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Category: Physio

JointAction Physiotherapy & Wellness CentreBlogPhysio
By Fatima Dias Exercises, Physio, Physiotherapy

Home Exercise Tips Part 3

Do:

Implement a proper warm up and cool-down routine into your workout. A warm up will gradually prep your cardiovascular system and increase blood flow to your muscle for the coming high intensity work of your exercise. An example of a warm up could be an easy jog on the spot for 5-10 minutes, including variations of high knees and butt-kicks or even a light cycle on a stationary bike if you have one. A cooldown is a continuation of exercise but done at a reduced intensity and/or pace, the cooldown is usually 5 minutes in duration and includes aerobic movements that help reduce heart rate at an appropriate rate. A cooldown helps regulate your blood flow after an intense workout gradually reducing blood pressure and heart rate back to baseline levels.

Don’t:

Don’t workout a room/garage with poor lighting and low energy. Keep yourself motivated to get to work and get your exercise in by investing in better lighting using bright white light bulbs, decorations, painting the walls and making the space yours. It can sometimes be difficult to stay motivated without the gym to go to so make your space special. Lighting is especially important to allow yourself to see your movement clearly in a mirror especially if your workout space doesn’t have mirrors.  

By Fatima Dias Exercises, Physio

Home Exercise Tips-Part 1

We have seen an increase of home work out related injuries in the clinic all related to home exercise work out stations, over the next few weeks- we will include our top do’s and don’t when exercising at home!

Do: 

Workout in front of a mirror: A mirror can provide visual feedback that is important to allow yourself to self-monitor your form during home workouts. Without the usual presence of a mirror inside the gym it is easy to perform exercises with improper form. Your body quickly finds a way to compensate when your muscles start to fatigue, not correcting these compensatory movements can often be the source of overuse or chronic injuries.

Don’t:

Don’t workout on hard surfaces such as cement. Hard cement floors don’t absorb the impact of your body very well when participating in plyometric exercises involving jumping, pushing off, and landing. Concrete floors are hard, and not shock-absorbent thus the force from during quick cutting and jumping movements during plyometric workouts can travel back from the hard surface up your feet and legs leading to injuries like shin pain, knee, foot, and even low back pain. Interlocking foam pads used for exercise are often a great option to buy if cement floors are your only space to exercise.

 

By: Tyler Ottonino, Resident Physiotherapist

By Fatima Dias 0 Comments Exercises, Physio, Physiotherapy

Top Tips for Plantar Fasciitis

• Morning stretch: most patients experience pain in the morning during the first few steps. Research has shown strong evidence in the importance of stretching as a treatment strategy. A slow and long stretch, around 30-45 seconds is better than the usual 10-second stretch in the gym. Top two stretches for plantar fasciitis are calf stretch and plantar fascia stretch. You can also release your plantar fascia by rolling on a tennis ball or a frozen water bottle.

• Ice: some patients have pain after walking for a prolonged period of time, for example, after wearing heavy work shoes walking all day at work. Ice on the localized painful area for 5-10 minuses should be able to temporarily reduce the pain.

 

 

• Shoe wear: it is recommended to wear supportive shoes with a proper arch support/orthotics if appropriate.

• Strengthening: strengthening of the lower extremity is also very important

as it takes off the load on your foot/plantar fascia. Hip, knee and foot intrinsic strengthening exercises have also been shown to be effective. For example, bridging exercises by lying on your back and push your gluteal muscles up. A toe curl exercise with a towel is a good exercise to start training the muscles inside your foot.

By: Janet Yang P.T.

 

Call our Physiotherapists Hotline today!

By Nelly Temraz 0 Comments Exercises, Physio, Sporting, Therapy

Quad weakness can cause knee pain!

Our quads are made up for 4 muscles that are responsible for straightening the knee out. Quad weakness can cause knee pain. Our physiotherapists will do a thorough assessment to determine the cause of knee pain and prescribe the exercises best suited for your injury. The video below provides a few examples of quad strengthening exercises.

Disclaimer: Please note these exercises may not be right for you. Please discuss your concerns with your physio or healthcare provider before starting these or any new exercises.

Book your free 15 min meet & greet with one of our physiotherapists today.

By admin 0 Comments Chiropractic Care, JointAction Clinic, Massage Therapy, Physio, Therapy

Acupuncture as part of your Physio, Chiro or Massage treatment!

Did you know that several of our Registered Physiotherapists, Registered Massage Therapist and our Chiropractor are trained and certified to include acupuncture as part of your treatment plan!

What it does and what condition can it be useful for?

Acupuncture needles are placed at certain known points that have been shown to have an impact on certain conditions and pain. Acupuncture can impact blood flow and alter the release of neurotransmitters (1) that impact the bodies natural healing process. Several reported effects of acupuncture include improvements in low back pain (2), musculoskeletal conditions (1, 3) including neck, elbow, wrist and shoulder pain related to tendonitis and muscle strains. Acupuncture is also used for treating ankle sprains and knee pain.

What does it feel like?

You may or may not feel the needle when inserted. Even if you do it is generally not a painful feeling. However, everyone’s tolerance and perception of what is painful plays a role here.  After the needle is inserted some people describe a deep aching or heaviness locally or in the area surrounding the needle. Some report they don’t feel anything at all!…but still notice improvement in their symptoms.

The number of sessions and outcome of treatment varies from one individual to another. However, improvement is usually noted within 4-6 treatments provided over a period of 2-4 weeks.

Contact us to discuss if acupuncture is right for you! We offer free 15 minute consultations (in person or over the phone) to discuss your concerns and find the best treatment option for you.

References:

  1. Acupuncture. NIH Consensus Statement Online 1997 Nov 3-5; 15(5):1-34.
  2. Furlan, A.D., van Tulder, M.W., Cherkin, D.C., Tsukayama, H., Lao, L., Koes, B.W., Berman, B.M. (2005). Acupuncture and dry-needling for low back pain. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
  3. Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2012;172(19):1444-1453.