Running techniques to race fast and remain injury-free.

This is the time of year where you are starting to ramp up your training for triathlons and running races. It has been shown that as many as 80% of runners sustain a running-related injury in a given year. So what are the reasons for so many running injuries? And how can they be avoided?

Training schedule, running technique, and tissue strength/tolerance are three major determinants as to whether or not you will be sidelined with an injury this season.

Here are more detailed explanations of the three common causes for injury:

Too much too soon. An overly ambition training schedule is a classic mistake. It is believed that as much as 80% of running injuries occur because of training errors. An easy to follow guideline is the 10% rule: avoid increasing your running mileage more than 10% from the previous week.

Poor or inefficient running technique. A potential cause for injury is technique, or rather, a poor technique. It can result in too much impact too quickly (vertical loading rate) as you land. A high vertical loading rate can be caused by any of all of the following: heel striking with your foot too far in front of your hips (over-striding), a lack of bend in your knee or hip during landing, a lack of strength in core/hip musculature to help absorb impact. Instead, gradual increased training in a flatter/minimalist shoe (to reduce heel striking), increasing step cadence to approximately 180 steps per minute, and aiming to land softer or ‘quieter’ are all ways of reducing tissue overload.
Core and hip muscle weakness. It has been shown that a lack of gluteal muscle strength can lead to increased stress on the knee and foot, resulting in a greater chance of tissue breakdown. Taking part in a consistent individualized strengthening program throughout the year can be a key component to avoiding injury.

Remember, don’t wait until minor aches and pains turn into significant injury. Every runner is different, so book an appointment with Sun City Physiotherapy to determine how best to avoid injury this season.  Call 250-861-8056 to book your appointment today.

Swim techniques to race fast and remain injury-free.

Swimming has a relatively low risk of sport related injury, yet, swimmers often complain of shoulder pain. This can be caused by muscle overuse and incorrect technique. By making stroke adjustments, you can not only minimize pain and prevent injury, but also improve performance.

The Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia (PABC) recently outlined some simple steps, call the Physio-4, that swimmers can use to reduce their chances for injury, prevent pain, and swim more effectively.

The Physio-4 for swimming:

Be mindful of body rotation. Never swim with a “flat body” as this limits the rotation of the shoulder along the axis of the spine. Develop a symmetrical way to rotate your body for an efficient breathing pattern and this will greatly reduce the risk of shoulder injuries.

Enter the water with a flat hand. A hand directed outwards when entering the water leads to unhealthy internal rotation.  This is one of the most common causes of acute pain in the shoulder as it overuses the muscles.  It is best to enter the water with a flat hand, fingertips first.

Maintain good posture. The saying “shoulders back, chest forward” applies both in and out of the water. Hunched or rounded shoulders can lead to a wide arm recovery that causes shoulder injuries and “cross-overs” in your stroke. Strengthening the muscles at the back of the shoulder and stretching those at the front will help prevent injury, and help you to swim faster.

Incorporate bilateral breathing into your swim workout. Breathing only on one side will develop the muscles on that side more than the other.  This can eventually lead to shoulder problems.  By breathing on both sides with every workout you can prevent this from happening.

Aside from these injury-prevention techniques, there are important things to remember when swimming outdoors. Never dive head first into water unless the depth is known. When swimming in lakes or oceans be aware of any natural hazards such as tides and rapids, never swim alone, and always let someone know where you are training. And always be mindful of boaters – because they may not always be looking for you.

If you are injured or in pain during or after swimming, or require an exercise program to help avoid or overcome shoulder injury, Sun City Physiotherapy can help. Call 250-861-8056 to book your appointment today.

Shoulder Pain

Do you lie awake at night with an aching shoulder? Do you feel sharp grabs of pain while reaching up into the cupboard or into the back seat of your car? Did your shoulder pain start one day without any injury that you can remember? Shoulder pain can keep us awake at night and limit our day-to-day activities – even the most basic ones like washing our hair or getting dressed. In this article we are going to talk about how shoulder problems can start and what there is to do about it.

First let’s talk about what is inside your shoulder. The shoulder is what we call a ‘ball and socket’ joint. This means that the top of the upper arm bone has a ‘ball’ like surface, and this ball connects with the concave surface of the shoulder blade, similar to a golf ball sitting on a tee. This type of joint (like your hip joint) is build for maximum mobility. Having so much mobility is a good thing because it allows our shoulder and arm to reach in all different directions. However, this excess mobility can also predispose the shoulder to injury.

Almost everyone has heard of the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles responsible for protecting the shoulder. These are often the muscles that are injured in the shoulder because they can become pinched inside the joint (referred to as ‘impingement’). The rotator cuff muscles work alongside the muscles of your shoulder blade to ensure that the ball is always positioned in the centre of the socket so as to avoid pinching, inflammation and pain. Impingement can occur if any of these shoulder muscles become tight or weak or if the neck and upper back are too stiff to allow for proper arm movement.

People that spend a large portion of their days sitting often become very weak in their shoulder blade muscles while at the same time also becoming tight in their chest, upper back and neck. Others spend a lot of their workday doing repetitive movements with their arm that also can create irritation and muscle imbalances in the shoulder. At night many of us tend to lay on our ‘favourite’ side while sleeping which squeezes the blood out of the shoulder thus causing further irritation and preventing recovery from the strain during the day.

