exercise

Physiotherapy in the offseason

Physiotherapy in the offseason
Physiotherapy in the offseason 1125 1034 Ace Health Centre

Physiotherapy in the offseason

Physiotherapy plays a crucial role in the sport’s offseason, offering athletes a structured period of rehabilitation, recovery, and preparation for the upcoming season.

Here are several key reasons highlighting the importance of physiotherapy during this downtime:

1. **Injury Rehabilitation:** Athletes often carry injuries or nagging conditions from the previous season into the offseason. Physiotherapy provides a dedicated period for comprehensive rehabilitation, ensuring injuries are fully healed and strengthening the affected areas. This sets the foundation for a healthy start to the next season.

2. **Restoration of Function:** Athletes can use the offseason to focus on restoring full functional capacity. Physiotherapists design customized exercise programs to regain strength, mobility, and flexibility, enabling athletes to return to peak performance.

3. **Preventative Care:** The offseason is an ideal time to address underlying issues that may have contributed to injuries during the previous season. Physiotherapists can identify and correct musculoskeletal imbalances, posture problems, or overuse issues to reduce the risk of future injuries.

4. **Conditioning and Strength Training:** Physiotherapists work with athletes to develop strength and conditioning programs tailored to their specific sport. This ensures that athletes build the necessary physical foundation to excel when the competitive season resumes.

5. **Pain Management:** Athletes dealing with chronic pain or discomfort benefit from ongoing pain management strategies during the offseason. Physiotherapy includes modalities such as manual therapy, electrotherapy, and therapeutic exercises to alleviate pain and improve overall comfort.

6. **Recovery from Surgery:** Athletes who underwent surgery during the season can use the offseason for post-operative rehabilitation. Physiotherapists guide them through a structured recovery process, helping them regain strength and function after surgical procedures.

7. **Performance Enhancement:** Athletes and their physiotherapists collaborate to enhance performance. Through specialized exercises, functional assessments, and biomechanical analysis, physiotherapy can improve an athlete’s technique and efficiency, leading to better results on the field.

8. **Mental Health Support:** The offseason can be mentally challenging for athletes, as they transition from intense competition to a less demanding period. Physiotherapists often serve as a source of emotional support and motivation, helping athletes stay positive and focused on their long-term goals.

9. **Education and Injury Prevention:** Physiotherapists educate athletes on injury prevention techniques, proper warm-up and cool-down routines, and effective self-care strategies. This knowledge empowers athletes to take an active role in safeguarding their health and minimizing the risk of injuries.

10. **Return-to-Sport Assessment:** Before athletes transition back into full training and competition, physiotherapists conduct thorough assessments to ensure they are physically ready. These assessments help minimize the risk of re-injury and ensure that athletes are at their best when the season begins.

Conclusion

In conclusion, physiotherapy in the sports offseason is not only important but often essential for athletes’ long-term success and well-being. It offers a strategic period for injury recovery, rehabilitation, strength conditioning, and performance enhancement. By collaborating with physiotherapists, athletes can optimize their physical health and prepare themselves for the rigorous demands of the upcoming competitive season.

Book in with our physio’s today to get your offseason programme.

calf pain when running

Calf pain when running
Calf pain when running 960 576 Ace Health Centre

Calf pain when running

Understanding and Overcoming Calf Pain When Running: Tips and Techniques

Calf pain when running can be a common issue faced by runners of all levels. It can significantly hamper your performance and enjoyment of the sport. In this blog post, we will delve into the causes of calf pain, discuss prevention strategies, and provide effective techniques to alleviate discomfort and get you back on track.

  1. Understanding the Causes: Calf pain during running can stem from various factors, including muscle strains, overuse, improper footwear, inadequate warm-up, and biomechanical imbalances. Identifying the root cause is crucial for implementing the right treatment and prevention methods.
  2. Prevention Strategies: Preventing calf pain starts with a solid foundation. Invest in proper running shoes that offer ample support and cushioning. Gradually increase your training intensity and duration to allow your calf muscles to adapt. Incorporate dynamic stretches and warm-ups to prepare your muscles for activity. Strengthening exercises targeting the calf muscles, such as heel raises and toe raises, can also help prevent pain and injuries.
  3. Effective Techniques to Alleviate Calf Pain: When calf pain strikes, it’s essential to take prompt action to minimize discomfort and aid recovery. Resting and applying ice to the affected area can reduce inflammation. Gentle stretching exercises, like calf, stretches against a wall or using a foam roller can help relieve tension. Consider using compression sleeves or socks to improve blood flow and provide support during runs. If the pain persists, consult a healthcare professional or a sports therapist for a comprehensive evaluation and personalized treatment plan.
  4. Gradual Return to Running: After recovering from calf pain, it’s crucial to reintroduce running gradually. Start with shorter distances and lower intensities, allowing your calf muscles to rebuild strength and endurance. Listen to your body and increase the duration and intensity of your runs gradually over time. Incorporating cross-training activities like swimming or cycling can also help maintain fitness while reducing strain on your calves.

