Archive for category: Physiotherapy Column

What Is Chronic Pain?

Chronic pain has typically been defined as pain persisting for more than 3 months.  This pain can be experienced throughout the entire body, or at localised body parts.  Pain is a wonderful tool for our body to protect us from perceived threat of tissue damage.  However, so often our ability to accurately determine this threat is altered. 

When we experience chronic, or persisting, pain it can have a large impact on all facets of our lives.  It may mean that we are unable to participate in social situations, or struggle to maintain strength and mobility. Experiencing chronic pain takes up a portion of your daily energy and brain space, so you may also find yourself being distracted, forgetful or irritable. It’s a multifactorial experience, and requires a multiple factorial approach to treatment.

Considering what is chronic pain and what contributes to chronic pain is a complex process.  We know that pain can be increased by not enough sleep, by increased systemic inflammation, by stressful situations and by lack of social/ medical support etc. While initially this may seem overwhelming, it actually means that there are multiple avenues that we can explore to help improve your chronic pain.

The Difference Between Acute and Chronic Pain

This section will compare what is acute pain and chronic pain. The obvious difference between acute and chronic pain is the length of time that pain is experienced.  Acute pain usually occurs with a relatively sudden onset and often interferes with mobility and function. It can often be associated with a specific incident, or mechanism of injury, where a particular fall, movement, landing etc. occurs just before the pain begins.  This can indicate the presence of tissue damage, or a suddenly provoked protective response from the body. Acute pain has a rapid spike in symptoms for the first few days to weeks, then can decrease steadily over the next few weeks, lasting no longer than 3 months.

Continuing to compare what is acute pain and chronic pain, chronic pain continues to persist long after the initial tissue damage or threat has gone. When considering what is chronic pain, there is often a mismatch in the symptoms felt, and the activities or movements that provoke these symptoms.  As mentioned above, nociceptors may be trained to activate at a lower threshold. Hyperalgesia is when something that may usually cause only a minor pain response can be exaggerated (eg a light scratch causing immense pain).  Allodynia is when a non-threatening stimulus causes pain (eg a feather lightly touching the skin may feel like a cut).  These are just two ways in which the information received from the body can be mis-identified, causing a painful response.

The Causes of Chronic Pain

As mentioned above, pain is a sensation created from contextual information following activation of nociceptors from a perceived threat to body tissues. Chronic pain is the continuation of these painful sensations beyond normal tissue healing timeframes, or in the absence of any tissue damage.

When trying to define chronic pain and what causes it, It is important to appreciate that we don’t have specific “pain receptors” in our body that become activated causing “pain signals”.  Instead, we have nociceptors or free nerve endings that respond to changes in mechanical, thermal or chemical stimuli.  I.e changes to movement/pressure, temperature or chemicals such as histamine. These nociceptors are activated and send electrical signals up to the brain.  It’s in the brain that these signals are interpreted and contextual information is added. If enough nociceptors are activated, and enough “danger” context is added, then the outgoing information that we feel in the body is pain. When we experience what is chronic pain, these nociceptors are being more frequently activated, and/or the danger context is being added much more quickly and frequently regardless of the threat of actual tissue damage.

The NOI Group (where so much of the latest research in pain science research and education comes from), describes a dynamic protective buffer between the onset of protection by pain, and the tissue’s actual tolerance before damage begins to occur. This is a warning system the gives us physical signals that we are about to push into our tissue’s threshold.

TWIN PEAKS IMAGE

You may push into this buffer slowly, eg running a marathon that you haven’t properly trained for, or quickly, eg a sudden burst of increased physical activity and experience pain and potentially tissue damage.  After this tissue damage has occurred, your protective buffer adjusts.  Your protect by pain threshold is lowered and you’ll experience the same or similar response as you did before but now at a decreased amount of effort/ load/ activity. This protective buffer can also be influenced by the overall inflammation in the body, stress, expectation of pain, lack of physical conditioning, poor sleep and nutrition or a history of physical injuries.

