Prehabilitation – a Key Part of Recovery for ACL Reconstruction
Are you about to undergo ACL reconstruction surgery? Did you know what you do before surgery could affect your knee function for many years down the track? And may even affect your chances of returning to sport? Prehabilitation is the term given to rehabilitation before surgery and has the purpose of improving strength and function […]
Why do things hurt?
Can you try and define pain? Pretend you are explaining it to someone who has never heard about or felt pain…… Pretty tricky isn’t it. Well, you are not alone. The definition for pain has changed several times over the years. Currently the international association for the study of pain (IASP) defines pain as an […]
Will my body be the same after having a baby?
Antenatal Physiotherapy With increasing awareness of the importance of pelvic floor muscle function expectant mothers often ask me how pregnancy and child-birth will effect their pelvic floor. These are the questions that are often asked: “Will I leak?” “When can I return to exercise?” “Do I need to do pelvic floor exercises” “Will childbirth […]
Concussion and Physiotherapy
Over the past few years concussion has become a hot topic in Australia as more and more research emerges in terms of the long term complications that these injuries can cause. Concussion or mild traumatic brain injury is caused by a force exerted onto the head or other parts of the body where the forces […]
Is running bad for my knees?
Ever since I can remember I have heard mixed messages about running and what it does for our knees. I can recall a coach yelling at me as a youngster for running on the cement when there was perfectly good grass less than a metre away. Had I been a fool, or did it not […]
Hamstring Rehabilitation exercises
As recently discussed, hamstring injuries are one of the most common injuries to occur in sport. As these have a high recurrence rate it is vital that as physiotherapists we get people back to their activity as soon as we can but, also limit the chances of injuring the hamstrings again. There are 2 ways […]
Hamstring Strains
Hamstring strain injuries are one of the most common injuries in running sports and can take anywhere from two to six weeks or more to heal depending on the degree of injury. It is important to rehabilitate hamstring strains well after injury, as they have a high recurrence rate and can become problematic for some […]
Does Caffeine make you Pee?
People with urinary incontinence are often told to give up caffeine but for those who derive great pleasure from their cuppa, this can be difficult to do and also add more stress to the already stressful symptoms of incontinence. Today, let’s look at the facts around this advice. I want to acknowledge that I am […]
ACL Function
Anterior Cruciate Ligament and it’s function The ACL is one of the four main ligaments (along with the PCL Posterior Cruciate Ligament, MCL Medical Collateral Ligament and LCL Lateral Collateral Ligament) in the knee that provides stability during movement. Ligaments are made up of fibrous connective tissue and connect bone to bone within the body. […]
You’ve just sprained your ankle. Do you need an X-ray?
Lucky for us there are a set of rules set up to determine if your sprained ankle is just that or if an x-ray is required for a possible fracture. The above diagram shows the specific points which if are tender require an x-ray to be completed. (Image: https://omahapti.com/when-is-an-x-ray-necessary-after-an-ankle-sprain/) Arrow 1: Lateral Malleolus Arrow […]