Conclusion

Calf pain when running can be a frustrating setback, but with the right strategies, it’s possible to overcome it. By understanding the causes and implementing prevention techniques, you can get back to pain-free running.

Remember to consult a healthcare professional if your calf pain persists or worsens, as they can provide expert advice tailored to your specific condition. Stay consistent with your prevention strategies, listen to your body, and enjoy the benefits of running without calf pain.

 

online exercise prescription

Online exercise prescription
Online exercise prescription 1920 1009 Ace Health Centre

Online exercise prescription

One of the biggest factors to consider regarding patient rehabilitation and positive outcomes is exercise adherence. Patients no matter the condition are likely to get some form of home exercise program to continue progressing at home. It is reported as high as 50% of patients do not complete their exercise prescribed by the therapist thus limiting their rehabilitation. Often barriers to exercise adherence include lack to time, lack of understanding of exercises, forgetting how to complete the exercise or the prescription regarding sets and repetitions.

So what do we do to combat this?

We use an application called Physitrack for our online exercise prescription. Physitrack allows clinicians to prescribe individualised home exercise programs. Physitrack has multiple user-friendly features including demonstration videos with audible cues for the exercise, allowing the therapist to easily alter the repetitions, sets and resistance for each activity as well as a section for the clinician to add any specific notes for cues they want their patient to remember.

During the consult, we sit down with our clients and educate them on how to download pysitrack and view their program. We also print out the program for our patients which documents, the exercises, exercise explanations, the repetitions and more. We can also put individual notes from the physio to make sure you have everything written down and easy to understand. All these features make exercise adherence easier for the patient thus helping the patient stay on track for a speedy recovery.

Our podiatrist also uses this programme in order to give his exercise programmes. Each clinician can log in and view each person’s programme making it easier to work between practitioners and modalities. This communication between practitioners leads to much better client care.

Online consults

The use of this application also means that we can do online telehealth consultations. Over the phone, we can simply email your exercise programme to you, and know that you will have all the details you need to perform it correctly.

Book now to see our physio

Achilles Tendon Pain - Gold coast

Achilles Tendon Pain – Gold coast
Achilles Tendon Pain – Gold coast 646 438 Ace Health Centre

Achilles Tendon Pain – Gold Coast

In Our Achilles Tendon Pain – Gold coast post we hope to give you an inside into the cause of the pain.

What is the Achilles Tendon?

The Achilles tendon attaches to the back of your heel beginning in the calf. The gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles come together with their tendons to make up the Achilles Tendon. This tendon is not only the biggest tendon in our bodies, it is also the strongest. These muscles are the primary movers for going up on toes, jumping and pushing off when walking or running. Throughout these movements the Achilles Tendon can withstand forces around 10x our body weight. Therefore these muscles and tendons are usually affected with increased activity levels with running or sport, but can also be affected from our daily activities.

 

Why does my Achilles Tendon hurt?

As mentioned above the Achilles Tendon is highly responsible for our ability to move throughout our day and within sport. Because of the high demands and repetitive nature of our activities the Achilles Tendon is susceptible to injury. The most common injury found when dealing with the Achilles Tendon is tendinopathy (or overuse injury of the tendon) which occurs in about 55% of all Achilles type pain. This can occur from increased training load, or a rapid increase in activity levels. Another injury commonly found in athletes is tears or ruptures of the Achilles Tendon due to the explosive movements and the repetitive nature of training within sport.

 

How can I return to my normal activities pain free?

In order to return to full activities a proper diagnosis is important to identify the proper rehab plan. Physiotherapists and podiatrist are able to identify, and help design an individualised rehab program that will help you return to your desired activities. The rehab program would implement symptom modification while beginning a gradual loading program, and moving to more sport specific or activity specific movements to help prevent future injuries, while decreasing current symptoms.

