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At Barefoot Physiotherapy we utilise techniques from multiple learnings all combined into our unique Barefoot Physiotherapy Plan. These techniques include; LJ Lee's training in The Thoracic Ring Approach™all of our Bachelor/Masters degrees, Mulligan, Maitland and Ridgway Methods, Western Acupuncture, Dry Needling, and Pain Science/Graded Motor Imagery. We are continually learning and evolving our Framework and an essential part of it ...
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Written by Catherine Mullins What is Neuroplasticity? Neuroplasticity is the lifelong ability of the brain to undergo structural and functional changes in response to experiences. The medical world once thought that the brain stops developing in childhood but we now know that ongoing changes occur right up until death. Information in the brain is transmitted from neuron to neuron via ...
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Written by: Catherine Mullins Chronic pain is defined as the presence of painful sensations that have lasted for more than 3 months and persist without the presence of physical tissue damage or pathology. Up to 20% of the population experience chronic pain at any one time. What happens in the brain with chronic pain? Part of the transition from acute ...
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At Barefoot Physiotherapy we have noticed a recent influx of pregnant ladies seeking us out for the aches and pains associated with pregnancy and for guidance remain as healthy and strong as possible throughout their pregnancy. One thing I often get asked is what positions are going to be best to feed their new baby in; whether that is breastfeeding ...
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Questions by Britt It is always great to chat to you and hear your passion about helping improve people’s lives. What led to you becoming a peer support person and can you tell us a bit about what your job entails? What led me to my current career as Peer support worker was that both my mother and myself suffered ...
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Kathryn is such a lovely smiling face in the clinic and has a depth of character that means the more you peel the onion back the better she gets! Have a read of her answers to Caitlin's questions 🙂 You’re originally from Canada but have called Aus home for a long time now. What are the biggest differences you notice, ...
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Why is it important? When getting back into an activity after injury or a flare up we want to go slow and steady! What we often see is a “boom-bust” cycle, where a person completes an activity at a higher level than what their body is currently capable of and then has an extended period of rest to recover. This ...
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With the increasing popularity and availability of the massage gun, one of the most common questions we get asked in the clinic is “Do those massage guns really work?”. So we thought we would break it down for you all. What does a massage gun do Massage guns aim to provide percussive or vibration therapy. The idea being that as ...
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As the year that was 2020 draws to a close, a few of us are settling into holiday mode to welcome in the new year. Christmas and new year time means different things to all of us but in some cases we do get a little bit of extra time on our hands to start a new project, try a ...
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As the weather warms up, many of us are looking for cooler exercise options. Water running is a great choice as it can be scaled up and down for fitness and experience level. With the added summer benefit of being in the water. There are a few different ways you can engage in water running – each with varying technique, ...
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Let’s talk knee injuries. The knee joint is relatively simple and moves as a hinge joint (i.e bending and straightening). The joint itself is an articulation between our femur (thigh bone) and our tibia (shin bone) for the hinge movement and patella (kneecap) sitting over the front to increase our quad strength. There are a series of ligaments, articular cartilage ...
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Shoulder Joint Anatomy The shoulder is known as a ball and socket joint and is made up of three bones: the humerus, scapular and clavicle. The humerus is stabilised in your shoulder socket through your rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that merge together as tendons to wrap around the head of the humerus ...
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Hip muscles When people think of the hip muscles or buttocks, they often think of “the glutes”. What is often underestimated, is just what exactly “the glutes” incorporates. There are 3 main muscle groups (and functions) in the gluteal region. 1 - Hip abductors Made up of gluteus minimus and gluteus medius, they do hip abduction (ie taking the leg ...
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Now you may or may not have run into Russ at the clinic. If you have you will know about it. The pure Joie de vivre that comes from him lights up any room. Crazy cool cars and trucks, weekends in the bush, adventures with the incredible Mandie and all while being open and honest about Mental Health. We love ...
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Years of full-time dance, hip surgery as a teenager and a semi-recent auto-immune diagnosis means that every so often my body goes a little bit haywire and throws out a variety of physical symptoms (a flare up) that impact my day to day activities. Yes, your physio can be sore too! The nature of our work means that we are ...
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At Barefoot Physiotherapy we love meeting new clients and helping kick start them of their health journey. For most clients it is important to be completing their own exercises and muscle releases between appointments to maintain improvements. In a session with a Barefoot Physio we will do a head-to-toe assessment to work out what muscles need to be released to ...
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By Caitlin Sargent: As a physio I, along with many of my clients, expect I would rarely suffer injuries. As an elite athlete though it is kind of considered part of the deal. While it would be nice to always prevent all injuries, the nature of everyone’s lives is that at some point we are often going to accumulate too ...
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Treatment Direction Tests and Individualised Treatment Every body is different in its experience of movement and load. People have different postures, different exercise/activities, different injury history with different compensation strategies and different daily load from life, based on occupational demands, sleeping positions and much more. As a result, no two bodies are identical or present in the same way. In ...
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At Barefoot Physio we treat the whole person, not just the specific injury that brought you in. In physio we are often told to “look at the joint one above and one below”. This means if you come in with knee symptoms, your hip and ankle will also be assessed and potentially treated. The Barefoot Treatment Plan goes one further ...
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At Barefoot Physiotherapy we utilise a variety of techniques to help reduce pain and decrease muscle tightness. One of these techniques is called Dry Needling. Why we choose Dry Needling? It has numerous positive immune effects: It helps stimulate local endorphin release (which helps relieve pain) and it can increase blood flow to the symptomatic area. It has a pain ...