The Symptoms of Chronic Pain

It can be difficult to define chronic pain beyond the persistence of pain over 3 months.  The symptoms that people experience are complex and varied.  Chronic pain may be caused by underlying conditions such as endometriosis, arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis or fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.  When we initially think of chronic pain symptoms we immediately think of the physical: dull, achy pain, sharp shooting pain; pins and needles or burning etc.  Other chronic pain symptoms include decreased sleep, decreased participation in social interactions or physical activities, increased irritability, decreased concentration, decreased productivity.  Unfortunately, the list is long, which is why it’s so important for us to address the whole person in treatment of chronic pain. Similarly, when asked how long is chronic pain, the answer can’t be easily given as it depends on the person, scenario, and interventions.  

Understanding the Mental Health Impact of Chronic Pain

The mental health impact of chronic pain is significant. As mentioned above there are so many situations where chronic pain can have a negative impact. Mental health issues and chronic pain go hand in hand.  Those experiencing persisting pain are more predisposed to symptoms of depression, anxiety or psychological distress.  This relationship works in both directions, people with diagnosed depression or anxiety are more likely to experience chronic pain.  The pain itself can be further be  influenced by low mood, rumination, inability to sleep and social isolation, often creating an important cycle to break.

How to Manage and Treat Chronic Pain

As chronic pain is a multifactorial experience it means there are so many strategies to help manage your pain. Ultimately we want to change the chronic pain meaning in your body and increase the amount of activity you can do before the protect by pain response is triggered (remembering the protective buffer from before). We do this by finding our ‘Goldilocks’ Zone’; not too little, not too much, but just right! There are many things that help to support this zone. It’s difficult to say how long is chronic pain, as it differs for the individual. Here are some tips that consider the physical, mental and social aspects of chronic pain.

• Increase the amount of incidental activity you do by gradual amounts.
• Pick an activity you can accomplish without causing a flare up (eg a 7 minute walk), repeat that more frequently. General exercise has an overall anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
• Pick a meaningful activity to do more of. You might find that picking up your grandchild is much more comfortable than picking up dirty laundry.
• Change the context! Repeat the activity but in an environment you enjoy. Eg a walk by the river, or to a café with a friend.
• Try to sleep more.  Go to bed when you are tired, sleep in a dark and quiet room, avoid caffeine later in the day and avoid screens before bedtime.
• Add in a mindfulness/meditation.  Even a brief mindfulness activity can help to balance the nervous system and assist in decreasing inflammation.
• Eat food that makes you feel good!  Try to add in one more fruit or vegetable to your meals and vary the colours of your food.
• Aim to focus on your function versus your pain.  The more attention we give our pain the more overwhelming it feels.
• Ask for help!  Have an engaged team of health professionals to assist you in creating a plan and to support you in this journey. This can include a Physiotherapist, a Psychologist and a GP.

How Barefoot Can Help with Chronic Pain

If you are suffering with chronic pain and don’t know where to start, get in touch.  The physiotherapists at Barefoot Physiotherapy can help you create a plan to get you moving and back in control.

Book online now

Hamstring tendinopathy is becoming an increasingly recognized cause of pain in both sitting and activity related posterior thigh pain. This pain is often present at the top of the hamstring underneath the gluteal fold, where the hamstring tendon attaches onto the ischial tuberosity. It is important to know how to treat hamstring tendinopathy as the hamstrings make up the bulk of the muscle in the back of the thigh and are formed by three muscles and their tendons. The muscles are semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris.

As hamstrings are known as runner’s muscles, hamstring tendinopathy is often diagnosed in clients who are avid runners. Typically, runners who have suddenly increased their training volume, training intensity or have started hill running.  However, with the right management of active self-treatment and strengthening exercises you can get back to running pain-free.

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we utilise a combination of hands-on techniques, activity, and exercise modifications, strengthening exercises and advice and education to help clients cure their hamstring tendinopathy and get back to moving and feeling good.

What is Hamstring Tendinopathy?

Let’s break it down further – what is high tendinopathy and how do you heal high Hamstring Tendinopathy?High hamstring tendinopathies are more commonly referred to as a proximal hamstring tendinopathy, due to the usual location of symptoms high on the hamstring. People who have developed a proximal hamstring tendinopathy will often complain of a deep, annoying buttock pain during activities such as running, prolonged sitting/ driving or hill walking/ running.  

