During an appointment at Performance Sports Therapy we are able to make meaningful changes in how you move and feel. Unfortunately these changes do not always ‘stick’. It isn’t that unusual to get told by people that they felt great for 2 to 3 days and then they stiffened up again. This is completely normal and nothing to worry about because of the reasons why you are feeling tight are not what you might think.
Continue reading “Why do I stiffen up a few days after treatment?”
We take about 20,000 breaths a day so breathing well can help us in a lot of different ways. We see many people in the clinic and a common thread would be an inability to breathe with full, deep, slow and relaxing manner and yet they never attribute this in any way to why they may be in pain.
Many of us have experienced knee pain at some point in time but it usually doesn’t last long and clears up on it’s own. For those for whom it doesn’t clear up you can be left with an irritating, and sometimes disabling, pain. Continue reading “Knee pain – between a rock and a hard place.”
Googling exercises for knee pain isn’t really the best way to deal with any problems you may be experiencing as they aren’t specific to YOUR problem. Having said this when it comes to looking to prevent getting knee pain the specificity issue becomes less of a problem as we aren’t looking to rehab an injury rather we are looking to ensure the areas that impact on the knee are in good condition. Runners knee or anterior knee pain is one of the more common issues that affect runners but adjusting how you warm up can help reduce the chances of it being a problem for you.
Back pain is often spoken about in structural and biomechanical manner where you can get the impression that you may have to give up doing what you love to do be it golf, crossfit, rugby or gardening because you have issue X. The big issue with this is that it on the one hand over simplifies the problem and catastrophises it all in one go so that you are left thinking that your wonky leg is the cause of all your pain and trying to run on it is a recipe for disaster. Continue reading “Is spinal alignment or other structural issues the cause of back pain?”
It’s a common question to be asked what is the best exercise for lower back pain, the answer often seeming to be pilates or other “core” exercise. The idea being that a weak core means that you are over stressing weak back and core muscles and pilates addresses these issues.
Continue reading “What are the best exercises for lower back pain?”
It’s a common question to be asked which exercises reduce back pain, the answer often seeming to be pilates or other “core” exercise. The idea being that a weak core means that you are over stressing weak back and core muscles and pilates addresses these issues.
Continue reading “Which exercise reduce back pain? Pilates? Walking?”
I was asked last week by young hockey player. “How often should they get a sports massage?” and it’s a question that comes up regularly. The answer really depends on what it is you are looking for in terms of what you think you’ll get out of it. Continue reading “When is the best time to get a sports massage?”
The idea of having a leg length discrepancy and how it might relate to back pain or other issues is something that comes up in the clinic all the time. Having a difference in leg lengths is quite common though for the most part these will only be noticeable when lying on the couch rather than when standing as they aren’t congenital, that is to say there isn’t a difference in the length of the bones. The apparent difference comes from tension in the soft tissues of the thigh and hip which pull on the femur and/or pelvis giving the appearance of a difference in length between the two legs. Continue reading “What does having a leg length difference mean to your back pain?”
This is a great podcast with Mike Stewart that is a must listen for anybody working with people suffering with pain of any kind or who just want to get a better understanding of the science behind it all.