Our modern lifestyle – with all its perks and benefits – has started to take a toll on our bodies. Back pain, knee pain, and neck strains have become everyday problems. People use over-the-counter ointments, oils, pain killers and sometimes even massages for such problems. However, seeing a physiotherapist doesn’t cross anyone’s minds till things are so bad that they are actually referred to one by their doctor. In this post, we try and increase your understanding about times when you should seek a physiotherapist’s help.
Physiotherapists are trained professionals who help their injured patients get back to the highest possible range of movement. You may have sustained a severe injury while playing cricket or may have sprained your neck while sleeping; physiotherapists can help you in both situations. Though all small sprains and aches do not need an appointment with a physiotherapist, here are some reasons why you may require one:
You are injured while playing
If you are a sportsperson or an avid sports fan, you understand the importance of taking care of yourself especially when you are injured. You need expert advice from a physiotherapist to give yourself a better chance at recovery and getting back to the state you were before you sustained your injury.
You live with chronic pain
If your pain persists more than a few days and affects your ability to perform day-to-day actions, you need to see a physiotherapist so he can identify your problem and come up with a treatment plan. If this is a recurring pain that occurs frequently after specific actions, then you must see a doctor immediately.
During and after pregnancy
Pregnancy and post-pregnancy, your body needs attention. Rapidly changing hormone levels can soften the ligaments which support your back and cause them to stretch. The muscles of your pelvic floor and stomach also stretch as your baby grows inside you. If your joints are not well supported during this time, you can easily injure your pelvis or back. A physiotherapist can teach you the proper techniques and exercises to support and protect your body as it goes through these changes and help you recover faster after the baby is born.
During and after surgery Physiotherapy is essential both pre- and post-operatively. Pre-operatively, the risk of developing complications after the surgery is assessed. The physiotherapist will explain to the patient all the exercises that he/she needs to perform post-operatively. Patients who are undergoing cardiac and chest surgeries will be taught how to cough properly while supporting the wound site. Depending on the specific surgeries, patients will also be taught various leg and other exercises they will need to perform after the surgery.
Post-operatively, physiotherapy is given for four main reasons depending on the type and location of surgery performed – to prevent chest complications, to prevent thrombosis (or clots in the blood), to prevent pressure sores, and to prevent muscle wasting and joint immobility. Let me explain these reasons in detail.
To prevent chest complications: Due to the anaesthetics administered during surgery, the respiratory tract of the patient is affected in two ways. Firstly, pain causes reflex inhibition of the diaphragm which leads to breathing difficulty. Secondly, for surgeries involving abdominal muscles, the patient hesitates to use them because of pain or fear of pain. This obstructs respiratory movements. To avoid these problems, breathing exercises are taught to the patient. He is encouraged to cough with support on the incision site to clear any accumulated secretions. In severe cases, other techniques like postural drainage and vibrations are used to remove the secretions. Chest complications generally occur in the first 48 hours after surgery; hence physiotherapy is given frequently during this time.
To prevent thrombosis: Post-surgical patients are usually confined to their beds for some time. During this time, adequate leg movements are essential to prevent thrombosis. Leg exercises are taught to the patient and once he is up he is advised to be active and continue the exercises. The exercises must be repeated frequently to be effective.
To prevent pressure sores: Pressure sores or bed sores, as they are commonly known, occur in patients who are bed-ridden after surgery, especially the elderly. Care must be taken to position the patient properly and ensure that he moves around in bed. Family members are taught to watch for and report any sign of bed sores.
To prevent muscle wasting and joint mobility: Immobilization after surgery, especially in elderly patients can lead to joint stiffness and muscle weakness. The physiotherapist gives general strengthening and mobilizing exercises to regain mobility. You have a chronic condition or neurological disease
Conditions which severely affect the patient’s movements like cerebral palsy, Parkinson ’s disease, Substantia Nigra, spinal cord injuries and stroke. Although physiotherapy does not heal the disease or even slow down the disease process, it does increase the quality of life, helps the patient become independent and live as normal a life as possible.
You decide to start exercising or take up a new sport
If you decide to start up a new activity or sport and have a history of recurrent injury, it is good to see a physiotherapist so he can guide you slowly into your new activity. Physiotherapists are helpful even when you are not actively experiencing pain. Keeping your history in mind, they can advise you how best you can start up with the new sport or activity you have chosen.
It’s easy enough to find a physiotherapist. Ask your friends and family for referrals so you know beforehand what to expect. Just make sure you only see a registered physiotherapist.
Having access to a physiotherapist is one of the best ways to speed up your recovery and get your body back to normal. However, it isn’t an easy road. There will be pain. However, after all that effort and pain will come a time when you begin regaining your flexibility. And somewhere along your therapy sessions, your pain will also reduce and finally disappear. So, while physiotherapy is not an easy option, it is the best one.