The role of a muscle’s tendon is to attach the muscle to bone. A normal tendon consists of fibrous tissue which contains type one collagen, the structure is often imagined looking like a rope. There are specific cells in a tendon designed to look after the tendon structure. Tendons are vascularized however there is less blood supply at the part of the tendon which attaches to bone, which is consequently where tendinopathy will occur. Tendons do not like sudden changes to load, and in some occurrences, this is what will cause tendinopathy.

What are the Causes?

When determining how to treat hamstring tendinopathy, you need to understand the causes of a proximal hamstring tendinopathy. Unlike an acute hamstring tear, the pain typically comes on gradually and is usually aggravated by repetitive activities such as prolonged sitting and running.

As previously mentioned, a tendon doesn’t like sudden variances in load. When the hamstring tendon is put under a high load that exceeds its ability to effectively recover, the tendons structures can change. The changes that occur when a tendon is unhappy involves collagen structures becoming disorganised and therefore unfavourable alterations occur to the neurovascular and cellular components of the tendon. These changes can therefore result in the pain symptoms at the site of tendon insertion. 

Who is most likely to get a high hamstring tendinopathy? The most significant risk factor for hamstring injuries is a history of previous injury to the muscle. Therefore, seeking out physiotherapy treatment for an acute injury can be paramount in preventing further injury. The following is a list of common causes of proximal hamstring tendinopathy: running, jumping, and kicking, history of lower limb injury, lack of flexibility (stiffness in muscles), weakness in muscles, inadequate warm-ups, muscle fatigue, increasing age and muscle imbalances.

How to Treat Hamstring Tendinopathy

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we utilise the best evidence-based research to know how to treat high hamstring tendinopathy. In your assessment at Barefoot, your physiotherapists will ascertain the extent of your injury and formulate a plan for the best steps to start your healing. In most instances, your physiotherapist will suggest a conservative approach to rehab including initial rest, icing of the area, stretching and strengthening of the affected muscles and surrounding muscle groups. In some instances when the pain doesn’t improve with conservative management, further treatment interventions may be required. However, your physiotherapists will consult with you and your GP if they believe alternative treatments such as corticosteroid injections may be beneficial.

Treating Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy

Your Barefoot physiotherapist will be highly skilled in knowing how to treat a hamstring tendinopathy and will prescribe a management plan which may include some of the following exercises.

Initial phase:

The initial phase of rehab will include relative rest or a reduction in training volume. Your physiotherapist will help you understand your individual aggravating factors for the tendon and work with you to build solutions. This might include regular breaks from sitting, avoiding hill walking, using a cushion to sit on and tendon relieving exercises such as isometric hamstring contractions i.e., digging your heel into ground while you are sitting. 

Loading phase:

The next step in your rehab will be to gradually reload the tendon. In knowing how to treat a proximal tendinopathy, specific stretching and strengthening exercises are a must. Muscles which may be strengthened include the hamstring group, glute muscles and abdominal muscles.

1. Squats:

Squat exercises are functional and a great way to start rebuilding appropriate strength throughout the whole lower body to ensure the surrounding muscles of the hamstrings are strong. When performing a squat, your physiotherapist will assess your form to ensure your back is not over-active, glutes are engaged, and you have the appropriate hip range to complete the movement. Reps and sets will be determined based on your ability to load your body and how many you can complete before fatigue. Typically, you will want toes facing slightly out, feet about shoulder width apart and the ability to maintain a neutral back throughout the movement.

2. Romanian dead lift:

In this position, your physiotherapist will instruct you to activate your deep abdominals, create a slight bend in the knees and hinge at the hip, feeling a tension building in the hamstrings and glutes. Focus on pushing hips backwards like you are going to sit down and then standing back up straight without over-extending into the back. Reps and sets will be determined based on your ability to load your body and how many you can complete before fatigue.

3. Hamstring Bridge:

A hamstring bridge is an excellent targeted exercise to the hamstring muscle group. Your physiotherapist will instruct you to lie on the ground with your heels on the bed and feet flexed back towards you. You will then tuck your pelvis and push heels into the bed and create a lift. Your hamstrings should be firing the most and some glutes. If there is any discomfort in your back let your physiotherapist know and stop the exercise. Reps and sets will be determined based on your ability to load your body and how many you can complete before fatigue.

