BODY ROLLING: A new way to enhance flexibility and well being.

Physiotherapy » Posts by Sun City Physiotherapy (Page 10)

BODY ROLLING: A new way to enhance flexibility and well being.

How often do you get a tight area in your back that you’d love to get rid of? Or a tense band in your buttock or hamstring that has plagued you for weeks?
Have you noticed that your shoulders round forward, and you’re tight across the back of your shoulders?
The nagging tight spots we feel can be the result of restricted mobility or adhesions in fascia, the elastic web of connective tissue that surrounds and connects muscles.

There is a technique to improve flexibility that is easy, inexpensive and works extremely well in conjunction with stretching to improve myofascial mobility. It’s called Body Rolling, and it’s a powerful self-treatment tool using a firm 5” diameter ball. It is similar to using foam rollers, which are popular in gyms. Because of its size and compressibility, it is useful in areas other tools can’t reach.

Body Rolling techniques combine the relaxing effects of massage with the toning effects of exercise. Working with your own body weight, the exercises ease movement by loosening the muscles and their surrounding fascia, with the benefits of a deep self-massage. It can take as little as 10 minutes to work a specific area, and you can do it at your convenience. Working an entire region or chain of muscles gives the best results, since fascia is connected in long tracts that can span more than one joint.

The techniques of Body Rolling can: free adhesions in the connective tissue sheath that wraps around muscles and lies between muscle fibres; help muscles lengthen; improve muscle flexibility and tone thereby improving range of motion and shock absorption in the joints; improve circulation; and assist in correction of faulty posture

People with an active lifestyle often come in to see a physiotherapist with unexplained pain in a muscle, tendon or joint. Physiotherapists look at posture, movement and perform selective tissue tension testing to determine the problem. As a physiotherapist, I use many tools, such as manual therapy, exercise and soft tissue releases to improve freedom of movement.

With exercise that is highly repetitive in nature such as running, cycling, rowing, racquet sports, fascia surrounding the working muscles tends to be loaded in one direction and can subsequently shorten. Movement patterns and normal posture can be altered, which can lead to injury and pain. Learning to use Body Rolling, and stretching along planes of movement, rather than spot-treating tight areas can free things up most effectively.

People working at a desk job every day tend to develop shortening in certain muscle groups– typically the pectoral muscles, the hip flexors, and the hamstring muscles. Over time, this can result in adaptive shortening. The price tag of a desk job can be poor posture, aches and pains at the end of the workday. Activity breaks and Body Rolling can help.

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Treatment Options for Hip Osteoarthritis

Hips and Knees, Physio Articles

Hip osteoarthritis is a common condition that involves the degeneration of the articular cartilage of the hip joint. If you have this condition and are noticing an increase in pain and a decrease in physical function you may be wondering what treatment options are available to you.

With osteoarthritis of the hip you may feel a constant ache localized to the groin and side of your hip and sometimes extending into the front of your thigh and knee. The hip often feels stiff, especially first thing in the morning when you get out of bed and it can make activities of daily living much more painful including standing, walking and stairs. It can also make it difficult to put your socks on, get into and out of your car and even get on and off of the toilet.

Stiffness, pain and having difficulty with many previously easy daily activities may lead you to want to do less physical activity. The trouble is, not moving will often lead to weakness, further stiffness and general deconditioning.

A physiotherapist can help design a treatment program with a focus on decreasing pain, increasing range of motion and flexibility, improving core stability, gaining muscle strength and endurance and improving general conditioning. Other functional goals often include improving walking pattern, speed and distance, ability to go up and down stairs without pain and better control going from sit to stand.

This is often accomplished through a combination of education, manual therapy and exercise. An exercise program is often extremely beneficial to help improve physical function and decrease pain. A physiotherapist is an excellent resource to put together a safe and effective home exercise program for you to perform daily at home or at your local gym. Also, if you enjoy swimming, bring this up with your physiotherapist as aquatic exercise is a great form of treatment for hip osteoarthritis.

