Resistance Bands – for Injuries and Workouts!

Resistance bands are great tools for rehabilitation of injuries as well as for incorporating into your workouts.

 

They come in a variety of materials, most commonly rubber or a woven material. They also come in a variety of colours, take note of the colour because usually they indicate the strength of band (light, medium, heavy) … so don’t always go straight for your favourite colour!

 

Resistance bands allow you to complete strength training exercises in your own home. They allow you to complete a variety of upper and lower limb exercises without needing to have an extensive amount of gym equipment. This also means that they are easily portable and can be taken with you when travelling to maintain consistency with your rehabilitation.

 

With injury rehabilitation it is important to regain your full range of movement associated with the area affected. To reach your full functional abilities though, we must ensure that you have the necessary strength required to complete your daily activities and hobbies.

 

Come in and see us at Physio4U to get yourself a resistance band and speak to our physiotherapists about suitable exercises to aid with your injury rehabilitation or to incorporate into your workouts!

 

                                                  

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How Important is good posture?

Posture & Injury Prevention

 

Posture is something we are always reminded about whether it’s by family, friends or colleagues but isn’t something that we all address seriously.  Posture is extremely important though and can contribute to pain associated with injuries we have or may even be the root cause of our injuries! Posture is something we can all think about and make small changes in our daily lives that can actually have a big impact.

 

What is good posture?

Posture is related to how all of our body and joints align. For a “good posture” our spine has to be in a neutral position. This means that our shoulders aren’t too rounded, and the lower back isn’t arched too far forward or backwards.

 

 

How does poor posture contribute to injuries?

“Poor posture” puts our body into positions where joints and muscles become overloaded. Excessive stress in these areas can easily lead to sprains and strains when trying to complete daily tasks and work activities. Poor posture can also cause headaches, affect circulation, increase fatigue and contribute to degeneration of the spine leading to back issues in the future.

 

What can I do to improve my posture?

There are many different things you can do to help improve your posture at work, home and with daily activities.

  • Exercise

Building strength in specific areas can help improve your posture and also make your body less prone to injuries. Your physiotherapist can demonstrate some simple exercises that may be able to help you do this.

Activities like yoga and Pilates are also great ways to strengthen your muscles, challenge your balance and focus on posture.

  • Everyday posture

Being conscious of how you are sitting, moving and walking during your everyday activities is one of the best ways to improve your posture. Initially it can be difficult to maintain correct postures all the time, but practice makes perfect!

  • Desk posture

Unfortunately, many of us in today’s society have sedentary jobs which involves sitting at a desk most of the day.

Something to think about is your desk set up – arm and leg position, feet supported, sitting against the back of your chair, computer screen at eye level.

It is also important to take regular breaks, as no position is a good position if in it for too long!

 

 

  • Lumbar rolls

These are objects can be attached to your office chair and while sitting, rests in the curve of your lower spine. These help to maintain the natural curve of your spine, decreasing stress through the body, which ultimately helps prevent and alleviate back pain while sitting. We stock these at Physio4u, so come in and see us if you’re interested!

 

 

  • Strapping tape

Tape can be applied by your physiotherapist to bring you into a more “correct” position. Tape is not a long term solution but can give you great feedback if you are slouching and trying to make small changes.

There are many things we can do to improve our posture and it is something we should all be thinking about to keep our body in the best shape possible to prevent injuries. Have a chat to your physiotherapist about ways to improve your posture or how it may be affecting your current injuries!

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Anti-flamme

Anti-flamme Cream 

Anti-flamme cream can aid in injury recovery when combined with soft/deep or trigger point massage techniques. Whether you’ve had a sports injury, gradual onset of pain, direct trauma, tight muscles, sudden increase in activity, or repetitive movement, anti-flamme could help you!  

Usage:

  • Joint / muscle aches and sprains
  • Swelling and bruises 
  • Chronic inflammation including arthritis 

How does it work?

Let’s break down the ingredients to give you a better understanding of its use. Anti-flamme contains herbal ingredients including:

  • Arnica which contains chemicals that aid to provide an pain-relieving effect and reduce swelling. 
  • Hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) has internal uses but is externally used to treat cuts, burns and muscle pains as it also has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. 
  • Calendula officinalis is a flower that helps to reduce swelling and facilitates the regrowth of new tissue in wound healing. Key benefits include the prevention of muscle spasms, reduced pain and swelling. 
  • Peppermint oil is a natural analgesic and has all of the similar effects as calendula officinalis. Soothing cramps, pain, and tightness. 