The exercises listed above show how to treat a high hamstring tendinopathy. These are three key strengthening exercises that are commonly used by our physiotherapists. There are many more exercises which can be utilised to restrengthen your hamstring and your physiotherapist will work with you to tailor a specific program to your exercise ability and stage of rehab.

Treat Hamstring Tendinopathy with Barefoot Physiotherapy

The aim of this article was to help you understand how to heal high hamstring tendinopathy and how Barefoot Physiotherapy can assist you in this process. If you or anyone you know is suffering from deep buttock pain, pain with prolonged sitting, or running/hill walking, it could be a hamstring tendinopathy and one of our friendly Barefoot Physiotherapists can help. 

Your Barefoot Physiotherapist will work with you to construct a treatment plan which best suits you and your lifestyle so you can get back to enjoying the activities you love pain free. You can give us a call on 1300 842 850 or book into our Brisbane clinic online.

Knee pain is a common reason that people present to physiotherapy. They may be suffering from knee pain in isolation or within a broader complaint of symptoms. Your knees are important in mobility and day to day activities, and are influenced directly from the feet, ankles and hips. This article will look into what causes knee pain and the most common presentations we see in our clinic. The vast majority of knee pain can be treated conservatively (without the need for injections or surgery) through a treatment program created by your Physiotherapist. Most of the knee pain presentations that we see at Barefoot Physiotherapy are a result of sustained increased load though there are many factors to take into consideration.

What Causes Knee Pain?

The knee joint is a modified hinge joint that moves primarily in one linear direction. A relatively small amount of rotation occurs as the knee moves through full extension and flexion. The joints that make up the overall knee joint complex include the tibiofemoral (between the thigh and shin), the patellofemoral (the kneecap) and the nearby tibiofibular (between the two shin bones). There are a series of ligaments and cartilage structures also involved in this joint: Medial and lateral collateral ligaments (MCL and LCL respectively) external to the joint capsule, Anterior and Posterior Cruciate Ligaments (ACL and PCL respectively) and the fibrocartilage meniscus within the joint capsule. Around the patella or kneecap are the patella tendon and ligaments.

Knee pain can also come from tightness or overuse of muscles in the area, or from nerve irritation presenting with symptoms in this area.

Depending on the activities, age and history of the client, the physiotherapist will perform a variety of assessments to determine what causes knee pain in the individual person. A younger or more athletic person may have pain stemming from an acute injury to the above tissues, or from muscular overload. Whereas an older person may be more likely to have osteoarthritis or nerve irritation in the area. This is not a hard and fast distinction, and it is important not to rule causes in or out prior to a thorough assessment from a health professional.

The Most Common Reasons for Knee Pain

As previously mentioned, there are many knee pain reasons. Prior to a physical assessment, your physiotherapist will discuss a detailed history, including any injuries or niggles you may have sustained recently or over your lifetime that may be relevant.

• Acute injuries: These are more commonly seen in a sporting context, either from a fall, physical contact/ tackle, or an awkward pivot. This may include ACL or MCL tears, meniscus tears or muscle strains. More rarely there may be a bony fracture involved.
• Tendinopathies: This is an overload of the tendon (where the muscle attaches to bone) and is due to an increase of loading that occurred beyond the capacity of the tissue. Tendinopathies are commonly seen with a recent addition of plyometrics or running.
• Nerve Irritation: neural involvement can present as a feeling of overall muscle tightness around the knee, or a feeling of pulling/shooting behind the knee particularly when then hip and knee is straight.
• Osteoarthritis: as we age it is common to have arthritic changes within joints, and especially common within the knee joint. This can present as pain, decreased ranges or difficulty moving in certain ways. It is important to remember that though we can’t alter arthritic changes (outside of surgery), we can positively influence the body’s response to these changes and moving better and getting stronger can decrease the overall pain experienced.
• Paediatrics: Conditions such as Osgood-Schlatters Disease are relatively common in adolescents undergoing a growth spurt, leading to an overload of the tissues at the front of the knee. In this population it is important to rule out Perthes Disease, an idiopathic necrosis of the femoral epiphysis (top of the thigh bone) which can refer as knee pain.

