Porridge... Winter’s favourite cereal… Why should is be your annual commitment?



In my professional opinion Porridge is by far the best way to start the day.

The benefits of porridge, if not known or acknowledged, are certainly out there for the public to educate themselves with. It is such a highly marketed food that is affordable and available in such exciting flavours and forms these days, that it’s difficult to see how porridge can be beaten.

What are the Health Benefits of Porridge:  

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Your knee meniscus is a fibrocartilage that separates thigh bone (femur) from your shin bone (tibia). It is commonly referred to as your "cartilage". Each knee joint has two menisci: a medial and lateral meniscus.

The menisci of the knee have unique shape. They are a wedged, kidney shape. The menisci act like a wedge to assist with the rotational stability created by the anterior cruciate ligament.

The menisci also act as a shock absorber. As we walk, run, and jump the knee absorbs tremendous forces. The menisci help to absorb these forces so that the bone surfaces are not damaged. The amount of force increases exponentially as the speed of movement increases from walking to running to jumping. The menisci disperse the compressive forces over the entire knee rather than isolating them.

How Do You Injure Your Meniscus? 

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Acute wry neck is a complaint where you develop neck pain and stiffness, which is often accompanied by spasm of the surrounding neck muscles. This causes neck pain and an inability to turn your neck through its full range of motion.

Acute wry neck is an extremely common condition, which can be quite disabling as the sufferer experiences constant severe pain with simple neck movements. Luckily the solution is normally very quick! 

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Acute ankle injuries are a common problem seen by your Physiotherapist, particularly in fitness programs where rapid changes of direction are required. The most important aspect of managing injury in this region is ensuring a correct diagnosis. 

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Every Mum deserves a treat. Luckily you can thank her this Mothers Day with a great idea that your Mum will really appreciate!

If your Mum seems to have everything already... stress and soreness included, then PhysioWorks has a soothing solution for you to help her!   

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Injury to your shoulder rotator cuff  is very common shoulder injury.

What is your Rotator Cuff?

What are the Common Rotator Cuff Injuries?

Where is your Rotator Cuff?

What Commonly Goes Wrong with Your Rotator Cuff?

What is Rotator Cuff Impingement Syndrome?

What is the Impingement Zone?

What Causes Rotator Cuff Impingement?

What are the Common Rotator Cuff Treatments? 

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Pain that occurs in the calf muscle on the lower part of the leg often is the result of a pulled or torn calf muscle. This is called a calf strain or a calf pull. It occurs when part of the muscle of the lower leg (gastrocnemius or soleus) is torn away from the Achilles tendon.  

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Those colder months may seem like a little while away but they creep up quickly!

Prepare yourself and your immune system for winter with these few handy tips: 

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Alex Clarke graduated as a Physiotherapist in 2005 from the University of Queensland. Alex joined the PhysioWorks team in 2007, and has subsequently been constantly updating his knowledge with post-graduate education. 

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If you're considering a pre or post-event sports massage, then your timing is important for maximum benefit.

Discover more information about Pre and Post-Event Massage here...  

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A bursa is a fluid filled sac that helps to reduce friction in joint spaces. You have several shoulder bursae. Your subacromial bursa is the most commonly inflamed of the shoulder bursae.

Subacromial bursitis is a common cause of shoulder pain that is usually related to rotator cuff tendonitis, impingement or dysfunction.

Subdeltoid bursitis is less commonly inflamed shoulder bursa.

 

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Suffering Heel or Foot Pain?

You may not be aware that your heel is a cushion of fat that protects the foot structures: heel bone, muscles and ligaments. Heel pain is a very common foot complaint.  

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A quality massage therapist will have an array of massage tools and techniques to assist you. These massage techniques can include the following: 

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Here's a transcript of an interview between Dr Norman Swan and Prof Robin Daly regarding Osteoporosis. 

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What do you mean by “Hip Core”?

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Moving into the colder months we still need to keep hydrated!

It's a common misconception for people to think that if we don't sweat as much, then we don't need to drink as much to keep hydrated...
In truth, we need to be even MORE careful for this reason. 

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Remedial massage provides a healing treatment that can be gentle or strong, deep or shallow. When muscles and tendons become damaged, impaired, knotted, tense or immobile, remedial massage provides an effective healing treatment.  

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Tennis elbow is one of the most common injuries sustained in racquet sports. And, despite it’s name, is also common amongst tradespeople and computer users.

Rather than being caused by tennis it is the “gripping” of the racquet, operation of tools, or typing, that predisposes you to elbow pain. 

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Surely a small section of elastic band can't produce as much power as dumbbells. Maybe? Maybe not?