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Kate is a classic Barefooter… so friendly and lovely to have at the clinic and so many amazing stories to tell. We love that she speaks openly about Mental Health and advocates for people getting the help they need. We love when she comes to the clinic there is always laughter, especially when her dog Roxy comes along too! With ...
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Our friends over at Sage and Sound in Woolloongabba are a Psychology and Coaching clinic. They have shared with us some tips for self care. The five building blocks that underpin optimum mental health are to eat well, sleep enough, exercise, social interaction and do something just for you, on a daily basis. Most people have a good idea of what ...
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A common question we hear after a pain flare up or acute injury is “so, should I rest for a while?”.   The exact answer will depend on the injury but usually it’s either “no” or “yes, but only for a few days”.  Using a back flare up as an example – we’ll recommend to our clients to take it easy ...
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As Donate Life week is at the end of this month we'd like to share a Barefooter story of Lara who is an organ recipient to raise awareness of the awesomeness of Organ Donation. We usually write a little intro but I think I'll leave it to Lara to introduce herself. Questions by Sal Lara! You superstar – could you ...
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Written by Catherine - Yoga Physio As both a physio and a yoga teacher I can honestly say one of the best things you can do for your yoga practice is to use props!  It’s a legitimate game changer. It’s common for teachers to make suggestions of using a block or bolster throughout a yoga class, but often it’s a ...
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Jayde is a hilarious pocket rocket that does some pretty cool things on the weekend. We love hearing all her stories so asked her to share a bit about her life with us. Questions by Sal 1 – Superstar Jayde! You have some sweet adventurous weekends… can you explain what VMR is and what you do in it? VMR stands ...
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We love people to move well and feel great. As our communities adapt to a new way of life, which finds us all spending the majority of our time at home, a lot of us have decided it is the perfect time to pick up our old tools, bring out the vacuum cleaner or refine our green thumbs while re-landscaping ...
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The link between Physical and Mental Health The importance of mental wellbeing for overall physical health is very clear. In our increasingly busy and sometimes uncertain modern world, it is particularly important for us to give our mental health the care and attention it deserves. As physios, we have often seen the impact anxiety, depression and stress can have on ...
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More time for running With gyms closed and exercise options somewhat reduced compared to normal, a lot of people are turning to running for their endorphin dose. Running is a great form of exercise, with the added bonus of getting some vitamin D and some seeing some fresh scenery. However, there is such a thing as too much of a ...
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More time at home can mean more time for hobbies With many of us spending more time at home, we’re seeing people able to engage more with their hobbies (or even taking up new ones). It’s great to see creativity and passion being nourished like this. While the brain loves being engaged in an activity to the point of losing ...
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Shellie is a superstar - an incredible human who brings laughter and fun to everywhere she is. We have always admired her and even more after watching her learn to take care of herself fully over the last year and becoming an advocate for true self care. Here's to recharging batteries! Questions by Caitlin You have travelled to some interesting ...
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Barefoot’s 10 step plan Client’s will often ask us how we will best determine the cause of their symptoms or ask us what sets us apart from other physiotherapy clinics. Our answer is simple, our Barefoot Physiotherapy Treatment Plan. Every client we see at Barefoot Physiotherapy is always approached with the same treatment plan, a 10 step process to help ...
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Corticosteroid Injections To get a Corticosteroid injection or not is a common question we as Physiotherapists are often asked by clients. As health professionals we always respond in a way that provides our clients with all the details and facts they need to know to help them make an informed decision. Corticosteroid injections are essentially a very strong form of ...
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It is a common complaint One of the most frequent problems we see in the clinic, is people with tight shoulders. Given the prevalence of desk jobs, many consider tight shoulders just a fact of modern life. However we often find that tight upper traps are rarely the real issue and rather they are a symptom of the body being ...
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Old injuries and Accumulative Strain Remember that incident from years and years back? The one has completely healed and doesn’t give you any pain, but it was a pretty big deal at the time? It may not seem related to a pain you are currently experiencing, and maybe it isn’t, but no matter where or what the injury was, it ...
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Our rib cage is an essential for protection of our organs, having a strong trunk and is involved in our everyday movements, like breathing or turning our bodies. Our rib cage rises and falls with each breath using the muscles between the ribs and our diaphragm. Just like any other joint and muscle, these areas can be loaded and irritated ...
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Nerve pain is a common contributing factor to a person’s overall pain presentation. It can cause tight muscles, stiff joints and restricted movements. Sometimes this pain is harder to describe and localize making it a difficult condition to understand. Nerve pain can be also be described as nerve irritation or nerve inflammation. When specific branch of a nerve is involved, ...
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Hi everyone! Hannah here again. This time I'm going to be taking you through one of my favourite exercises to do - the Squat.  It's a lot more complex than you think and I've spent considerable time trying to get mine right, so I can become stronger and also lessen the risk of injury as I increase weights in the ...
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So what is a return to walking program? We have great evidence to support gentle activity/movement being beneficial to our bodies. And the current recommendations are 30min x 5 days a week + 2 strength based sessions. So what if you can’t physically manage to walk 30min most days of the week? And you’d like to? Now if you can ...
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I'm getting into exercise, but I haven’t exercised before. Where do I begin? Our Barefoot plan brings our clients to step 10 which is ‘Living your Barefoot Lifestyle’, this includes being able to start new activities and try new things! You can also bring this up with us at any other step in the plan. Exercise can be anything that ...
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