Hi Everyone
This is the season for Christmas Excesses and in the rush of getting things organised for Christmas no wonder the body has the odd strain or sprain. It’s also the end of a year and time to put things in order which haven’t been sorted out. Occasionally that means a trip to the Physiotherapist or Dentist or Doctor. Health fund rebates are often still available to be used before the end of the year so why not sort those niggly problems which are stopping you being physically free.
Our Christmas Special is available all December on all Exercise classes, Hydrotherapy and Pilates passes as well as Massage. Christmas Gift Vouchers are available and are a wonderful gesture for those special people in your life. Ask at reception and our friendly team will help you.
A special thank you from myself for your loyal patronage at focus on physio. It gives us great joy to assist our clients live happy, healthy and active lives pursuing hobbies, travelling, playing sport and enjoy socialising with friends or family. We are a family based practice committed to helping you achieve optimal physical health. There is something for everyone at focus on physio.
Seasons Greetings and Best Wishes for 2017
Anne Power
PHYSIOTHERAPY
Postural neck and back pain are common complaints with prolonged sitting but may not be anything serious. Have you ever thought that this might be how your body is trying to tell you that it wants to be relieved of this repetitive loading on discs, ligaments and muscles. So what can you do? Stand up (every 2 hours) and arch the low back with your hands on your buttocks, repeat this 10 times. Rotate your neck to the right then left and over press to stretch (use your breath), then tilt the head side to side slowly (use your breath), look down to your collar bone (stay here for 6 breaths), roll your shoulders back 6 times (use your breath). Try a lumbar “D Roll” in your lumbar spine in the car or sitting at work or in lectures to improve your sitting posture. Go for a walk at lunch time to stretch out the body from sitting.
KEEPING ACTIVE & PHYSICALLY FIT
It is an important goal to keep active habits in your life and pass these habits on to your children, grandchildren and future generations. “If you don’t move it you loose it” – whether you are a child or an adult. It’s so easy to get “out of shape” by not exercising regularly, eating too much sugar and processed foods, by sitting a lot at work. Large periods of time spent sitting and being inactive leads with age to higher incidence of glucose intolerance, pre-diabetes, diabetes, fatty liver, elevated cholesterol and cardiac disease. Start slowly with achievable goals and get professional assistance from a dietician – eat healthy food to fuel your system with energy, sort out hormone levels from a Doctor and see a physiotherapist who can design a safe progressive exercise program. Julian is an exercise scientist, sports coach and physiotherapist and is passionate about training clients to be optimally physically healthy no matter what age or medical condition.
PILATES
Something I often hear myself saying to clients is “less is often more”. The body does not have to work “boot camp” style to get strong. In the presence of pain we get inhibition of muscle function, especially of postural stability muscles . This is not helped by our inherited genetic posture or habitually adopted postures associated with repetition in work environments or compensation postures associated with chronic pain patterns. Pilates focuses on breathing and engaging stability muscles, improving flexibility, balance, stamina and postural control. It’s fun and we all have a laugh.
HYDROTHERAPY
One of the most common misconceptions is that people think they can’t do any exercise unless their pain is resolved. Hydrotherapy blows that belief away. In warm water (34 C) muscles relax and the bouyancy of water reduces weight loading across joints. The pain may stay the same for a time but the ability to do activities improves as muscles slowly strengthen. The pathology is still there but the body gradually copes better with the limitations and the pain. It is enjoyable to feel the freedom of movement which only helps the brain to produce “happy opioid hormones” which reduce our perception of pain. Check out our Christmas Special on hydrotherapy passes.
MASSAGE & REIKI
Our massage girls are busy and have different skills, including deep tissue, gentle swedish, lymphodaema, blissfully aromatherapy , hot rocks. It you are going through a stressful time or experience anxiety we recommend Reiki as a way to receive deep relaxation. When we relax the mind and feel inside our bodies, the body is more able to rest and restore itself and our perception of pain also reduces. Take advantage of our Christmas Massage Special and Gift Vouchers .
YOGA
Beginners Yoga uses the breath to slow the mind and feel the body. Physical limitations and niggly pains with time can alter as the body yields, flexibility expands, strength improves and the mind becomes more “centred”, more accepting and less reactive.