Top 5 Tips to Prevent Sports Injury

Top 5 Tips to Prevent Sports Injury
Top 5 Tips to Prevent Sports Injury 626 491 Ace Health Centre

Top 5 Tips to Prevent Sports Injury

Here top 5 tips to prevent sports injury will be discussed in this blog. We all know that exercise is good for our physical and mental well-being. However, sometimes we can push ourselves too hard and get injured. This can be frustrating and can sometimes prevent us from reaching our goals, whether that be completing our first triathlon or losing a few kgs. Here are 5 evidence based tips to prevent injury:

Manage your Training Load: 

The first of the top 5 tips to prevent injury is around training load. Training load refers to how hard and how quickly our tissues are challenged. Managing this load is one of the best strategies to prevent injury. Train regularly and moderately, with only mild to moderate increases in load. Avoid spikes and lulls in you training and when they do occur be more cautious for a while.

Engage in Strength Training: 

Engaging in strength training will make our tissues (muscles, tendons, bones, ligaments, joints and cartilage) more robust and resilient to injury. A Physiotherapist can design a strength regime specific to your sport.

Update your Sports Shoes: 

It is vital that you wear the correct shoe for your chosen sport. Each sport has its own specific demands and it’s important that you choose a shoe with the appropriate design features to meet those demands. A podiatrist can help you find the appropriate shoe for your needs.

Mind your Diet: 

Aim to eat a well balanced whole food diet with lots of vegetables, fruit and lean proteins. Nutrition is so important for growth and repair of our tissues. A dietitian can help design a diet to meet your daily energy requirements.

Prioritise your Sleep: 

The last of the top 5 tips to prevent injury is Sleep. Sleep deprivation is a common issue and a major factor in chronic pain, impaired athletic performance and injury rates. Getting more sleep boosts performance and enhances recovery. Aim for at least 8 hours a night.

If you are struggling with an injury or just want to optimise your performance, don’t hesitate to call us on 07 5572 6222 or book an appointment online.
What is Whiplash

What is Whiplash?
What is Whiplash? 840 438 Ace Health Centre

What is Whiplash

So, What is Whiplash? Whiplash is an acceleration-deceleration event that results in increased forces directed to the neck, usually from a motor vehicle collision. The impact from the accident may result in various injuries that could present in many different ways. Some symptoms you may experience if you are involved in a car accident include:
  • Neck Pain
  • Shoulder/Arm/Hand/Back pain
  • Pins, needles, or numbness down your arm
  • Sensitivity to touch
  • Decreased neck movement
  • Headaches
Although not as common, other symptoms could include:
  • Vision problems
  • Trouble with your hearing
  • Dizziness
  • Memory/Concentration problems
  • Jaw pain
  • Sleeping difficulty
  • Fatigue
  • Emotional changes

Whiplash Myths

Over the years, there have been mixed sayings on whether or not certain factors relate to recovery success. For example, awareness of the collision has been said to increase your whiplash symptoms. This is actually NOT true. Other myths that do NOT relate to how well you recover include:

  • Shoulder pain
  • Speed of collision
  • Age
  • Marital status
  • Seat belt use
  • Shoulder pain
  • Position in vehicle

How do I treat whiplash?

A motor vehicle accident can be a very scary and potentially traumatic event. It is important to seek both physical and psychological aid for coping and relief strategies. This will ensure you make a full and speedy recovery. Most do make a full recovery after their accident, however, the timeframe of recovery can greatly vary. Seeking treatment and support from your physiotherapist can help facilitate a quicker recovery. Treatment strategies can range from various neck movements to breathing exercises. Seeking assistance as soon as possible after your accident helps ensure your symptoms can be promptly addressed and taken care of.
Book in today for your assessment and realise that whiplash can be treated. Book Now. 
Top 5 Futsal Injuries

Top 5 Futsal Injuries
Top 5 Futsal Injuries 802 254 Ace Health Centre

Top 5 Futsal Injuries seen by a Podiatrist 

The top 5 Futsal injuries seen by a podiatrist will be discussed in this blog. It is easy to injure your foot or ankle playing Futsal. This is because the forces between your feet and the ground are amplified during this high impact activity.

