Back pain is one of the most common health conditions with almost four in five people experiencing this condition at some point in their lives.
When you begin your dry needling program, your physical therapist should first perform an in-depth evaluation that identifies key back pain issues and muscle groups along with their trigger points. This provides a broad framework for your physical therapist to work with.
Some patients may experience an immediate relaxation in the contracted muscle along with a reduction in pain symptoms and increase in range of motion. For others, it may take one or two days or even additional dry needling sessions to experience symptom relief.
Cryotherapy is also called cryosurgery, cryoablation, percutaneous cryotherapy, and targeted cryoablation therapy. It is a minimally invasive treatment that uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy diseased tissue, including cancer cells. Although cryotherapy and cryoablation can be used interchangeably, the term "cryosurgery" refers to performing cryotherapy using an open, surgical approach.
During cryotherapy, liquid nitrogen or high-pressure argon gas flows into a needle-like applicator or cryoprobe. This creates intense cold that the doctor uses to freeze and destroy diseased tissue. Doctors use ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) to help guide the cryoprobes to treatment sites within the body.
Electrotherapy includes a range of treatments using electricity to reduce pain, improve circulation, repair tissues, strengthen muscles, and promote bone growth, leading to improvements in physical functioning.
Electrotherapy units usually consist of a battery-powered device connected by wires to adhesive electrode pads which are placed on the skin. The electrode pads are sticky, so they will adhere to the skin. Once the electrodes are attached and the unit is turned on, a mild electric current is sent to the skin via the electrode.
While a large number of people find electrotherapy helpful, others do not. The medical literature on electrotherapy's effectiveness has been mixed, and not all electrotherapy treatments are supported by research.
Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is a stretching technique that can improve your range of motion. Many therapists use PNF to help people regain their range of motion after injury or surgery. However, it can also be used by athletes and dancers to improve their flexibility.
PNF can help you strengthen your muscles, but can be risky if you’re not a professional athlete or dancer. Read on to learn more about how PNF stretching works. The PNF stretching technique can also be used by athletes as well as non-athletes to improve performance. Studies have found that doing PNF stretches before exercise can boost performance in exercises such as jogging.
TENS delivers mild electrical impulses to the body. The TENS system is made up of a power unit, a pair of wires, and electrode pads that are placed on your skin near the place that hurts. A practitioner or the patient turns on the unit, and low-voltage electrical current flows into the body. Different stimulation frequencies and intensities are available.
TENS sessions usually last 5 to 15 minutes. They can be done as often as needed, depending on the case. Physical therapists and healthcare providers often give TENS. Healthcare providers also can prescribe certain units to use at home. People often say they feel a mild tingling sensation or warmth during the treatments. The tingling sensation may temporarily prevent the person from being aware of pain.
The goal of stroke rehabilitation is to help you relearn skills you lost when a stroke affected part of your brain. Stroke rehabilitation can help you regain independence and improve your quality of life.
The severity of stroke complications and each person's ability to recover vary widely. Researchers have found that people who participate in a focused stroke rehabilitation program perform better than most people who don't have stroke rehabilitation.
Sports injuries are injuries that occur when engaging in sports or exercise. Sports Injuries Sports injuries are injuries that occur when engaging in sports or exercise. Sports injuries can occur due to overtraining, lack of conditioning, and improper form or technique.
Failing to warm up increases the risk of sports injuries. Bruises, strains, sprains, tears, and broken bones can result from sports injuries. Soft tissues like muscles, ligaments, tendons, fascia, and bursae may be affected. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is another potential type of sports injury. Injuries may range from mild to severe.
Manual therapy is a clinical approach based on skilled “hands on” therapy to decrease pain and improve the mobility of joints, soft tissues and nerves. At physio for All, our physiotherapists and osteopaths have developed highly skills manual therapy during their studies and through further postgraduate training.
Manual therapy is used to assess, diagnose and treat a variety of symptoms and conditions. Physiotherapists will usually combine manual therapy with exercise prescription and rehabilitation which will lead to a faster recovery of your function.
People have used cupping for thousands of years to ease back pain, neck pain, headaches and other problems. Cupping therapy involves creating a suction force to pull blood into the skin. Cupping causes bruising and can lead to skin infection. While research on the benefits of cupping is scarce, the treatment risks are low.
People mostly use cupping to relieve conditions that cause pain. Cupping is a form of traditional Chinese and Middle Eastern medicine. People have practiced cupping therapy for thousands of years.
Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilisation (IASTM) is a specific treatment to locate and treat soft tissue dysfunction with the use of tools. IASTM is often used to treat muscular skeletal conditions by applying friction type techniques across the skin.
