Physiotherapy Column

You may have said out loud at some point “I really need to roll out my ___ (insert muscle here)” or "I need to do a self release". It has been back and forth in research, about whether the mechanisms through which rolling out muscles or doing self releases works, if at all. The next question we often ask ourselves is “Where and how much should I be doing?”. A recent review (see reference below) has gone into more detail ...
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Neck pain is one of the most common conditions that we treat at Barefoot. While there are sometimes acute or traumatic injuries (such as whiplash from a car accident) that can cause neck pain, far more common is pain caused by accumulative strain. This essentially means a variety of contributing factors such as posture (think time in front of the computer or looking down at your phone), sleeping position, stress and even exercise have built up over time, which is ...
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Do you have neck or shoulder pain that gets worse after a day at work? Have you thought about the way you sit at your desk could be contributing to strain building up in the body. Making sure you think about your body position throughout the day can reduce unwanted niggles and make you feel more comfortable. While every desk space is different and every worker has individualized needs, here are a few general upper body tips to get you ...
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When there is pain in your head, it can be difficult to tell whether you are experiencing a headache or a migraine. Therefore it is important to work out which one it is. Faster diagnosis of a headache or migraine means faster relief through better treatments. So, how can you tell the difference between a headache and a migraine? What is a headache? Headaches are unpleasant pains in your head. They cause pressure and aching. It can feel like your neck it tight ...
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Did you know Jaw pain can be treated. It can be common for clients to come to Barefoot Physiotherapy and end up getting an internal jaw release from one of the physios. Having a jaw release can sometimes come as a bit of a shock to people. This is because even though most people mention tension being held in the jaw, jaw pain, clenching or grinding, it isn’t usually directly addressed. What is Jaw pain? The small muscles in the ...
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Why we ask what a "good result" means to you. If you have been to the clinic, you’ll know that we like to ask “What would be a good result for you?”. This may seem straightforward or even silly to some, but we have found that talking about what "good results" means to you is one of the most important things we ask. Let me explain... Here at Barefoot, we see a wide array of people, with a variety of ...
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The Best Mattress for Lower Back Pain Sleeping on a mattress that isn’t right for you can cause stiffness and low back pain. Mattresses that lack the right support, reinforce poor sleeping postures and build up strain. Strain can be caused on muscles, joints and nerves. All of these contribute to low back pain. Choosing your Mattress Your sleep comfort are also affected if a mattress doesn’t match your individual needs and preferences. When you choose a mattress that provides ...
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Hi everyone, Catherine here. I wanted to give you some information on medical imaging. If you have any questions after reading this article, please feel free to get in touch. When do I need a scan?  X-Rays, MRI, CT and Ultrasound. Medical imaging gives us lots of useful information regarding injuries to muscles, ligaments or bone.  It really depends on the circumstance of your injury.  A subjective (talking about what happened/what you feel) and objective (hands on) exam with your ...
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Hi team, Sal here. I recently went back to school to talk to the grade 10s about a career in physiotherapy. One of the students sent me some follow up questions for an assignment about Career in Physiotherapy. I thought it would be good to share with you. How important is self belief, resilience and motivation when being a physio? Fairly important. Like any profession these are important attributes but if you happen to be someone who is working on ...
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Taking care of your body as a barista Whether it’s a flat white, double espresso or caramel soy latte, we all love a good coffee. But what about the people who make your perfect brew? Busy baristas are often making multiple coffees a minute and the load on their body can contribute to unwanted pain and injury. So I’ve put together my tips for taking care of your barista body! Set-up In a typical office workspace, we are able to ...
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Hi everyone, I thought I'd put a blog together about the often unknown aspect of Physiotherapy - performance enhancement.  Most often people come to us for rehabilitation or pain relief. However, an equally important role we play in working with clients is for injury prevention and performance enhancement.  In this blog I'll quickly discuss what pain is. Then I'll discuss the the difference in seeing a Physiotherapist purely for performance enhancement, that is: to make you faster, stronger and more ...
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Running Injury Prevention Hi everyone... Caitlin... As the weather cools off and ‘fun run’ season starts, we naturally see more people out hitting the roads and treadmill. Running is a great all round exercise. It helps us get outside and to clear your mind, however people often underestimate the load it places on the body. To avoid injury and keep the running joy, here are our top tips for running injury prevention: Take a gradual approach As with any new ...
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Preventing Dance Injuries Hi everyone, this is Part 2 of my Dance Blog series.  I hope you enjoy Preventing Dance Injuries.  If you've got any questions after reading this article, please feel free to get in touch. Pushing through pain For the longest time being injured has been an accepted part of being a dancer. It’s so common to hear of dancers pushing through pain and performing with muscle strains, stress fractures or any number of injuries. Best way to ...
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Being a new mum can be challenging – there are so many new demands on you and often with minimal sleep. Breastfeeding is one of these new tasks and there can be considerable mental, emotional and physical load associated with it! While we can’t help with all of that, we have put together our tips for a great breastfeeding posture to help avoid musculoskeletal pain. Set-up While most newborn babies might not seem like they weight very much, holding them ...
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Sal was contacted by a student doing research into musicians and muscle/back pain. Here’s her answers to some of the questions: What experience have you had with cellists/musicians with back and muscle pain? I am the Principal Physiotherapist at Barefoot Physiotherapy and have treated musicians with back/muscle pain (as well as rehabbing musicians post traumatic injury) over my 10+ years of being a physio. Of note I used to play quite a lot of music in Orchestras and Percussion Ensembles ...