Injuries

  1. Blisters – A frequent foot injury in Futsal is the friction blister. It is caused by friction, like the repeated rubbing against the inside of the shoe. Wearing poorly fitting shoes can often set the athlete up for blisters.
  2. Ingrown or Black toe nails – Ingrown or bruised toe nails are another common complaint seen in the Futsal player. Once again, tight or snug fitting footwear are the culprits of these conditions.
  3. Plantar Fasciitis – The plantar fascia is a structure on the sole of the foot that runs from heel to toes. Running and sprinting with sudden change of direction puts tremendous load on this tissue and can cause it to become torn and inflamed.
  4. Shin Splints – Shin splint pain can be caused by stress on the muscles that attach to the shin bone, or by excess forces on the bone itself during running.
  5. Achilles Tendonitis – The last of the top 5 futsal injuries seen by a podiatrist involves the achilles tendon. The achilles tendon attaches the calf muscle to the heel bone. Futsal plays put high loads through this tendon with running and jumping and can often injure it.

Treatment

The top 5 Futsal Injuries seen by a Podiatrist generally respond very well to treatment. Podiatric treatment includes assessment looking at posture and movement, and analysis of how movement of your feet affects your lower limbs.
Injuries can be caused by unnatural movement patterns that can be corrected by a number of strategies:
  • Custom Foot Orthotics to address faulty foot mechanics.
  • Footwear assessment and recommendations based on the athletes individual needs.
  • Corrective exercises to address muscle weakness or imbalances.
  • Minor surgery to remove damaged or ingrown nails.

CLICK HERE to find out what signs and symptoms to look for and if you potentially have an injury. 

CLICK HERE to find out the most common futsal and football injury prevention and treatment

Seeing a Podiatrist can minimise your injury risk and maximise injury prevention.  We can help get you back on the field of play sooner and keeping you there. Contact us today. 
football and futsal injuries

Signs and symptoms of football and futsal injuries
Signs and symptoms of football and futsal injuries 800 450 Ace Health Centre

Signs and symptoms of common football and futsal injuries

In a previous blog, we discussed common football and futsal injuries. Injuries have different presentations based on whether they are muscle/tendon, bone, ligaments, or a combination as seen in growing pain.

So what do these injuries look like?

Growing pains

Growing pains can occur from conditions called Osgoode-schlatters or Severs. This is very common in young athletes who are growing but also training and playing at a higher intensity. With Osgoode’s we will experience pain at the front of the shin just below the knee cap. While Severs is a similar presentation in young athletes within the heel that can be recreated by grasping the heel itself. This pain is due to the bones growing faster than the tendons which is why this is a more common injury when an athlete is going through a growth spurt.

Bone futsal Injuries

Bones can be damaged from hard contact with a player or the ground in the form of a broken bone, but can also be injured from overuse in the form of a stress fracture. Pain from bone injuries can present as dull or (more likely) sharp, and can be reproduced with either movement, touch, or with increased activity.

Muscle/Tendon injuries

Muscles can be damaged from contact with other players, muscle tears or strains, or overuse which causes the tendon to take more stress. Muscle pains present with a dull ache and can hurt with touch or movement. Tendons can also be injured but are more likely to be caused from overuse.  Pain from tendon injuries can be reproduced with movement or increased activity levels such as running or jumping.

Ligament football injuries

Ligament injuries can appear similar to muscle injuries and can occur from repeated stresses or contact with other players.  Ligaments can be stretched or ruptured which can cause a sensation of instability within the joint.  Pain can feel dull or a burning sensation based on the movement and will also have an increase in swelling within the joint.

CLICK HERE to find out about football/futsal injury prevention and treatment. 

CLICK HERE to find out the most common futsal and football injuries a podiatrist treats

As professionals its our job to diagnose and treat these injuries. Contact us at ACE today. 

Futsal injury prevention and treatment

Futsal injury prevention and treatment
Futsal injury prevention and treatment 1280 720 Ace Health Centre

Futsal injury prevention and treatment

In this blog we talk about Futsal injury prevention and treatment. Playing soccer / football can be a great activity for all ages, but like any other sport there is always an associated risk of injury. There are some injuries that are more evident in younger players such as Osgoode-schlatters or Severs, while in older players we might see more ACL, meniscus or concussion type injuries. Some common injuries are:

  • Stress fractures
  • Growing pain such as Osgoode-schlatters and Severs
  • Sprained ankles
  • Muscle strain or tears
  • Injured tendons for example Tendinopathy
  • Knee injuries such as ACL, MCL, PCL, LCL, Meniscus injury, Patellofemoral pain syndrome
  • Concussion
  • Shin splints
  • Foot injuries

Out of these there are 4 that stand out more than others.

