Pregnancy is of course a life changing event for any woman. There are many changes that happen to your body during your pregnancy, and a period of adjustment and change after birth as your body finds its new ‘normal’. Making sure you take care of your postpartum recovery will mean your body will settle into its new normal faster and with less risk of complications.

What will affect my postnatal recovery?

Postpartum or post-natal recovery depends on a variety of factors. This includes your previous health, activity levels before and during the pregnancy, genetics, and even the birth itself. Recovery of this nature will also depend on your goals for what you want to achieve, and what your current priorities are.

As a result of the changes that occur during pregnancy and birth, some women experience issues with their bladder and bowel, pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic pain. That’s why it’s important to see a women’s health physiotherapist for your postnatal recovery

What should my postnatal recovery focus on?

Contact us for full support during your postnatal recovery

At Graceville Physio, we want to make sure everyone who comes through our practice feels supported and comfortable with their therapist and treatment.  Some women may be embarrassed about the issues they may be experiencing and it is really important that they get the help they need. Contact our physiotherapists trained in women’s health today to start living life to the fullest.

What are the causes of mastitis?

How is mastitis treated?

At Graceville Physiotherapy, we offer mastitis treatment from our specialist women’s health physiotherapist, Meredith. The treatment involves massage of the breast to ensure the ducts flow easily and dislodge any blockages. This can, unfortunately, be a painful experience which is why it’s best to get a professional to assist.

Before it gets to that point though, proper and supported feeding positions are essential in order to try and prevent the condition. Your qualified physiotherapist or breastfeeding nurse can help to show you how best to position the baby in order to avoid the condition from occurring.  It is essential that you try to use different positions when feeding so that all of the milk ducts have a good flow of milk to the nipple. 

Using gravity to assist the feeding can also help so ensuring that the duct that needs emptying is higher than the baby can be beneficial. This of course is useful in most cases except when there is excessive flow and then you would do the opposite. Lying with the baby on top of you in these cases will help but in the case of mastitis we are trying to push the milk through.

The use of hot packs can be very helpful and it is also necessary to make sure that you empty both breasts or at least ensure that one breast is not favoured over the other. Drinking plenty of fluids will help and avoiding alcohol and caffeinated drinks will ensure that you do not become dehydrated which then can also lead to lessening the flow of the milk.

In some cases, if there is an infection, you may also need to see your doctor to receive a course of antibiotics. You should be able to continue physiotherapy treatment while taking these medications.

Contact Us As Graceville Physio For Mastitis Treatment In Brisbane

No one should suffer in pain on their own. At Graceville Physio, we offer personalised treatment plans for mastitis or other women’s health issues. All treatment starts with a consultation where we begin to understand your circumstances and your end goals. We can also offer a range of mastitis prevention tips to minimise the chance of recurrence.

As transversus abdominis control and activation improves, more challenging abdominal exercises can be included, such as modified planks, push-ups, crunches and oblique exercises. Again these need to be started at an appropriate level, and progressed as core control improves. The aim of the early phase of rehabilitation is to regain good technique and coordinated activation of the abdominals, lower back muscles and pelvic stabilisers.

Special considerations for toning your postpartum belly and abdomen

• Diastasis of the Rectus Abdominis Muscle (DRAM)

In the presence of an ongoing DRAM) core exercises will need to be modified to ensure that the DRAM improves rather than worsens. The key things to monitor are the size of the ‘gap’ during abdominal exercises (to make sure it’s not widening), and avoid any abdominal bulging, doming, tenting or herniation through the DRAM.

• Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Weak Pelvic Floor

If you have pelvic organ prolapse, then it will be important to ensure that your prolapse is not negatively affected by the abdominal exercises you do. Crunches are often implicated as an exercise to be avoided by women with weak pelvic floors or pelvic organ prolapse. Research suggests that when done properly, the pressure on the pelvic organs and pelvic floor is less during crunching than when simply standing still. As such, doing crunches with correct technique may be safe even if you have a weak pelvic floor or pelvic organ prolapse. Similarly, plank and push-up style exercises can increase the pressure on the pelvic organs and pelvic floor, but if done well with good technique (including correct pelvic floor engagement), may be safe. It is important to get your women’s health physio to check your technique and pelvic organ position during these exercises to ensure they are safe for you.

Exercises such as basic transversus activation and bridging are typically safe for women with weak pelvic floors or pelvic organ prolapse as they do not exert significant pressure on the pelvic organs or pelvic floor.

• Post Caesarean Section

If you have had a caesarean section, it is important to minimise lifting, carrying and abdominal load during the first six weeks. This is essential to allow the abdominal and uterine incisions to heal well. After the first six weeks (if the wounds are healing well), gentle core rehabilitation should be started gradually, and may include gentle, progressive activation of the transversus abdominis, bridging style exercises and light resistance exercises in functional positions. These exercises can be gradually progressed until you are 12 weeks post-caesar, at which point more challenging core exercises can be added (as per the general principles section above) provided you have developed good base level control and activation.

Overall, it is important to rebuild your abdominals and core control after pregnancy and birth to regain function and reduce the risk of other injuries. If you are unsure of how to proceed, or feel any symptoms whilst doing core exercises (pain, incontinence, or vaginal pressure, heaviness or bulging) then you should consult a women’s health physio for an assessment and provision of a tailored exercise program.

Contact Graceville Physio to start postpartum abdominal rehab today.

Our experienced women’s health physiotherapists have the skills to ensure you’re able to get on top of these issues before they have an ongoing impact on your life. Book an appointment with us today – and happy exercising Mum’s!

Why Should I Get My Scar Treated?