Other possible physiotherapy treatments that may be effective for some individuals with arthritis of the hip include: acupuncture, massage, heat on the muscles around the hip, ice, TENS, supportive footwear and/or a gait aid such as a cane or walking poles. It is important to talk with your doctor about your arthritis to discuss other treatments that may be beneficial to help manage your symptoms. Certain medications may be helpful, but it is important to bring this up with your doctor to be sure they are appropriate for you. Also, if you are overweight, a weight management program can be extremely beneficial to decrease the stress on your joints. Since nutrition plays a crucial role in weight management, it is important to have this discussion with your doctor.

A small portion of individuals with hip osteoarthritis will eventually opt to have a total hip replacement. This is often the case when symptoms are progressively getting worse and significantly limiting activities of daily living. If you have had a total hip replacement a physiotherapist guided post-operative hip strengthening program is ideal in order to decrease pain, improve your hip function and return to your active lifestyle.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome and Running

Sports

Running is a popular activity that can help maintain or improve your cardiovascular fitness and in some cases help you lose weight. There are many different reasons to run but often there is a goal set that may include 5Km, 10Km, half marathon, or full marathon.
When training for longer runs including 10km, half and full marathons it is important to remember that the training schedule should take place over long periods of time to allow your muscles and joints to accommodate for the increased strain that will be placed on them during the long run. As a physiotherapist, I treat many runners with all sorts of injuries. Some of the most common injuries include plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, muscle strains, and Iliotibial band friction syndrome (IT band syndrome).
IT band syndrome is a repetitive stress injury that occurs when the iliotibial band glides over the lateral femoral condyle on the outside part of the knee. The iliotibial band is the thick band that runs from the outside of the hip down to the outside of the knee. It is a common injury for long distance runners (20-40 miles/week) but is not limited to only long distance runners. Running on various terrains can increase the risk of developing this condition. Up and down hills, graded slopes, and cambered roads have all been shown to increase the risk. This syndrome may also be found in other athletes or weekend warriors such as cyclists, weight lifters, and participants in jumping sports.
With IT band syndrome there is rarely a history of trauma. Patients will often complain of knee pain that may be difficult to localize and usually increases with repetitive motions like running. The symptoms usually get worse with changes in training surfaces, increasing mileage, or training on crowned roads.
Studies have found that long distance runners with IT band syndrome have weaker hip abductor and glut muscles on the involved leg compared to the uninvolved leg. The hip abductor muscles are located on the outside part of the hip and help prevent the leg from moving towards the centre of the body. It is also noted that fatigued runners are more prone to having their hip adduct (move towards the centre) and internally rotate (leg turns inwards) which causes more friction on the iliotibial band and therefore the symptoms get worse.
The management of IT band syndrome usually includes: 1) activity modification (usually decreasing mileage). 2) New running shoes. Shoes should be replaced about every 500km. 3) Heat or ice. 4) Stretching the IT band. 5) Strengthening the hip abductors and glut muscles.
If you are interested in pursuing long distance running you should: 1) follow a certified training schedule. 2) Make sure the shoes you are wearing are the right shoes for you. 3) Increase your mileage slowly to allow your body to accommodate for the increased strain. 4) Hit the gym – muscle weakness can cause problems down the road. 5) Go in for an assessment with a health care professional if you start to experience aches and pains that aren’t going away.

Bone Health and Exercise

Physio Articles

Physiotherapy » Posts by Sun City Physiotherapy (Page 10)

Bone Health and Exercise

Optimal bone health is a serious consideration in people approaching mid-life. It is common knowledge that bones become more brittle as we age. What may be less recognized are the factors we can control through exercise and nutrition in the first half of adult life that have a direct effect on prevention of osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized with a loss in bone mass and deterioration in the sturdiness of bone structure. This is associated with the increased risk of fractures, particularly in the hip, wrist and spine. It is prevalent in the older population. If you are a woman, you have a 50% lifetime risk of a fracture from osteoporosis.
Bone loss is an insidious process. In the early stages it is called “osteopenia” It can occur when an arm or leg is casted after a frracture. A loss in bone mineral density (BMD) can accelerated after taking steroid medications or with certain autoimmune disorders or diabetes.