Anti-flamme can be used in conjunction with ice and or medication such as ibuprofen. But if you’re not one to take medication, anti-flamme can be a good alternative on its own, depending on your particular presentation and advice from your clinician. 

As described above, when used in conjunction with massage and other modalities, anti-flamme can help to alleviate pain, swelling, and stiffness. Depending on your injury, you may notice immediate effects or over a period of several treatments. 

Come and speak to one of our physiotherapists here at Physio4u for more information about how anti-flamme could be useful in your injury recovery.

Small anti-flamme cream tubs in stock!

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Foam Rollers – What are they? What are the benefits? How do I use one?

Foam rollers are a self massage tool that can be used to release tension and increase mobility of muscles and other connective tissues. They can be used to aid injury recovery, or also included in warm ups or cool downs, before and after exercise with numerous benefits.

The theory behind how foam rollers work is debated but it is thought to work directly with your muscles, as well as stimulating your nervous system via receptors, to relax your muscles and surrounding tissues.

Foam rollers are cylindrical tools that can have a smooth or textured surface, based on how concentrated or even you want the pressure from the foam roller to be.

Benefits:

  • Increase range of motion – as the tissues relax and move from a contracted to elongated state, the range of motion around your joints increases.
  • Warm up muscles – the friction generated by rolling over muscles and other tissues creates heat. Having warm muscles before starting exercise also decreases your chances of injury.
  • Eases muscle pain – using a foam roller immediately after exercise can decrease delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which is the achy pain that you can get 24-48hrs after intense exercise.
  • Increases circulation – before exercise this can increase blood flow and therefore oxygen and nutrients to muscles. This can also be beneficial for fascia, tendons and ligaments which tend to have little blood flow. Foam rolling after exercising can aid the removal of metabolic waste products accumulated in muscles after exercise.
  • Help with relaxation- studies have reported psychological benefits, with reported feelings of being more relaxed, less tension, stress relief and improvement in mood.

How to Foam Roll:

  • Slowly roll each specific muscle/area for 1-2 minutes.
  • Try to relax the area while foam rolling to decrease the possibility of cramps.
  • If an area is too painful to foam roll, roll over the surrounding areas instead.
  • Do not roll over joints e.g knees, ankles, elbow.

Sam’s Favourite Foam Rolling Positions:

Come in and talk to our physiotherapists about what type of foam roller is best for you and how it can be used to aid your injury recovery, or even just incorporated into your everyday workout!

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Lumbar rolls – what are they?

Utilisation of Lumbar/D roll Adjunct

Lumbar rolls have a role to play in injury recovery. They assist our posture, relieve lower back muscle tension, and provide general support in daily life – whether that is prolonged sitting at work, relaxing on the couch or driving short/long distances.

D roll vs lumbar roll

  • The only difference between the two is that the D roll is shaped like a D and the lumbar roll is rounded. They both are just as effective. Both have a strap attached that can loop around chairs/seats with ease, to hold it in place
  • They both fit against the lower curve of your spine

Benefits of use:

  • Assist in re-training postural habits via biofeedback
  • Gives surrounding muscles time to relax
  • Support spine during healing

What about just using a towel?

  • Lumbar rolls provide firmer support compared to a rolled-up towel. They also have the added benefit with the strap, as mentioned above, to keep the roll in an optimal position.
  • A towel is an optional alternative to the lumbar/D rolls, but is definitely not as effective!

Tips:

  1. If your work/daily life involves a lot of prolonged sitting, having regular standing breaks to stretch, in combination with utilizing a lumbar roll can be beneficial to improve your posture. Subconsciously we can tend to slouch forward and can develop a feeling of stiffness/reduced flexibility. The lumbar roll helps to prevent this.
  2. It is important to incorporate the available adjuncts with strengthening the weak/painful area. Strong, supportive muscles can ease pain and make postural habits easier to attain and maintain.

D rolls in stock now!

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Tape – what is it?

Product of the Month: Tape

As physiotherapists our aims with tape include; to stabilise and support your joints, relieve pain by offloading different structures or to help facilitate normal movements and biomechanics.
Taping for injuries is a temporary technique that we use, as we also want to improve your strength, so that your muscles are capable of providing the support rather relying on than tape.
Tape can be used for relieving pain, supporting joints, restricting movement, confidence, decreasing injury reoccurrence, preventing injury and improving biomechanics.

