Author: Lisa Walton

New Remedial Massage Therapist, Jess!

Many of our customers would already know Jess as our front of desk receptionist. She has been a part of the Taigum Physio team since 2015. Jess underwent some studies in 2017 to receive a Diploma in Remedial Massage which she now puts into practice at the clinic. As a jack of all trades, Jess now enjoys attending to both your reception and massage needs. She enjoys helping her clients across all injuries and concerns, she is very client focused and loves to get to know you! With a huge amount of availability to book in with her, give the clinic a call to secure your spot!

Keeping Fun Runs “FUN”

The best thing about a fun run is in its name: It’s supposed to be fun! Don’t ignore that niggle! Early assessment and treatment can stop injuries before they develop into something that stops you from doing what you love. After all your training effort, the last thing you want is an injury stopping you from enjoying the experience and the atmosphere of being a part of something special!

 

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Common Risk Factors for Running Injuries

  • Overtraining: The most common scenario leading to an overuse injury. Too quick an increase in volume frequency or intensity can overload your muscles and tendons. Gradual increases less than 10% per week are safest
  • Biomechanical flaws: Tight and weakened muscles in your foot or lower limb, too much or not enough pronation (rolling in) of your foot arch, lack of range of motion in ankle, hip or knee.
  • Improper or worn out shoes not offering adequate support
  • Poor running style – over striding is a common problem which can lead to injury.

In The Event of an Injury

  • Stop running: Trying to ‘push through’ the pain will only make the injury worse
  • Maintain your fitness by switching to a low impact form of exercise that doesn’t aggravate the injury. Swimming or cycling are options until the injury heals.
  • RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation are all essential first aid measures to help reduce pain and inflammation in the early stages of injury
  • See a physiotherapist promptly for diagnosis and treatment

How Physiotherapy Helps

RICE is important, but it doesn’t always rectify the cause of your injury. Our physiotherapist are experts at identifying the root cause of your problem. Usually several factors are involved that will need correction. After taking a thorough history and performing an individual assessment, our physios will identify any imbalances, biomechanical faults, footwear issues, training or technique errors that are the cause of your problem. Treating the actual cause ensures the quickest recovery and reduces the likelihood of reoccurrence once you are back out on the track.

How Remedial Massage Helps

Regular massage is useful to keep your body fine-tuned whether you are an athlete, desk worker, or weekend warrior.
Benefits of Massage:

  • Reduced muscle tension: Work out those tight ‘knots’ to keep muscles more efficient and less prone to break down
  • Improved circulation: Helps relieve muscle tension, reduce soreness and make for a faster recovery
  • Increased joint mobility and flexibility: Helps prevent imbalances and can lead to better athletic performance

When to Schedule a Massage

A Massage here and there is nice, but won’t give you the same benefits of a regular massage program. Like exercise itself, benefits are cumulative, meaning the more regularly you receive a massage, the more you will reap their advantages. Think of it as preventative maintenance! Fortnightly or monthly remedial massages are ideal. Our remedial massage therapists can direct you as to what is most appropriate for your situation. With all the hard work, you have put into training, reward yourself, you won’t regret it!

Female-runner-finish-lineNow for the Main Event! 

In the final weeks before the big day, you should taper the length and intensity of your training runs down, with your last run performed ideally two or three days before to avoid running on sore, tired legs on race day. Get a massage instead or enjoy a leisurely walk.

You’ve made it! Whoohoooo! Remember: you’re always going to have people finishing ahead of you, and you’re always going to have people finishing after you, you should be aiming to compete against yourself only. Do your best, and enjoy the journey. It’s a FUN run, after all!

Tradies National Health Month

August is where we acknowledge and help our ‘industrial athletes’ in prevention of workplace related injuries.

Tradies make up a massive 30% of Australia’s workforce, and they also lead with their current rate of workplace injuries, being at 60%. This means that every 9 seconds, a tradie gets injured on site. nthm
National Tradies month is used to promote techniques and sources to help reduce the injury rate as much as possible. One of the best ways to reduce this, is to see your local physio to make sure that you are using the right techniques that support your body, so you can continue manual work for as long as possible.
For those who don’t have access to a physio, there are a few things you can do yourself that will prevent injuries.

  • Wearing the correct footwear will take pressure off your ankles, knees, hips and spine, without affecting your normal walking function
  • Strengthening your calf and ankle muscles reduces the possibility of rolling your ankle
  • Always make sure there is good lighting in your workplace so you don’t fall, trip or run into things
  • Remove all trip hazards
  • Balance exercises will strengthen your leg muscles
  • Stay hydrated! Lots of water before, during and after work. Dehydration can cause muscles cramps, headaches, dizziness and more
  • Stretching on site! Before, during and after work to keep the muscles warm

At Taigum Physiotherapy, our physios will give you a tailored treatment to suit your needs and your activities, to help your body perform the best it can. Call us today to book a

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consultation for yourself, or a tradie in need.