What Are My Treatment Options for Sore Knees?

We now know there are multiple factors involved in what causes knee pain, therefore there are multiple factors that can be addressed in your treatment. Once we have ruled out the need for immediate imaging, our initial goal is to de-load the area and reduce the symptoms you are experiencing. Your physiotherapist will use a combination of hands-on treatment to reduce any relevant nerve irritation and muscle spasm; this may include joint mobilisations, soft tissue massage or dry needling.

You will be given advice on immediate load management and changes to activity, in the initial stages of rehabilitation we want to find a zone of activity to keep you moving without any aggravation of symptoms. Following this initial de-load period, your management will consist of muscle activation and retraining, likely focusing on glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves, and abdominals (this is different for every person).

At Barefoot Physiotherapy we also assess the entire body to determine if there are any areas that also need to be addressed to reduce the overall load on the knees and the rest of the body. From here we build on increasing strength whilst maintaining improvements to ranges and symptoms. Our Barefoot Physiotherapy clients all receive a home exercise program that is relevant to them, their presentation and the activity they want to return to.

The Best Exercises for Sore Knees

The best exercises for improving knee pain and reducing the underlying factors in what causes knees to ache follow the principles of de-load, retrain, and reload.

De-load: This usually involves muscle releases to help improve pain free movement ranges. Most often they will focus on the knee itself, plus any other areas your physiotherapist has found relevant for you. Typical releases include glute, deep hip rotator or quad muscles with a trigger ball, calf releases using your thumb or a trigger ball, gentle active range movement stretching glutes, adductors, calves, or quads.

Retrain: Once the area has been de-loaded it is important to retrain movement and activation patterns to prevent accumulated strain from causing symptoms in the future. Your physiotherapist will help you find cues for glute activation, quad and hamstring co-contraction, intrinsic foot activation and improved balance, amongst others.

Reload: This section becomes a bit more exciting as we add a strength component. The muscle activation cues you will have already practiced now get to be layered on larger movements like squats, deadlifts, dynamic balance, and lunges. If you have a particular activity to return to, this part of the rehab can be specialised to your specific movement demands.

How Can I Prevent Sore Knees?

To prevent sore knees in the future it is important to stay mindful of your overall load management. For example, if you are wanting to start running you need to consider more obvious elements such as speed and length of your run, but also your strength and balance capacity, the surface you run on or the shoes you run in. As you increase the load in one area, it is important to include an effective warm-up to help prepare the body, but also to make sure the body is receiving enough support in the form of rest/ sleep, nutrition, and muscle de-loading. This is true of any activity, whether that is training for a marathon, going for a hike, or playing with the grandkids.

Have Knee Pain? Contact A Physiotherapist Today

The aim of this article was to help you gain a better understanding of what knee pain is, how it is caused and who can help. Whether you have been experiencing long term knee pain, or just starting to feel a bit of a niggle, Barefoot Physiotherapy can help get you back to your activities as quickly as possible with our knee pain Brisbane treatment. If you have any concerns regarding knee pain, see Barefoot Physio for a thorough assessment, treatment, and management plan.

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we offer various physiotherapy services; one of them being Women’s Health Physiotherapy. In fact, this is one of our primary service offerings in Brisbane. So, what is Women’s Health Physiotherapy? 

Women’s Health Physiotherapy typically refers to Physiotherapy focusing on Pelvic health. At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we use the term to cover Physiotherapy concerns across the female lifespan, including adolescence, antenatal, postnatal and menopause stages of one’s life. 

Most commonly, all these concerns will relate to the function and pain in the bladder, bowel, pelvis, lower back muscles and pelvic floor muscles. However, it can also incorporate a return to function and exercise concerns pre and post-pregnancy, gynaecological surgery and around menopausal age. At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we aim to empower women across the lifespan to maintain control of their bodies to live their best barefoot lifestyles. Working with a physiotherapist to address any of the above issues can help improve your overall quality of life and wellbeing. 

