July Newsletter
FREE PHYSIO FOR KIDS
Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns have impacted many financially. With this in mind, Graceville Physio has announced a ‘Free Physio for Kids’ program to run over the next 3 months. Clinic owner Angela Melit is enthusiastic about this new children’s physio initiative: “We felt that one way we could help out during this time was to make it easier for families to access treatment and advice for their kids. The offer is open to anyone currently coming in for physio. It is a great opportunity for parents to get any niggling issues checked out, or address any concerns that often arise as kids grow and develop”.
Covid-19 has also had a significant impact on kids activity levels with the cancellation or postponement of most school and club sports. It’s been challenging to keep kids active over the past few months so getting back to training and games can be tough on younger bodies after an extended break. This is where the expert advice and care from the team at Graceville Physio can help.
The ‘Free Physio for Kids’ program is simple. If an adult comes in for any type of physio or remedial massage appointment at Graceville Physio they can receive a free physio consultation for any of their kids (up to and including 17 year olds). The offer will run for the duration of Term 3 up to and including the September school holidays. It is a great opportunity to get the kids checked out.
Tips to ease back into the gym pain free!
✅ Warm-up and cool-down properly using stretching, foam-rolling and icing techniques to aid in your recovery.
✅ Drop your pre-iso weight by 20-30% and gradually increase the weight over four-eight weeks depending on your age and fitness level.
✅ Get your form checked by a professional and ensure you are controlled and slow in your repetitions.
✅ Don’t go too hard, too early! Build up to your pre-iso levels as your muscles and tendons will have likely shrunk, making you more susceptible to injury.
✅ Check in with your local physio to avoid injury and manage your return to full capacity.
Running-related injuries, as the name suggests, are any injuries that are caused from running. Due to the biomechanical demands of running, injuries are typically seen at the ankle, calf, knee, hamstring and hip. The most common running-related injuries are due to significant changes in physical activity. This normally relates to increased activity but can also happen with decreased or sporadic activity. This results in changes to the way our body responds to physical activity, which leads to eventual injury that the runner may not predict as there may not be any pain initially. Injuries at specific body sites are due to various individual factors such as previous injury, muscle weakness, biomechanical alignment and their style of running amongst others.
As is the case with any injury, the best treatment is prevention. Our sports physio can implement a running program tailored to your individual needs and goals, as well as prescribing specific exercises so your body can withstand the rigours of running. They can also assess the way you are running and suggest changes to reduce your risk of injury.
If you have a running-related injury, our physiotherapists can help you get back to running and ensure you have a reduced risk of re-injury before you recommence running.
3 common types of headaches explained
Headaches are extremely common, especially in today’s society of high stress environments and with many of us working for hours a day in desk based jobs with high levels of computer use. There are also many, many types of headaches with many, many causes.
Three of the most common headache types are migraine, tension type headache, and cervicogenic (neck related) headache.
Whilst these headache types each have a few distinguishing features, they often co-exist meaning the headache sufferer may have signs and symptoms of multiple headache types.
Migraines are complex and still poorly understood. It is thought that they are related to altered levels of electrical excitability in the brain. Migraine headaches may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, fatigue and sensitivity to light, sound and smell to name a few. Migraines often have triggers, or things that seem to set them off. These can be related to food or drink (chocolate and red wine are common culprits!), emotional stress or certain smells to name a few (the list is virtually endless). Management of migraines usually requires good medical management, either by your GP or in some cases a neurologist.
Tension type headaches are caused by excessive tension in the muscles of the neck and head. This tension can be caused by many things such as stress, poor ergonomics or sustained neck and arm positions, increased use of the neck and arms, or weakness of the neck and shoulder muscles.
Tension type headaches usually respond well to manual therapy (physiotherapy) to reduce the tension in the affected muscles. It is also critical to determine and address the cause of the tension to prevent recurrence.
Cervicogenic (neck related) headaches occur when there is irritation in the upper levels of the neck, and are usually associated with neck pain (either at rest or with neck movements). Cervicogenic headaches also respond very well to physiotherapy which aims to normalise the way the neck joints move, and address any underlying contributing factors to prevent recurrence.
If you experience headaches then an appointment with your physiotherapist will help to diagnose, treat and manage headaches effectively.