AUGUST SPECIAL OFFER

To show our support in this campaign, tradies who present as a NEW PATIENT will receive $10 off their initial consult, whilst returning tradies will receive $5 off their treatment. But hurry! Only in the month of August!

For more information, check out http://www.tradieshealth.com.au/

Taigum Physiotherapy & Massage Clinic Olympics!

In the spirit of Rio, the Olympic Games came to Taigum Physio.
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The day involved 4 Olympic events and 9 outstanding athletes.
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Carpet bowls kick started the afternoon. It was a close game but rookie receptionist Ash took the lead with gold, Principal Physio Rick closely followed in second place, then young gun Jessica took out the bronze. It was a tough contest as staff were trying to figure out which way the ball curved!
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Next was darts with Rugby 7’s sharp shooter Corbin, snatching the gold right out of everyone’s hands when he was only millimeters off the bulls eye! Physio Rick didn’t hide his enthusiasm when he gained another silver to his collection, and to everyone’s surprise, young gun Jess followed in bronze.
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Beer-pong (minus the beer!) consisted of tossing ping-pong balls into mugs filled with water. Easy right? Well apparently not! After having 10 goes each, veteran Charlotte and Masseuse Vicki had to share the number 1 spot on the podium as a result of being the ONLY two members to sink a ball into those huge mugs.

Back in the day, John McEnroe was famous for his red headband, wild hair, and his tennis tantrums. Our very own Josh takes after him in his own kind of way, winning the knock-out tournament of table tennis. The ever so famous punch line “You cannot  be serious!” got dropped in the clinic too many times during the day. Josh was proud to take away gold while sending his boss, Rick, back for his third silver of the day. Once again Corbin takes the podium with the bronze medallion hanging from his neck.
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Finally, to recover from such a tough challenge, Practice Manager Lisa comes to our rescue once again with a delicious homemade lunch. The team believed that she was the real winner for the day.
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To see more photos of our fun day, head to our Facebook page and don’t forget to like us!

Sitting Posture – Is it Really that Important?

Correct posture whilst sitting is important in order for the musculoskeletal system to function optimally. Correct posture ensures that the spinal muscles, joints, and ligaments can perform under minimal stress. The average person sits for approximately 7.5 hours a day. This statistic is particularly relevant for those working in a desk job as poor sitting posture can cause tightness, pain, and headaches if incorrect posture is maintained for a long duration.As the nature of conditions related to poor posture can vary from person to person, it is essential to obtain a thorough assessment from a physiotherapist who can both identify and treat the cause of the problem. Here at Taigum Physiotherapy & Massage Clinic we have 5 highly skilled physiotherapists who can provide you with an individually tailored approach to treat your condition.If you have trouble maintaining good posture or suffer with or any other musculoskeletal injury and find it is affecting your day-to-day life, visit our friendly and informative physiotherapists at Taigum Physiotherapy & Massage Clinic and we together can work as a team to ensure you are back up and running in the shortest time possible.

Below are several tips you can implement into your working life to encourage optimal sitting posture in the meantime.

State of Origin

bones state of originState of Origin Game 3 is this Wednesday the 13th of July. Once again we will all be dressed up in our team colours for the final game, even Bones likes to get into the spirit!

If you are booked in on Wednesday join in with our Team and wear your team’s colours to your appointment!

See you all then!

Are you training for the Jetty2Jetty 2016?

It’s the time of year again where Jetty2Jetty 2016 is getting closer than ever!

Jetty2Jetty will be held on the 17th of July at Corckatt Park, Woody Point. There are varying distances to suit everyone  ranging from 3km to 21.1km depending on experience and fitness. Here at Taigum Physiotherapy & Massage Clinic we are able to assist you in your training and screen you with specific tests to determine if you have an appropriate level of soft tissue conditioning to tolerate your training program without breaking down. Your individual biomechanics, joint range of motion, flexibility, stability and core strength all influence the way you move and therefore your exercise technique.

Remember, most injuries develop from accumulative strain due to poor movement patterns. Without addressing the cause, the condition is likely to persist or return. Our physiotherapists are experts at identifying poor movement patterns and getting to the root of the problem to ensure lasting results. Our physios can make sure you are ready to run in the Jetty2Jetty.

If you are interested in a fitness and injury preventative assessment prior to competing in the 2016 Jetty2Jetty, come in and see one of our highly skilled and informative physiotherapists at Taigum Physiotherapy & Massage Clinic and we together can work as a team to ensure you are ready.

Happy Mother’s Day!

2016-Mothers-DayOn behalf of everyone here at the clinic, we would like extend our warm wishes for a very happy Mother’s Day to all of our mother’s out there! We hope you were all spoilt and look forward to seeing all of the lucky mum’s who received one of our Mother’s Day Massage Gift Vouchers here at the clinic soon!