During summer we see many people presenting or re-presenting with knee pain or foot pain. If you have flat feet or excessively high arches, and tend to wear thongs, sandals or bare feet during summer holidays, you will be putting excess load on the supporting… Read more »
Activating the Core
These days everyone has heard of “activating their core” before lifting anything heavy, but this is often poorly understood. It doesn’t just mean pull in your tummy. Often what people pull in is actually the diaphragm (hollowing under ribs) which doesn’t support you back. Correct… Read more »
Better Vacuuming and Raking
One of the most aggravating activities for those with a lower back injury is vacuuming, or similar activities like raking, mopping, digging. This is because most people have one dominant leg in front and rock back and forth while they vacuum. This causes excessive loading… Read more »
Posture at the PC and iPad
Computers are bad for your posture (duh!), we all tend to slump after sitting at them for a while. Set your Outlook or equivalent program to remind you every hour or so to sit up straighter. Laptops are worse for your posture, since the screen… Read more »
Cracking your Knuckles
Mums often ask us to tell their children that cracking their knuckles will give them arthritis. Sorry mums, it doesn’t. However, it may really annoy your mums, so kids – Don’t do it!
Static Stretching Myth
Research over the last 10 years has shown that slow, static stretching before sport is NOT effective at reducing soft tissue injury. The slower movements prepare the wrong nerve pathways for the fast ballistic movements used for sport, and the potential for injury from the… Read more »
A Good Pillow
Many people are happy to pay $150-$200 for good, supportive shoes, or up to $600 for orthotics. However, we spend 6-8 hours a day weight bearing on our head (while asleep), and we use cheap, old, unsupportive pillows. Buying a flat, dacron pillow leaves your… Read more »
Swiss Balls are not Chairs
Swiss Balls do NOT make good office/computer chairs. They are great for exercising your core stabilising muscles (assuming you’ve been taught how to use them), but require far too much energy to sit on for long periods, resulting in slumping, horrible posture after a while…. Read more »
The 10 Commandments for Reducing Stress
Those who’ve been to Hills will be familiar with this. Thou shalt not be perfect, nor even try to be Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people Thou shalt leave things undone that ought to be done Thou shalt not spread… Read more »
Don’t Wait for Swelling to Subside
If you have sprained your ankle or injured your knee, you do NOT have to wait until the swelling or bruising goes down to visit your physio. The sooner we can help you by reducing swelling, improving mobility, and taping to help you walk, the… Read more »