What Is Women’s Health Physiotherapy?

Women’s Health Physiotherapy is different to general physiotherapy as its practitioners have a special interest and extra training in a range of female-oriented concerns across the lifespan. A women’s health physiotherapist will work with you with the aim of helping you achieve your physical best. 

So what is Women’s Health Physiotherapy? As previously mentioned, it generally tends to focus on women’s pelvic health concerns across the lifespan. Contrary to common misconceptions, it isn’t just for pregnant women; but in fact, it addresses the changes to the female body throughout the various stages of life. Clients who work with a Women’s Health Physiotherapist have someone to guide them and organise a health team if needed to achieve their individual goals. 

A general musculoskeletal physiotherapist can assist with injuries to various body areas, including symptoms associated with pregnancy and gynaecological surgeries. However, they may not have a deeper understanding of how to effectively treat pain and injuries stemming from the pelvic region long term and prevent reoccurrence. Therefore, they will often refer to a Women’s Health Physiotherapist who can utilise their extra knowledge, hands-on skills and exercise prescription in this area to achieve the client’s goals and keep the area strong and healthy to prevent reinjury. 

Why Would I Be Referred to a Women’s Health Physical Therapist?

So why would you be referred to a Women’s Health Physical Therapist? At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we don’t do internal examinations: the only type of Women’s Health Physiotherapy we typically refer for is an Internal examination. If this is needed, we have great contacts to refer to and work with to help get you the best care. Therefore, there are plenty of reasons your GP/ general physio may recommend you to Barefoot Physiotherapy for Women’s Health concerns. 

These concerns can include;

• Lower back, mid-back and neck pain pre and post-pregnancy
• Pelvic girdle pain or coccyx pain 
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction or pain  
• Postnatal pelvic floor assessments (excluding internal examinations)
• Bladder concerns including; stress urinary incontinence, urge incontinence/ overactive bladder syndrome, bladder pain syndrome and urinary retention. 
• Bowel function concerns including incontinence and constipation 
• Painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia)
• Exercise programs for menopausal women 
• Exercise programs to increase bone density 
• Exercise programs for a return to exercise post-pregnancy 
• Advice and education on safe exercise throughout pregnancy 
• Endometriosis pain
• Vaginal Pain 

If you are unsure about what health practitioner is needed to help resolve your women’s health concern, give us a call anytime to address your concern, and we can assist you in determining the best course of action. 

What Happens at a Women’s Health Physio Appointment?

Hopefully, by now, you will have a greater understanding of “what is Women’s Health Physiotherapy?”. Let’s now break down what happens at a Women’s Health Physio appointment. 

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, your typical initial assessment will start with a detailed subjective examination. This will include asking the client to detail previous medical history, previous injuries or physical concerns, current physical injuries or concerns, any current medications, who your current health care team is, and any other relevant information to your presentation. 

Then your Physiotherapist will go through a series of objective assessments, including testing for underlying neural irritation, any movement restrictions throughout the body, tightness in joints or muscles or any specific weakness in the pelvic floor or deep abdominal muscles. We don’t do any internal examinations; we have thorough assessment techniques that we use. And if we deem that an internal examination is necessary, we may refer you to a trusted colleague.

Once your Women’s Health Physiotherapist has a thorough understanding of your presentation, they will utilise the remainder of the appointment for treatment; this may include but isn’t limited to; manual therapy to relieve tight muscles/joints/ nerve irritation, advice and education about exercise, activity modification and postures and muscle activation or light strengthening. 

Depending on the reason for your visit, your Women’s Health Physiotherapist may also recommend an SIJ belt or taping to help relieve your symptoms. 

What Are The Benefits of a Female Health Physio?

When visiting Barefoot Physiotherapy for Women’s Health Physiotherapy, there are a variety of benefits of working with an educated, knowledgeable and experienced team. 

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we pride ourselves on providing the best possible treatment by staying up to date with cutting edge research around pelvic health. We undertake extensive extra training and learn from various leaders in the women’s health industry to constantly upgrade our skills in hands-on treatment, advice and education, and exercise prescription. This extra training also allows us to find excellent options for clients in terms of practitioners who provide internal women’s health examinations to be confident they are working with a team of highly trained professionals. 