Most common Injuries

  1. Shin splints – This is the overuse of the muscles along the inside of the leg. It can be related to flat feet and pronation, sudden increase in exercise, poor running posture and weakness.
  2. Ankle sprains – Its easy to sprain an ankle especially in futsal. Fast side to side movements. this can be related to foot posture, flexability and poor balance. This is the most common futsal injury.
  3. ACL injury – ACL stands for Anterior cruciate ligament. This ligament is in the knee joint. It gets put under high stress during turning and pivoting. This is why its such a highly injured area.
  4. Hamstring strain – Your hamstring is placed under high stress during most activities. Jumping, running, stopping. This must be rehabilitated properly post injury due to its high load job.

CLICK HERE to find out what signs and symptoms to look for and if you potentially have an injury. 

CLICK HERE to find out the most common futsal and football injuries a podiatrist treats

Futsal injury prevention and treatment is important for every part of the body. Every injury will cause some sort of disruption to the athletes level of performance. At Ace we want to keep you on the court/field performing at your very best. See one of our health professionals to prevent injury or return to your best post injury and at a high level of performance. We are able to provide proper advice and education to better understand your injury as well as provide proper rehab exercises and make shoe recommendations.

 

Contact us today for an appointment. Call us on 5572 6222 or click this link to go to our contact page.

heel pain in runners

Heel Pain in Runners
Heel Pain in Runners 600 400 Ace Health Centre
Heel Pain in Runners is one of the most common injuries that will present to a Podiatrist. There are many causes of heel pain in runners. For the purposes of this article we will focus on heel pain due to overuse, in particular Plantar Fasciitis.

What causes Heel Pain in runners?

Running is a high impact sport. During running, peak ground reaction forces are typically 2-3 times body weight. This places considerable stress on the foot structures, in particular the Plantar Fascia and heel bone. Heel pain occurs when to load going through the plantar fascia continually exceeds what the tissue can tolerate. An example of this is when we increase our training volume or intensity too quickly. In this case our body hasn’t been given adequate time to get stronger and cope with the increase in load.

Tips to Prevent Heel Pain when running

  • See a Podiatrist or Physiotherapist who can assess your Running technique and foot posture.
  • Choose the correct Running shoe for your Foot Function, a Podiatrist can guide you on this.
  • When starting a new activity or sport, start out slowly managing training load. Doing too much too soon does not allow adequate time for tissues to adapt to the increased load they are under.
  • Strength and Flexibility, engage in some strength and conditioning exercise specific to your sport.
  • Quality Sleep and Nutrition. Sleep is very important for recovery, growth and repair. Fuelling the body with the right types of foods also plays an important role in injury prevention.

How can a Podiatrist help to treat Heel Pain?

The most important part is to reduce the load in the damaged tissues. As Plantar Fasciitis is caused by excessive load in the tissue, it is desirable to reduce the load in the short term. This helps to facilitate healing.

1) There are a few useful strategies for this;

  • Foot Orthotics / insoles; Custom insoles with the appropriate design are effective in reducing the load in the Plantar Fascia
  • Strapping;Certain methods of strapping that can reduce the load in the tissue immediately leading to immediate pain relief
  • Reduce training load; by stopping or modifying running or other activities until the tissues heal and pain subsides
  • Calf muscle stretching; stretching the calf muscles has been shown to be effective in reducing the load in the Plantar Fascia

2) Increase the ability of the Tissues to take the Load

  • High Load Strength Training for Plantar Fasciitis; High load strength training is aimed at progressively and slowly increasing the load on the Plantar Fascia. This is so it can adapt to be stronger and be tolerate his forces going through it. Evidence suggests High Load Strength training may aid in quicker reduction in pain and improvements in function.

Conclusion

There is no need for heel pain to become a long term chronic problem. Early appropriate intervention ensures the best outcome. This ensures a quicker reduction in pain, improved function long term and reduced likelihood of reoccurrence. Custom orthotics are one of the most effective way to get out of pain and allow an increase in load.

Call us today to book with out Podiatrist and see how we can help you.

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