To discover the facts, Page, et al. (2000) analysed the Thera-Band® brand of elastic resistance bands and discovered the following: 

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Deep tissue massage is a type of massage aimed at the deeper tissue structures of the muscle and fascia, also called connective tissue.

Deep tissue massage uses many of the same movements and techniques as lighter styles eg Swedish massage, but the pressure will generally be more intense. It is also a more focused type of massage, as the therapist works to release chronic muscle tension or knots. 

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What is Prehabilitation?

To help prevent injuries, sports physiotherapists have begun to employ what they call "prehabilitation" strategies. 

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Acupuncture and Dry Needling are useful modalities to provide pain relief and assist injury rehabilitation.

Acupuncture originated in China over 5000 years ago. It's based on the belief that health is determined by a balanced flow of chi, the vital life energy present in all living organisms.  

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Everyday many of us vow to embark upon a regime of self improvement. Top of the list is usually to lose weight or get fitter.

Here’s some help to get you pointing in the right direction. 

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Resolution 1. Take Advantage of the Season.

Summer has many advantages! Not just the opportunity to be active and hit the outdoors, but also the wide variety of fruits and vegetables it brings. Although Christmas is over, the beautiful stone fruits, watermelon and mangoes are still in season so make a fruit smoothie, add some to your cereal everyday or make a nice fruit salad to take to work or school. 

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Before you get started with running and cause yourself an injury, it's best to familiarise yourself with the Walk/Run method.

What is the Walk/Run method? 

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If you can't find a reliable answer to a health question or injury that is puzzling you, simply ask your question here. We'll do our best to point you in the right direction.

 

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Hip pain and injury is common for all age groups. 



The hip joint and its integration with your pelvis, SIJ and lumbar spine (lower back) make it a complex region to correctly analyse and assess any dysfunction. 

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We asked our Dietitan, Rachel Haddow, how you can still enjoy Christmas festivities without the weight gain in the New Year.

Here's Rachel's tips: 

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Christmas is always a stressful time of the year. Trying to figure out exactly what gift Aunt Jenny, Mum, Dad or Gran will appreciate the most is getting harder.

If you'd like to check out what's popular from around the world, the good news is that others have done it for you. Check out what Amazon is finding popular this Christmas here…  

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If you were considering a home TENS unit or EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) Machine, then now's definitely the time to buy. A recent TV promotion has created an incredible surge on orders, which had essentially sold all of Australia's stock.

The good news is that a new container load hasjust arrived from overseas. But you will need to order very soon to guarantee a pre-Christmas delivery. 

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PhysioWorks is pleased to donate $1 to Movember for every Facebook LIKE until November 30.

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We asked Sports Dietitian, Rachel Haddow, to answer the following question:

What are the Best Foods to Help You Recover Post-Exercise?

Here's Rachel's answer: 

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A range of common painkillers, including at least one available without prescription, significantly increase the risk of stroke in the elderly and should be reserved for cases where extra pain relief is most needed, researchers warned. 

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Plantar Fasciitis is a common overuse injury affecting the arch of your foot. 

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An ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) tear most often occurs during sporting activities when an athlete suddenly pivots causing excessive rotational forces on the ligament.  

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Tendinopathy or tendon injury usually causes pain, stiffness, and loss of strength in the affected area. 

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PhysioWorks welcomes Sports Dietician, Rachel Haddow, to our team at Clayfield and Sandgate.

Rachel is an Accredited Dietitian & Nutritionist (APD) & Sports Performance Dietitian who has experience in a wide range of areas, from aged care to hospitals to research in malnutrition. 

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As you are well aware a torn hamstring affects a player such as Kurtley Beale's ability to run, sprint and kick.  

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Alex Clarke (Physio) and Mandy Cheales (Podiatrist) were kept very busy attending to some major overuse injuries at the recent 100km OxFam Trailwalk. If you were one of the 1200 who did the walk, congratulations! It looks like you've raised over $960,000. Fantastic!

Here's some feedback from the organisers.  

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Here's your latest Physio4You Newsletter, which features articles on managing your Headaches and Overuse Injuries.

Your PDF Download:

Physio4You - Headache & Overuse Injuries 

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Every knee has a medial and lateral meniscus which are C-shaped pieces of fibrocartilage that absorb stress and act as cushions between the bones at the knee. At birth, the meniscus is not C-shaped, but discoid (round like a discus).  

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What is PIM (Physiotherapy Instrument Mobilisation)?

Physiotherapy Instrument Mobilisation (PIM) is an innovative concept that involves mobilising your spinal and peripheral joints via a mechanical spring loaded instrument according to physiotherapy principles.