If you start to have shoulder pain the best strategy is to avoid the movement that is creating the pain and to ice the shoulder for 15 minutes 2-3 times per day for the initial 3 days (after 3 days switch to heat for 20 mins, 2-3 times per day to increase blood flow/healing). Make sure to continue to move the shoulder in motions that don’t hurt in order to prevent your shoulder from getting stiff. Also try as best as you can to not sleep on the painful shoulder at night in order to allow healing.

If the pain does not subside within a week it is advisable to see your health care professional so that the specific reason for the shoulder pain can be diagnosed. In physiotherapy, pain control and stretching out tight muscles are usually the initial goals. Treatment then fairly quickly progresses to focusing on strengthening specific muscles as well as increasing overall flexibility. Often the conversation of prevention will focus on daily stretching or Yoga as well as emphasizing good posture while sitting.

I hope that you have learned a little bit about how the shoulder works and what can cause shoulder pain. If you are starting to have nagging shoulder pain or tightness, remember that it is much easier to deal now then ‘down the road’. Happy spring (summer) everyone!

The Latest on Lower Back Pain

The Latest on Lower Back Pain

The Latest on Lower Back Pain

With all of this mild weather we have been experiencing in the Okanagan it really does feel like spring is just around the corner. I’m sure many of you have started to do some work in your yards in preparation for the gardening season. Each year during the start of spring there is something that comes along with the longer days and warmer temperatures: lower back injuries.

So what can we do to avoid hurting our backs?

A recent study published in the Journal of Arthritis Care and Research looked at just shy of a thousand patients over the age of 18. They found 8 different risk factors for lower back pain. In order of highest to lowest risk the 8 factors were: distraction during a task, manual tasks involving awkward postures, manual tasks involving objects not close to the body, manual tasks involving people or animals, manual tasks involving unstable or unbalanced objects, manual tasks involving heavy loads, moderate or vigorous physical activity, fatigue/tiredness. Being fatigued tripled the odds of suffering a lower back injury, while distraction increased the risk by 25 times! So based on this recent information when you are getting outside to do your yard work or gardening this spring make sure to remember this list and try to avoid these risk factors. Take frequent breaks during your day to avoid fatigue. When lifting, bring objects close to your body and focus on what you are doing to avoid distraction. When lifting, bend at your hips and knees (sticking the butt out) while keeping a straight spine to minimize dangerous pressure on the spinal discs and joints. As well, a recent study done at the University of Sydney in Australia found that almost half of the lower back injuries they looked at occurred in the morning between 8 and 11 am. The cause is yet unknown but it is thought that it may be due to the fact that your spinal discs fill with fluid overnight, making them more susceptible to pressure in the first few hours of your day. It makes sense then to take your time in the morning when possible and make sure your muscles and joints are warmed up before jumping right into your ‘spring cleaning’. Of course we don’t live in a perfect world where we can always completely avoid risk of injury. But keeping some of these latest study results in mind I hope that you can stay healthy during this upcoming spring season.

Sun City Physiotherapy Locations

Downtown

1468 St. Paul Street, Kelowna, BC
Phone: 250-861-8056
downtown@suncityphysiotherapy.com
more info

Glenmore

103-437 Glenmore Road, Kelowna, BC
Phone: 250-762-6313
glenmore@suncityphysiotherapy.com
more info

Lake Country

40-9522 Main St., Lake Country, BC
Phone: 250-766-2544
winfield@suncityphysiotherapy.com
more info

Lower Mission

3970 Lakeshore Road, Kelowna, BC
Phone: 778-699-2006
lowermission@suncityphysiotherapy.com
more info

Bladder Incontinence

This one’s for the ladies.

Ladies, have you notice the increase in the number of bladder leakage commercials on TV these days? Brands like Poise and Always have caught on that there are a large number of women who experience bladder leakage on a daily basis. These commercials are great in one aspect because they open up doors for women to have conversations. This is important because these issues may be embarrassing to discuss with friends and therefore are often sealed behind tight lips or talked about only in doctors’ offices. The downside to these commercials is that they make you feel like a pad is the best way your bladder leakage can be addressed. Many women who have bladder leakage do not seek information regarding the underlying cause, the type of bladder leakage they have or additions ways it can be addressed.

To fill in some of the gaps – there are essentially three types of bladder leakage. First there is stress incontinence (loss of bladder control). This type usually occurs because the pressure exerted on the pelvic floor is too forceful for weakened muscles during a cough, sneeze, laugh or any event that increases intra-abdominal pressure.

The second type of incontinence is called urge incontinence. This type of leakage is usually behaviour driven and occurs because of toileting cues and conditioning surrounding your learned habits. For example, you just pulled into your drive way – before you pulled up there was no urge to go to the bathroom. However, now that you are in the driveway you are frantically rummaging through your purse to grab your keys, you found them. Now, to make it to the front door you waddle the whole way there because all you can think about is emptying your bladder and by the time you get the lock open you may have already leaked before you made it to the toilet.

The final type of incontinence is called mixed and is a combination of stress and urge. In addition to using these products there are other ways to treat bladder leakage. One of the treatments for stress incontinence comes from gaining body awareness and control of your pelvic floor muscles and retraining them to turn on before a cough and sneeze. The treatment for urge incontinence involves behavioural retraining surrounding your current toileting habits.

Now that you are aware there are more options, perhaps it’s time for you to take control of your leakage and contact a physiotherapist who treats women’s health in an effort to reduce or eliminate leakage.