Whilst general physiotherapists can provide pain relief for some common musculoskeletal women’s health concerns; a general physio might not know how to effectively prevent reoccurrence with certain women’s health issues or who to refer to for specific women’s health concerns (for instance; internal examinations or pessary fittings for pelvic organ prolapse). Therefore, it is highly beneficial to seek out a Women’s Health Physiotherapist from the start of your physiotherapy journey. 

Hopefully, this article has helped to understand the question of “what is Women’s Health physiotherapy?”, and you now feel confident to request a Women’s Health Physiotherapist early on in your care. 

How Can a Female Health Physio Help With Pregnancy?

A major area of Women’s Health Physiotherapy is the focus on antenatal and postnatal issues. A female’s body undergoes major changes throughout pregnancy. Therefore, as the body adapts, females can develop issues or concerns with pain and dysfunction, which can last throughout the entirety of their pregnancy and into post-pregnancy if not addressed by a Women’s Health Physiotherapist. 

Women’s Health Physiotherapy can help prevent pregnancy-related concerns such as; pelvic girdle and coccyx pain, pregnancy and postnatal lower or mid back pain, incontinence (bladder or bowel), pelvic organ prolapse and or exercise-related muscle fatigue/ pain. A Women’s Health Physiotherapist can address the above issues through advice and education around pelvic organ health, hands-on therapy to release tight muscles causing discomfort, exercises to increase pelvic floor strength and endurance and postural education. In addition, they can work with you to develop a safe plan for exercise during pregnancy and a graded return to activity post-pregnancy. 

Women’s Health Physiotherapists aim to empower you to feel confident in your body, prevent issues from occurring or reoccurring and achieve your individual goals. 

Find the Right Women’s Health Physio For You

This article has aimed to provide you with the answer to the question “What is Women’s Health Physiotherapy?” and how Barefoot Physiotherapy can help you resolve your women’s health concerns. 

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we always utilise the most cutting edge research to shape our treatments, and you can be confident that your Physiotherapist will listen to your concerns and work with you to achieve your goals and resolve your issue. Therefore, if you need Women’s Health Physiotherapy in Brisbane, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us to chat about what you would like to come in for or book an appointment. You can book an appointment by calling us on 1300 842 850, or you can book online here. 

How to Fix Tennis Elbow: Our Approach

Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylalgia, is a diagnosis of overuse injury to the elbow. It can be a painful injury that usually occurs when the elbow is overloaded, typically due to repetitive motions of the wrist and arm.

Tennis elbow is defined as a tendinopathy of the extensor muscles in the forearm. These muscles attach to the outer part of the elbow at the lateral epicondyle of the distal humerus bone and run down to the wrist. Whilst the injury is called tennis elbow, only approximately 5% of people suffering from tennis elbow draw correlation to tennis.

This article will explain how to treat tennis elbow, the symptoms of tennis elbow and manual therapy and exercises which are used to treat it. At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we have experience treating a wide variety of clients who present with tennis elbow symptoms; the following information is backed by our team of experienced Physiotherapists.

What Are the Symptoms of Tennis Elbow?

Knowing how to fix tennis elbow means we must first understand how the symptoms are caused, so we can identify the problem and treat the source of the pain.

Tennis elbow is defined as a type of tendinopathy which is essentially the inflammation (swelling) of tendons, and this can cause pain in the elbow and forearm region. The tendons of the forearm extensors are bands formed of tissue whose role is to connect the muscles of your forearm to your elbow bone or lateral epicondyle.

As previously mentioned, you can get tennis elbow without playing tennis, as movements such as repetitive gripping activities can also cause the tendons to become inflamed. Typical symptoms of tennis elbow are pain and tenderness at the elbow’s lateral epicondyle, this pain can also radiate into the upper or lower portion of the arm. People with tennis elbow may also experience swelling in the elbow, weakness in the forearm or reduced range of movement. If you are suffering from tennis elbow you may have pain when gripping or lifting objects, driving the car, turning doorknobs, or opening jars, or potentially while typing.

