads and determine a management plan to get you back on your way to achieving your goals. Things that may be considered in your long-term management may include:

• Resting without or without the use of a brace or aid if severely intolerant to load.
• Reducing provocative loads and activity – this may look like a 50% decrease in kms walked/run, or reducing frequency of sessions in the gym
• Limiting spring like loads such as jumping that place a large load through injured areas
• Implementing a exercise/rehab regime specific to your goals.

It is important to note that in all cases of overuse injury LOADING with exercise is essential for long-term recovery and prevention of re-injury. An exercise regime tailored to you is likely to include the following:

• Isometric exercises – those that involve holding a sustained position for an allocated time frame e/g. wall sits/planks etc.
• Isotonic exercise – those that involve moving a body part through its range of motions with or without external forces/load
• Plyometric/return to play – If your goals require you to return to sports/high levels of exercise your program will progress to a sports specific return to play plan
that will involve explosive efforts

glute bridge demo

In all cases you can expect a program to progress through different stages in line with what you are hoping to achieve and usually takes between 6-12 months for adaptations to occur – Rest assured this does not mean your pain will persist for this period of time!

In conjunction with a loading program your practitioner will work with you to reduce and manage your pain. This may be done through the use of braces/taping, manual therapy (such as soft tissue massage), Ice, Dry needling and/or anti-inflammatory medications.

When indicated your practitioner will also work to find underlying bio-mechanical imbalances or deficiencies in surrounding areas and guide you with the steps required to address these also – This may include looking at your hip when dealing with an Achilles (lower leg) tendinopathies.

Please note that this advice is generalised and we encourage you to seek further advice if you think you may have an overuse injury – For more specific advise or to get started on your journey to recovery from an overuse injury book an appointment with one of our qualified practitioners today!
Book an appointment online here today!
Tennis Elbow – in the non-tennis playing individual!
Tame Your Achilles Tendon Pain!

By Josh Roberts Arthritis, Chronic, Elbow, Hips, Knee, Strength

Simple Tips for Staying Active with Arthritis

Living with Arthritis

Living with persistent joint pain can make exercise seem like an impossible mission. However, movement is one of the best things you can do for a joint that has some arthritic changes. To better understand what arthritis is and what causes it, visit our previous blog “6 Golden Rules for Osteoarthritis“.

Motion is Lotion, Movement is Medicine

For too long the public have been led to believe that joints degrade as we age, and the more punishment you put it through, the more it degrades. However, movement is good for the joint.

  • Compression (eg: the impact on the knee during running and walking) stimulates growth of the good protective cartilage linings in the joint.
  • Movement can help with maintaining weight, which can help with reducing the load.
  • Building strength and muscle mass can help distribute the forces across the whole limb, rather than relying on the joint to take the weight.
  • Learning good movement patterns gives your body more options, so that it doesn’t rely on one joint too frequently.
  • Healthy lifestyle can decrease inflammation and have a direct improvement on pain and joint health.

Pacing

The key to exercising or doing daily tasks is pacing. Pacing means slowing down and doing less. If you’ve been in pain for a long time, or if you’ve been less active than in previous years, then it’s unlikely that you can do the same amount of physical activity. It’s about breaking up tasks into a series of smaller bouts. If your goal is to vacuum the house, you may need to do it one room at a time, having a rest in between each – whether that’s for a few minutes, an hour, or a day.

Graded Exposure

The second key component to increasing your pain-free activity is graded exposure. Graded exposure means steadily increasing your exposure to a given task or physical activity. If you’ve been vacuuming one room per day for the last 2 weeks and it hasn’t stirred up your joint pain, then you’re likely ready to increase to 2 rooms per day. After a couple more weeks you can likely do 3 rooms, then in another fortnight doing half the house. Over a period of weeks and months, you can slowly expose your body to the task that was once flaring it up.

Try This

Walking is often an aggravating activity, but usually people have an amount they can cope with before pain sets in. Think about your baseline, can you walk your block? Maybe walking to your letterbox is as far as you can handle? Whatever is your current yardstick, do that consistently for 2 weeks and then slightly increase the time or distance by 5-10%. Every 1-2 weeks increase your time and distance, ensuring you have lots of rest and recovery to complement it.