Training for a marathon isn't just about pushing your limits; it's about finding the delicate balance between endurance and injury prevention. That's where the expertise of a physiotherapist can make all the difference to your training and preparation.
ACL injury is one of the most common injuries in field sports. This injury requires long-term rehabilitation and commitment from the injured individual, which can take two forms; either conservative or non-conservative management.
There is no cure for arthritis, but physiotherapy has been proven to be very effective for managing the symptoms, improving joint function and mobility, strengthening the joints, and improving quality of life for individuals living with this condition.
Text neck refers to the strain and discomfort that result from prolonged periods spent looking down at electronic devices, leading to poor posture and potential long-term health consequences. In this blog post, we'll explore what text neck is, its effects on the body, and practical strategies to reduce its impact and promote better posture.
Have you ever experienced intense soreness or stiffness in your muscles about 24 to 48 hours after an intense workout? This phenomenon is often referred to as DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, and is a result of tiny, microscopic tears in your muscle fibres as a result of high intensity exercise.
Muscle cramp is a term used to describe the involuntary contraction of a muscle, which does not immediately relax afterwards. If relaxation of the muscle does occur straight after, it is a spasm. Any muscle in the body is capable of cramping, although the muscles in the legs are far more susceptible to cramps than any other. A muscle that cramps will often become tangibly, and sometimes visibly, stiffer.
We recently looked at why injuries seem to take longer to heal as we age. Theories include that our cellular pathways become overloaded with information, which prevents our cells from dividing efficiently; that our inflammatory responses change, and that we either get too much or not enough inflammation; or that certain chemical changes, such as to our level of hormones, could impede our ability to heal.
A migraine is a chronic neurological disorder where a person will suffer head pain on one side of their head. Migraines are usually described as a throbbing sensation, and are rarely classified as mild. Many people experiencing migraines will also experience nausea, and sensitivity to light or noise. For most people, a migraine attack will mean total disruption to their normal daily routine, and can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Suffering from back pain can be a frustrating experience, as even the slightest pain can be persistent and throw our days into chaos. Almost every activity we do, whether it is working, exercising, watching TV, or even sleeping suddenly becomes a struggle to get comfortable and stay focused. How to deal with this pain depends heavily on what the cause of it is, so in this blog, we’re going to look at what different pains in parts of your back can mean.
The calf is one of the most frequently injured body parts, especially if you are a particularly active person. As well as the three major muscles, the soleus, the medial gastrocnemius, and the lateral gastrocnemius, the calf also contains the smaller plantaris muscles, the tibia, the fibula, and a number of tendons and ligaments. Calf pain can arise from any one of these areas, so in this blog, we will look at some of the most common causes of calf pain, and how to treat them.
Gymnastics is a sport that requires both power and poise. Not only can the moves involved be extremely complex, but they often require the gymnast to use the majority of their body parts at once, and can place joints in particular under extreme strain. While injuries are common in any sport, they are exceedingly common in gymnastics, so in this blog, we’re going to look at some of the most common gymnastic injuries.
There are lots of great reasons to take part in a triathlon. For some, it’s an interesting new challenge, for others, it’s a great form of cross-training to overcome injuries, and some people just feel that they’re good enough at running, swimming, and cycling to give all three a go at once. Whatever your reasons for entering may be, here are our tips on getting ready for a triathlon.
After the summer we’ve had this year, running from shade to shade is about as much exercise as some of us have gotten. Whatever your sport of choice may be, it’s okay, even advisable, to take a break for a few weeks. But with September drawing ever closer, people all across the country are beginning to prepare themselves for the next season. If you have been spending your days at the beach and your evenings at barbecues, then it shouldn’t be a huge surprise if you have a little extra work to do. But if you start early, you can get back into shape, improve your game, and minimise your risk of injury.
Piriformis syndrome is a neuromuscular condition that occurs when the piriformis muscle compresses the sciatic nerve. As both the piriformis muscle and the sciatic nerve are located at least in part in the buttocks, the first symptoms of the condition are tingling or numbness in that area. As the condition progresses, this can turn into a pain that radiates about halfway down the leg, and possibly slightly up into the back as well. Because of the pain associated with piriformis syndrome, sufferers can find that they have a reduced range of motion in the hip.
Anyone who has been practicing pilates for a while will be familiar with the vast physical and mental benefits it can have, but those who are just considering taking it up may not realise how beneficial it can be. Whether it’s keeping us limber or helping our brains stay young, there are a lot of reasons to seriously consider taking up pilates. In this blog, we’re going to look at some of the most positive effects it can have.
For many people, the only reason to give the glutes a workout is for the aesthetic benefit. But as great as it would be if we could all look like Kim Kardashian, there are actually many health benefits to keeping your glutes in shape. They are the largest muscle group in the body, consisting of the Gluteus Minimus, Gluteus Medius, and the well-known Gluteus Maximus. These muscles play a vital role in how we walk, run, stand, sit… basically they are always doing something important. For this reason, having healthy glutes is important in maintaining good health in other areas of your body, the most important of which we will look at below.
Osteoporosis, which literally means “porous bone”, is a condition where the body loses more bone than it makes. The result is that instead of having strong, dense bones, they can become brittle and weak, making them very susceptible to fractures and breaks.
The history of massage therapy can be traced back thousands of years, with the earliest written records discovered to date being “The Yellow Emperor’s Classic Book of Internal Medicine”, which was written around the year 2700 BC. The Ancient Egyptians were using massage as a form of medicine as far back as 2500 BC, while India has written records of massage dating back to 1500 BC. The practice of massage was first introduced to the Western world in the early 19th Century by Dr. Per Henril Ling, before being improved upon by Johan Georg Mezger. The result was what we now call the Swedish massage, and it is the most popular massage in the west.
Muscle knots are areas where tense muscle fibres stick to each other, eventually beginning to tear and form scar tissue. Also known as myofascial trigger points, muscle knots can be either active, where they cause pain without any pressure, or latent, where they only hurt when pressure is applied to them.
If you’re just starting out in tennis, you may not realise the importance of grip size. A lot of research has been carried out in this area over the years, and what we have found is that different grip sizes make people susceptible to different injuries. In this blog, we’re going to look at the effects grip size can have on performance and injury, and how to choose the right size for you.
Football is one of the most popular games in Ireland and across the world. Thankfully this means that there has been a lot of research into the kinds of injuries incurred by players most often. These can be classified into one of two major categories: overuse, or acute. An overuse injury occurs when repeating the same movement gradually wears down our cartilage, tendons, or muscles, while an acute injury occurs suddenly, like a sprain. Below, we have listed some of the most common football injuries, and how they will affect the player.
Most of us are at our most susceptible to injury in the earliest and latest years of our lives. When we are young, we endure all sorts of bashes and tumbles as we rush to frantically explore the world around us, but we seem to be able to bounce right back up and shake them off. When we are older, we have less energy, and our reaction times are slower, which makes us more likely to fall or get hit by something.