Misconceptions About Tennis Elbow

As with any area of the body, the reason you are experiencing pain in your elbow can vary. Not all pain experienced in the elbow or forearm is tennis elbow. Pain and discomfort in the outer elbow region can often be misdiagnosed as tennis elbow or lateral epicondylalgia.

There are many structures which can influence the movement and feeling in the elbow and therefore a thorough investigation of a client’s symptoms is always essential to ensure there isn’t a misdiagnosis. At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we often see clients who have underlying nerve irritation which is diagnosed as tennis elbow, if there is nerve irritation in the brachial plexus (which is the nerves that supply the arm) they can cause pain at the lateral elbow. In addition, wrist or shoulder dysfunction or pain can load up the elbow and cause the elbow joint discomfort and symptoms similar to tennis elbow. Furthermore, general upper body muscular weakness can also cause discomfort after repetitive movements.

How to Fix Tennis Elbow Quickly

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we aim to provide pain relief as soon as possible for clients with tennis elbow. Understanding how to fix tennis elbow quickly requires a focus on pain relief and symptom management. This enables the Physiotherapists to sooner start the required treatment for long term resolution of the injury.

On assessment at Barefoot Physiotherapy, we will first check to ensure there are no further underlying issues contributing to your pain including muscular tightness or nerve irritation. Treatment to upper body nerves and tight muscles can help relieve pressure and inflammation at the area, assisting in providing the client with pain relief. In addition, if it is safe to do so, your Physiotherapist will advise the use of over-the-counter anti-inflammatories to help reduce the internal source of inflammation.

In the session, your Physiotherapist may also assess that the use of supported strapping tape at the region is beneficial for you and your individual symptoms. Once sufficient pain relief is achieved, the source of symptoms needs to be identified so appropriate treatment can commence for long term tennis elbow relief.

How to Cure Tennis Elbow Long Term

At Barefoot Physiotherapy, we aim to help clients achieve long term success for all their goals. To understand how to cure tennis elbow, we undertake our Barefoot Treatment plan.

This plan, as previously mentioned, entails a thorough investigation of your previous physical history including any repetitive injuries, pain, or other health conditions. Then, an initial assessment which includes testing for any nerve irritation present throughout your body, reduced range of motion or tightness in muscles or joints. If present, we aim to clear nerve irritation first, so any gains made in muscle range or strength can hold between sessions. Your Physiotherapist will also likely discuss the need for you to rest the painful joint as much as possible, and work with you to initially modify any aggravating activities.

Once sufficient pain relief and reduction in inflammation is achieved, your Physiotherapist will work with you with a combination of manual therapy, advice and education and exercises to improve your elbow strength and resolve your tennis elbow injury.

Treating Tennis Elbow with Exercises

When working with your Physiotherapist on how to fix tennis elbow, you will likely be prescribed exercises focused on lengthening and strengthening the target muscle groups. This will not only help reduce your symptoms but will also assist in preventing future problems with the elbow.

The following are examples of exercises which may be used; however, it is recommended that you consult your own health professional for a personalised exercise program.

Lengthening exercises will often include wrist/ elbow extension and flexion stretches. Light strengthening exercises can be completed in elbow/ wrist flexion and extension before progressing to supination and pronation. You may use a light handheld weight or resistance bands to increase the difficulty of the exercise and build strength.

Grip strengthening is another important part of a tennis elbow home exercise program. Grip strength exercises can help build up forearm and wrist strength that can improve your ability to do activities of daily living pain free.

A combination of these exercises can include a towel twist which works grip strength and the wrist flexors and extensors. Whilst strengthening of the local elbow and wrist muscles is important, dependent on your underlying cause of symptoms, your physiotherapist will likely recommend the strengthening of other upper body muscles. This can include, but is not limited to; biceps, triceps, latissimus dorsi, rotator cuff muscles and intrinsic hand muscles.

Address Your Tennis Elbow with Barefoot Physiotherapy

As the article has summarised, if you are experiencing any pain or discomfort in your elbow or forearm it could be due to an overuse injury such as tennis elbow and it is recommended to book in to see a health professional for a thorough assessment and treatment plan.