It is often used by athletes, but is also something that can be used to help you continue with your normal day to day activities. Commonly taped joints include ankles, knees, shoulders, backs and hands, but there are many other joints and conditions that tape can be used for.

Types of Tape:

  • Rigid tape – is the most commonly used. It is very good for supporting joints, preventing movement or holding your joint in a specific position to decrease pain.
  • Kinesiology tape (K-tape) – this tape is stretchy which means we can use it to help facilitate your muscle activation and allow your joints move within a certain range. This stretch is also a great feedback mechanism and can be used to help with improving posture.
  • Elastic adhesive bandage (EAB) – we commonly use this on top of rigid tape for extra support and it is easy to use because of the stretch it has.
  • Hypoallergenic adhesive underwrap – this is important for anyone who’s skin has reacted to tape before or reacts to things like plasters. This can be used under all tape to prevent irritation and reactions (note: some people can still react to this).

Come see us at Physio4u to talk to us about your injuries and whether tape may be something to assist with them. We can show you how to tape your joints or even book a taping appointment before your sports games to get yourself prepared to play your best.

 

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Ice vs Heat

Ice vs Heat for Sprains and Strains

Knowing when to apply ice or heat can be tricky!  Below we have detailed the key benefits of when to use ice and heat, and their precautions, to help you to have a better understanding of their purpose.

Sprains: Ligament injuries (which connect bone to bone): A sprain is the result of the tearing or over stretching of one of these ligaments. Common sprain symptoms include swelling, pain, discomfort, and difficulty moving the affected joint or limb.

Strains: Muscle/tendon injuries (connect muscle to bone): Overexerting a muscle or stretching a tendon or muscle too far can result in a strain. Typical symptoms of strains include pain, general stiffness, weakness, swelling, muscular spasms, and difficulty moving the affected area.

ICE

After an injury it is best to apply ice straight away. This is important because it helps to prevent/reduce swelling around the affected area by restricting the blood supply during the initial stages of healing and is a useful source of pain relief.

The benefits of promptly preventing swelling include:

  • Minimize pain and sensitivity
  • Reduce recovery time

Ice is most beneficial for the first 24-72 hours post-injury when there may be redness, swelling and bruising present. Ice should be applied regularly every couple of hours for 15-20mins. Ensure that you have a protective layer between the ice and skin to prevent skin irritation. During the acute stage it is also important to use ice in combination with compression, and elevation to enhance the effectiveness of initial management. Small, gentle movements are also beneficial to help keep the joint moving and encourage blood flow.

HEAT

Applying heat too early may cause additional swelling by increasing blood flow to the injury site. Once the swelling has reduced heat can be applied via wheat pack or hot bath/shower ensuring that the temperature is not piping hot to prevent skin damage. Heat is used to aid in the overall healing process, it has a direct soothing effect to relieve pain and muscle spasms. Precautions should be taken to consult your clinician if you have a heart condition or diabetes as heat may not be an appropriate treatment.

 

Come see us at Physio4u for a tailored treatment approach for your specific individual needs and stage of injury.

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Massage Balls

Massage balls are small and affordable, making them easy to take with you on the go and to treat yourself at any time that suits you. They allow you to self-massage those hard to reach places like your neck, shoulders, back and calves, where you may have tender trigger points, or as many of us refer to them as ‘knots’. These knots usually occur when muscles are overloaded from things like exercise, lifting heavy weights or poor posture. Trigger point massage balls help to release and stretch the knots into a relaxed position, decreasing muscle tension and discomfort.

Come see us at Physio4u to view our variety of trigger point massage balls or ask one of our physiotherapists how they can be used to help with the recovery of your injury!

Click the link below to see our step by step guide:

Trigger point step by step

 

 

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Shakti FAQs

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Workload and listening to your body

With the start of a New year comes the start of school for kids across Canterbury and the beginning of the transition from Summer into Autumn (despite the amazing warm weather we have been having!). It also means the start of trainings and pre-seasons for winter sports like rugby, netball and hockey. For many kids and athletes, preseason will mean going from very little activity over the holidays all the way up to 5-6 days of full on activity such as trainings, school sports, gym sessions or running. This sudden increase in activity can lead to overuse type injuries that make up a large proportion of injuries in young people that we see here at Physio4u. Examples of these could be Osgood-Schlatter’s (knee), Sever’s (heel), tendon/muscle strains and even stress fractures. All of these injuries can lead to people having to stop the activities they enjoy.

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