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Hi everyone, here's part 2 to my acute ankle blog. If you didn't catch the first part, you can click here. As I mentioned in my first blog, I've had my fair share of acute ankle injuries and have also seen plenty! So I hope you find this second blog informative and helpful. After the first week Once you’re past the first week or so of that acute ankle injury, we are looking for more ways to get it moving ...
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Hi all, Sal here. Tying in with Caitlin’s blogs on being active in pregnancy I would like to share 5 great tips for once you’re home with bub. We love providing antenatal and postnatal musculoskeletal physiotherapy, keeping you in the best musculoskeletal state means you can enjoy this great time as much as possible. It is such an amazing part of your life and these tips have helped quite a few of the amazing women that we have taken care ...
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Hi everyone, Hannah here again.  You might not know, but I'm a huge soccer fan.  It's my sport and as a soccer player, I’ve had my fair share of ankle injuries and have also seen plenty! The great thing is that they don’t have to be an issue forever, or every time you play. Working together to create a management plan and rehab program, you can forget about needing an ankle brace or tape and be confident in your ankles! ...
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Hi everyone! Catherine here.  Some of you may, or may not, know that I studied Dance and aspired to be a professional dancer. I studied it at Uni and have performed countless times.  So I thought I would put together a BLOG to discuss what the life of a dancer is like, and more relevantly I guess, how Physiotherapy and looking after yourself works for a dancer. Dancer Life The life of a professional dancer isn’t the easiest or most ...
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Hi everyone! It's me, Caitlin. Those who know me well, know that I really enjoy cooking. As an athlete, nutrition is a key part of my training and preparation – ensuring that I recover well and fuel myself optimally. However, as a physio, I am even more concerned by posture in the kitchen and how to take care of your body while cooking! Here are some of my hot tips for looking after yourself in the kitchen Chopping/food prepping Often ...
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Driving can be an aggravating thing for anyone’s body. Depending on your car, your seat, how long you’re in traffic and how long you’re driving can all affect how much strain it contributes to your body. Here’s a couple tips to help you on the road: Tip 1 – Your body can tell you what it likes – so use it to set yourself up for success: Muscles when they’re at rest feel like raw steak. When you’re sitting driving ...
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What is a squat? When people think of a squat, often it is of a person struggling underneath a barbell loaded with weight, as they make their way down, ass to grass, and then pushing back up. A squat is so much more than that – a squat is sitting down on the toilet, sitting down at your dinner table, getting yourself down to the floor level to play with the kids, or pick up a coin you dropped, a ...
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There’s no doubting that a good night’s sleep is integral to overall good health. However getting a good night’s sleep can be difficult if we are uncomfortable. It’s no surprise then, that a question we often get asked is “How do I choose a good pillow?”. While there is no one best pillow for everyone, there are some simple guidelines you can keep in mind, to best help you pick a pillow that will keep your body happy (unfortunately we ...
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Hi everyone, Catherine here! It’s almost time for the Easter break and I know so many of us are making the most of the extra days off and getting away from the usual routine!  While a holiday is always exciting for rest/adventure/relaxation (insert your preferred holiday type here!), we want to help you make the most of it. Often holidays find us doing activities that are unusual, sleeping in different locations and using our brains in different ways.  All of ...
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Hi all, Sal here. For those of you that know the team at Barefoot you know one of our highest values is Inclusion. And in alignment with that is the belief that all bodies are deserving of equal professional care. We do not jump to conclusions or make any assumptions based on weight or body size. Recently we had an inservice with Non-Diet Dietitian Kate Gough (who spoke at our Summit last year) covering Health at Every Size (HAES) so ...
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Hey everyone, Hannah here again.  I thought I'd put a blog together to give people the idea on how we can help out with training and getting your body fully prepared for your training or sport.  You might not know, but I'm a very passionate and competitive Soccer player, among the other fitness things I do.  For this reason, I love to treat sporty people, especially when I can help them with injury prevention, performance enhancement, or simply repairing wear ...
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Explaining Injury to Family and Friends I think we can all understand that explaining injury can be a delicate subject depending on the type of injury and the relationship you have with the person who you are telling/who is asking. So, I’m going to break it down into pieces that I hope will be helpful to you. Understanding what is going on yourself We all know that the best way to test if we truly know a subject is to ...
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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 play a soccer game or run 10km this may not interest you… BUT you may know someone that you can ...
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Hi everyone, Caitlin here. At Barefoot we've treated a lot of pregnant, soon-to-be Mum's. While I haven't had the benefit of going through that magical mystery tour as yet, I have had extensive training to assist our pregnant clientele.  I've learnt a lot and want to share how staying active through during pregnancy can help you. Pregnancy is usually an exciting and slightly anxious time. There is lots of anticipation of what is to come and all the changes along ...
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Moving on from basic 'core' exercises Hi everyone, Hannah here again.  As you know, I love movement and how we can assist clients improve it. From basic awareness, to flexibility and strength, I'm really interested how we can build all that, safely, productively and more importantly to assist our clients in their day to day. In this BLOG, we're considering this ‘basic core’ as the foundation for when we take clients through activation of their deep ab muscles. We initially ...
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