Disclaimer: TheHealthSite.com does not guarantee any specific results as a result of the procedures mentioned here and the results may vary from person to person. The topics in these pages including text, graphics, videos and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only and not to be substituted for professional medical advice.
Muscle growth is faster after a massage, finds a new research published in The Journal of Physiology. The research team showed that muscle grew faster after a massage because protein manufacture in cells was improved, and that when one leg was massaged, the other non-massaged leg also grew faster.
‘Massage can be done in situations where exercise is not possible. Massage reduces pain, increases flexibility, improves immunity, and increases blood flow.’
Muscle is lost very quickly during periods of disuse, like bed rest or a hospital stay, and it is extremely difficult to grow muscle back, especially in older people. Massage has been used in the past to lessen pain, decrease anxiety and stress, increase flexibility, improve immunity, and increase blood flow. This study indicates that an easy to apply intervention such as massage, with very few side effects can aid regrowth of muscle after muscle loss. In addition, the discovery that this faster regrowth is also observed in the non-massaged muscle means that massage could potentially be used in an undamaged limb to aid in the recovery of a damaged limb.
The researchers from University of Kentucky and Colorado State University, used rats that had undergone a period of inactivity to decrease muscle mass but were allowed to recover muscle mass after disuse. During the recovery period, the rats were massaged by a device that applied force to the muscle in a highly controlled manner.
Massage was applied every other day for a week and muscle was analysed for the size of muscle fibres, the manufacture of proteins, the presence of other cells (for example, muscle stem cells), and the communication in the cells that program it to grow.
The experiments are yet to be replicated in humans. The intervention was only used during recovery after muscle loss, and not a period of inactivity. The researchers used massage every other day, since this is what is used in a clinical situation, but it is unknown whether more frequent massage would see increased results.
In addition, the work was only performed in healthy adult animals and it is important to see if it will also work in older animals or in animals with disease.
Esther E. Dupont-Versteegden, one of the lead investigators said: 'We foresee that massage could be used in situations where other treatments, such as exercise, can't be applied: in the intensive care unit and in patients who are under non-weight-bearing orders after orthopaedic surgeries.'
With soaring cliffs, cascading waterfalls, crystal clear pools and majestic old trees through which the sun dapples, Upper Tonquani is considered by many as the most beautiful and spectacular of all Magaliesberg kloofs.
Karien Bezuidenhout and Marzelle van der Merwe, both competitive female trail runners, decided to spend a weekend exploring this magical place. Seeing that the Tonquani complex stretches for kilometre after kilometre, going light and fast was their only option.
If you would like to visit Tonquani, contact the Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) Johannesburg section for more info.
Special thanks to AvantCom for sponsoring the Wenpod MD2 gimbal for the duration of the trip.
For your convenience, we are now also situated in
Queenswood, Pretoria! Offering the best services to help you reach your
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012 0040618
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
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How can we help you?
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618 (Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with
your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618
(Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At
Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored
designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life
possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
Women's scull (W1x) - Kirsten McCann Men's Pair (M2-) - Jake Green & Lawrence Brittain Lightweight women's scull (LW1x) - Nicole van Wyk and Kirsten McCann Leightweight men's double (LM2x) - Nicholas Oberholzer and Vaughn Botes
How can we help you?
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with
your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618
(Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At
Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored
designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life
possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
The Comrades champion, Charné Bosman (Nedbank Running Club), had just reason to smile after winning the Irene 48km ultra-race.
A year ago after she had finished the same race she was in despair as her foot was quite swollen and sore. Unbeknownst to her she had broken a toe and it was debatable whether she would recover in time to race the Comrades. Luckily she did and the rest is they say history.
Bosman who trains at the High Performance Centre did not really expect to win on Sunday. The Irene Ultra-race was just another good hard training run in which her focus was to emulate to perfection the way she planned to race Comrades.
“I did not taper down at all for the race. I started off with tired legs which were good as the second half of Comrades is usually a battle of mind over body. The temperature soared midway through the race which sapped once energy but again it did not bother me as it can get quite hot during the Comrades. It is important to get used to racing in such heat.”
Bosman won in 3:26:04. She has no plans to race again before Comrades. As last year she will do her final preparation for the “big day” at Graskop.
To find out more information, or to book a time to get started with
your physiotherapy, call us now at 012 484 1711 (HPC) or on 012 004 0618
(Queenswood) for an expert plan, treatment, and support system. At
Sport Physio, we are committed to delivering the best and most tailored
designed physiotherapy solution to ensure the highest quality of life
possible. We look forward to helping you and your family.
Sport Physio offers the highest quality physiotherapy and services in Pretoria. Professional, motivated & highly skilled physiotherapists will help you to be the best that you can be!
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