Reduced levels of estrogen after menopause accelerate bone loss. However, it is well- established that if a woman in her 40’s and 50’s exercises regularly and has good nutritional habits, she can diminish her post-menopausal bone density loss substantially. Osteoporosis is optional!

How does exercise affect bone health?
Bone is a living tissue. Bone cells, called osteophytes, have the ability to act like strain gauges and adapt to the amount of stress placed on them. Regular weight bearing exercise or strength training is essential to maintaining healthy bone. Resistance training improves muscle mass and strength and can increase spine and hip bone density. It is essential that the exercises chosen are safe and appropriate for the individual. Physiotherapists assess posture, understand risk factors and can advise which exercises are best for those with osteoporosis.

As a preventative measure and for those with mild osteopenia, high and medium impact exercise such as soccer, tennis, activities such as skipping and step-ups can stimulate healthy bone cells to produce a stronger bony matrix and increase BMD.

For individuals with moderate osteoporosis, weight bearing exercise and moderate impact exercises are appropriate, high impact exercise is not. Strength training exercises should target the specific areas affected. Balance exercises and fall prevention awareness are important, as falls can result in fractures, which are painful and can take much longer to heal than with normal bone. Working with a physiotherapist with specific knowledge about osteoporosis to set up an exercise program is highly recommended. Check with your physician before beginning a strenuous exercise program.

Attention to postural alignment during strength training is important. Certain exercises place too much strain on the midback area and can increase the rounding, or kyphosis in this area. For example, repeated curl-ups for abdominal strengthening, or swinging kettle balls with arms extended should be avoided.

Why does nutrition play such an important role in prevention of bone mineral density loss?
Bones are important warehouses for calcium and other important minerals needed for cellular function. If our diet is low in calcium, the body borrows it from our bones. If it’s not restored, a net deficit in minerals can result in reduced BMD.
In order to maintain optimal bone health, sufficient amounts of Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin D are recommended.

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Tennis Elbow

Elbow, Wrist and Hand

Tennis Elbow – you don’t need to play tennis to get it!

Tennis elbow is so called as one of the reasons you can get it is from faulty technique in a tennis shot. This is only one of the ways that you can get tennis elbow though, it can come on from many other activities that involve a lot of wrist and forearm use.

The medical name for this condition, lateral epicondylitis, gives us more information about where the problem occurs. The lateral epicondyle is a small bony prominence on the outside of the elbow and is the point of attachment for the tendons of the wrist extensor muscles. These muscles run up the top of the forearm and play a role in movements such as bending the wrist back, making a fist, and twisting the forearm.

Lateral epicondylitis occurs if these muscles are used more than they are used to, resulting in pain and damage to the tendon where it attaches onto the bone at the lateral epicondyle. If you have tennis elbow, you will likely report an increase in pain when gripping tightly or shaking hands, using a screwdriver or twisting a jar, or any activity that requires wrist and hand use. The outside of the elbow can be very sensitive to touch, and you may find it will get very stiff, especially first thing in the morning.

In order to treat tennis elbow, it is important to identify the reason why it became injured in the first place and correct that. Apart from stopping the aggravating activity, there are often other contributing factors that need to be changed in each individual case. These can be related to our own anatomy in the elbow and arm, movement patterns which are overloading and therefore damaging the tendon, or factors relating to the equipment being used.

A physiotherapist can identify the changes that need to be made in each individual case and implement these. As well as this there is specific treatment that can be done to the tendon to ensure optimal healing such as friction massage and laser, and a stretching and strengthening program should be implemented too to ensure the muscles and tendons are in good shape to be able to cope comfortably with being used in the future.

So even if you don’t play tennis, you can still be affected by tennis elbow. Taking the right action will take your pain away.