PIM is a safe measurable and extremely effective joint mobilisation technique provided by specially-trained physiotherapists.  With only 13 Queensland based PIM-trained physiotherapists, it is a unique joint treatment approach to ease your pain quickly and loosen any joint stiffness.  

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We all know that your joints move and your muscles contract and stretch. But did you know that your nerve tissue also needs to move freely and unimpeded? If your neural tissue is impeded then pain or restriction of movement is a common result.

The good news is that you can quite quickly regain full neural tissue extensibility with an accurate assessment and treatment to the impeding structure, which is not usually the nerve but an interface that it should normally pass through.  

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Improving your balance takes time and practise and it doesn't just happen overnight. However, with consistent practise, you will be able to improve your balance over time. And good balance has lots of benefits!

Static balance is important for everyday life. The ability to stand on one leg should be easily achieved by everyone. Without this ability your chance of falling is high. If you can't control your stationary body, you'll have no chance at high speed or load.

Test your balance system further by closing your eyes and maintaining your single leg balance. Once again, this should be easily achieved. If not, you are using your visual system to assist your poor vestibular balance mechanism.

Dynamic balance is even more important when you start to move whether that be walk, jog, jump or throw. The more demands and speed you place on your body the better your dynamic balance system needs to be able to cope.

Balance is reliant upon excellent deep core stability, hip and leg muscle control PLUS your vestibular and visual systems. 

In most cases, your balance deficits can be quickly improved with specific balance or stability exercises.

Please ask your physiotherapist to test your static or dynamic balance is you are concerned about your balance. We can make a BIG difference VERY QUICKLY to help you avoid falls, injury or improve your sporting performance.  

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If you suffer from painful feet, plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, feet pronation or collapsing arches then you will be interested in the active foot posture correction exercises that we utilise at PhysioWorks.
 
Your foot posture in weight-bearing has an impact on all of your joints and muscles within and above your foot. Poor foot posture can lead to foot, ankle, shin, knee, hip and back pain.

While  you are probably aware of orthotics (an arch modification device placed within your shoe), the unfortunate trouble with orthotics is that they are only useful when you are wearing shoes. You don't see too many orthotics on the beach or in designer shoes!

Another significant disadvantage is the fact that orthotics are a passive support.  This means that something else is holding up your collapsed foot arch that isn't your muscles. While this may be helpful in the short-term, the long-term news is not so good. So what else can actually fix your fallen arches? 

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Just five minutes of exercise in a "green space" such as a park can boost your mental health.

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Cricket injuries at elite level in Australia have been demonstrated to occur at a rate of around 18 injuries in total for a squad of 25 players who play twenty matches in a season. 

On average, around 9% of cricketers have an injury at any given time, although in fast bowlers over 15% are injured at any given time. 

There are very different physical demands involved in different types of cricket, which has meant the injury profile is slightly different between five day Test Matches, weekend to four day matches and one day matches. The launch of Twenty20 cricket has placed a new physical requirement on cricketers, although it is too early for the effects of these demands to be analysed in sports injury research.  

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Sports massage is treatment given with the understanding not only of anatomy and physiology but also of the particular demands placed upon the body by the client and their specific sport. 

Sports massage is done with the principal mandate of returning you to your desired sports activity with the same or an even better level of function. Sports massages can include more aggressive techniques that approach muscles more deeply. 

Sports massage will often utilize a variety of modalities such as remedial massage, trigger point therapy, cross fibre techniques and deep tissue work. Primarily though, the difference lies with function. That is, returning you to your chosen activity in optimal functional.

How Does a Sports Massage Differ to Regular Massage? 

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The most common form of hip bursitis is trochanteric bursitis.

Trochanteric bursitis is inflammation of the bursa (a small, cushioning sac located where tendons pass over areas of bone around the joints), which lies over the prominent bone on the side of your hip (femur).

The superficial trochanteric bursa is located over the greater trochanter. This is the most commonly inflamed bursa. 

A deep trochanteric bursa lies deeper and can become inflamed in more severe cases.

 

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Sciatica is commonly misdiagnosed, which can result is either slow or non-responsive treatment.

Leg pain can have various sources. It can be a local leg injury or it may even be referred from your lower back. The main nerve that travels from your lower back to your leg is your sciatic nerve. Irritation or pinching of your sciatic nerve can cause severe leg pain known as sciatica.

Sciatica describes pain felt along the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back, down through the buttock, hamstrings and into the lower leg. The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. The spinal sections it originates from include L4, L5 or S1. 

See the diagram below for a general idea where you may feel sciatica symptoms. 
 

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