While we do treat scars for cosmetic reasons, our main concern is how the muscles are healing. Dense muscles that have lost their elasticity can lead to further problems in the future or potentially other injuries.

Not only that, a tight scar can mean decreased mobility or less strength in the muscles, which means that you’re unable to live life to the fullest.

Choose Graceville Physio for your scar removal treatment.

Our goal is to provide the most effective treatment in the least invasive way. We believe that it’s always better to try a natural therapy before resorting to surgery or other such methods. Our expert physios are highly trained in all aspects of the body and will treat your scar for long term results.

Before we treat your scar, you will need to have an initial consultation with one of our team to learn about your history and your goals. This will help us to not only understand your scar but to choose the best treatment method for your specific needs. During this initial consultation, our trained physiotherapists will also be able to determine if you need any additional treatment to help strengthen other parts of your body to ensure no unneeded pressure is put on the site of the scar.

Contact Graceville Physio, Pain Slayers for scar treatment today.

The team at Graceville Physio are experts in the field, offering specialist care and natural treatments. We’re conveniently open after hours and on weekends so that you can make an appointment at a time that suits you.  

Additionally, our physiotherapists take the time to explain each exercise and provide you with a take-home treatment plan so that you can continue to effectively manage your scar treatment between appointments. Contact us today – we’ll help you achieve the best scar treatment results in no time.

Some patients experience TMJ as a result of clenching or grinding their teeth, which should be addressed by a dentist in conjunction with physio treatment.

Patients may experience clicking, grating, difficulty opening or closing the mouth, and trouble eating. TMJ will sometimes be experienced as a short-term problem, in which case it will disappear on its own. In other cases, this jaw pain will persist and need ongoing treatment from one, or both, professionals.

As well as the clicking and grating, this type of pain can feel like a headache, sore jaw muscles, earaches or pain, or pain in the temple. Because this type of pain can sometimes feel like other things, it can be tricky to diagnose.

When considering temporomandibular joint dysfunction as the reason for your patient’s pain, it’s important to consider all of the symptoms together. Stiff jaw muscles on their own may not be TMD, but does the patient also experience a popping sensation or lockjaw?

What if my dental patient has persistent jaw pain that I can’t treat?

If your dental patient has jaw pain and you’ve ruled out or treated any potential dental causes,  it’s important you advise them to visit a physiotherapist who can treat this pain. Dental treatment for jaw pain can include things like mouthguards, to ease clenching or grinding, or orthodontic treatment to correct uneven bites or teeth that don’t meet correctly in the mouth.

At Graceville Physio, Pain Slayers, our experienced jaw pain specialists use a variety of methods to treat this pain, including treating underlying issues in the neck or back that may be contributing to this issue.

Treatment for this issue can take some time, as the muscles need to be retrained to take the pressure off the temporomandibular joint and be able to function as normal again. It’s best that this treatment is started as early as possible, performed in conjunction with any dental work that needs to be done.

Our jaw pain specialists also create take-home treatment plans for each client so that they can continue to self-treat their underlying jaw pain between physiotherapy or dental appointments.

Contact Graceville Physio, Pain Slayers for Jaw Pain treatment today

If your dental patients are experiencing persistent jaw pain, refer them to a specialist in the Brisbane area. At Graceville Physio, we partner with dental clinics throughout Brisbane to treat jaw pain and help people lead happy pain-free lives. After all, no one should have to live in pain with a condition that can be easily treated by a specialist physiotherapist.

 When an operation like this is performed there is obvious pain and discomfort immediately following the procedure. It is important that the patient keeps as mobile as possible as this not only helps with the pain, but helps to reduce the amount of rigid tissue as the scar heals. It may also be important to ensure that you have adequate pain relief on board so that you are then able to move without it causing too much pain.

The initial inflammation from surgery takes around two weeks to settle down. The tissues then continue to heal for the next four to six weeks. During this phase, the scar tissue starts to form so it is important to keep the area moving. After 12 weeks there should be significantly less pain from the actual surgery, so if there is a pain this could be a result of the scar tissue that has started to form. 

After surgery as soon as possible it is necessary to be up and about. Walking will help to mobilise tissues and keep the body moving well overall. It is important not to lift anything heavy, push or pull anything with much effort and also important not to strain when going to the toilet. Any of these things can lead to straining of the tissues around the scar. Other gentle mobility exercises can be given to ensure that no postural changes occur as a result of the healing scar.

At around the six to eight-week point, it’s important to start to mobilise the scar and the tissues around the scar. The scar must be well healed before this can be done. Gentle mobilisation of the scar at the skin level, the muscle level and the organ level is important to avoid the scar tissue advancing into the abdominal cavity. The mobilisation of these tissues also creates a nice flat scar that heals well due to the increased blood flow to the area. 

Descent and ascent of the diaphragm assists in spinal mobilisation and mobilisation of the abdominal tissues, so breathing exercises may also be helpful to assist in the healing of the area and the minimisation of scar tissue. 

The tissues around the scar also develop some inflammation around the site. Initially cold packs can be used to reduce the inflammation but later on, heat packs are more beneficial to the mobilisation of the scar. The swelling and associated accumulation of fluid in the tissues can be treated with some targeted lymphatic drainage and also some dry bushing which helps to reduce this. The dry brushing can also be done at home on a daily basis.

Choose Graceville Physio, Pain Slayers for your abdominal scar treatment

We offer physiotherapy sessions in our private treatment rooms or via Skype to teach you how to do the home treatments as described above. 

If you have had abdominal surgery in the past and are getting lower back pain, abdominal pain or having problems with your bowels, physiotherapy may be able to help reduce your symptoms and get you back to doing what you love doing. Contact the team at Graceville Physio today to book an appointment.