IASTM is a useful treatment type to effectively break down and release scar tissue restrictions. Experienced therapists working at Pace can use IASTM to treat a wide range of muscular conditions.
Emotional freedom technique (EFT) is an alternative treatment for physical pain and emotional distress. It’s also referred to as tapping or psychological acupressure. People who use this technique believe tapping the body can create a balance in your energy system and treat pain. According to its developer, Gary Craig, a disruption in energy is the cause of all negative emotions and pain.
Acupuncture uses needles to apply pressure to these energy points. EFT uses fingertip tapping to apply pressure.
Massage guns are everywhere. Sporting goods stores stock them and they’re certainly not hard to come by online. Athletes endorse them and fitness trainers back them, but they’re more than just a trend. This insane popularity is all for good reason—massage guns work but only if you use them correctly.
Massage guns utilize percussive therapy or vibration therapy, sometimes both simultaneously. While both percussion and vibration therapies have benefits, they differ slightly.
Chronic pain is sometimes defined officially as pain lasting more than 6 months. It may also be accurate to define chronic pain as pain that has no clear end in sight. According to the National Center for Health Statistics chronic pain health care costs and lost productivity has reached nearly $100 billion a year. It affects approximately 76.2 million people - more individuals than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined.
The primary goals in chronic pain management are to assess, understand and treat your pain condition. Along with physical therapy, there are many aspects of your daily life that can be adjusted to help minimize the effects of chronic pain on your daily lifestyle.
Slipped Disk or Prolapsed Intervertebral Disc causes intense pain in back, legs & sciatic nerve. Know the cause & homeopathic medicine for a slipped disk.
The disks are pads of tissue situated between each of the vertebrae that make up the spinal column. Each disk consists of a tough, fibrous outer ring called the annulus fibrous and a softer, jelly-like inner layer called the nucleus pulpous. The function of the disk is to act as both a strong connection between the vertebrae and a cushion to absorb weight on the spinal column.
Operative Rehabilitation plays a very important role after surgery for fast return to normal body functionality. Some of the surgeries require post operative therapy and require a series of sessions with a physiotherapist. The main goal of physiotherapy after surgery is to help you in re–establishing muscular strength, joint mobility, decrease swelling as well as to restore the body strength and functionality with series of exercises to prevent the serious complications. Post-Surgery Rehabilitation helps patients to improve body functioning and to get rid of pain associated with surgical procedure.
When it comes to involvement in any athletic endeavor, sports injuries are just a fact of life. No matter what kind of protective equipment is worn or what rules are initiated to protect the players from harm, injuries are just a facet of the game that will always be present. Sports require heavy exertion, rapid changes in direction, and physical endurance. While those are all admirable feats, they can also lead to serious injuries that can have long-lasting repercussions if not properly treated.
Ready to Get Back in the Game? We work with athletes and active individuals of all ages, who suffer with musculoskeletal injuries to help them improve performance, enhance overall health, prevent injury and maintain their physical activity throughout their lives.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the main stabilizing ligaments within the knee. It prevents the tibia (shinbone) from sliding forward on the femur (thighbone). It also helps prevent the tibia and femur from rotating out of position during various sports movements. ACL repair surgery will help you progress 10% of the way back to a healed ACL, but the remaining 90% of the work will be up to you through physical therapy. Each athlete's rehabilitation experience is different, and your length of recovery time will depend on your specific progress.
Although stress-induced bony changes often resolve with conservative treatment, the long-term effects of such mechanical stresses on intervertebral discs have not been studied. We aimed to assess the differences in the temporal evolution of disc in segments of the lumbar spine with and without signs of increased mechanical stresses. Stressed discs exhibit a higher burden of nuclear and annular degeneration at baseline. These discs have a higher risk of progressive nuclear degeneration irrespective of improvement or worsening of stress-related bony changes.
A SLAP tear is an injury to the labrum of the shoulder, which is the ring of cartilage that surrounds the socket of the shoulder joint. Many SLAP tears, however, are the result of a wearing down of the labrum that occurs slowly over time. In patients over 30 to 40 years of age, tearing or fraying of the superior labrum can be seen as a normal process of aging. This differs from an acute injury in a younger person.
All tissues in the body are functionally connected to each other. For his reason, an osteopath does not only cure the head. Instead, an osteopath should cure all parts where somatic dysfunction exists in the body. Osteopathy is a highly strong natural healing system. It identifies mechanical problems in the body and corrects them through manual applications. In this way, it helps the elimination of problems and pains. Primarily, if a joint or muscle is restricted or there are mechanical problems which affect the functions of nerves or veins, the osteopath makes these restrictions free and helps them return to normal function.
The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It comprises of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid organs, and lymphoid tissues. The vessels carry a clear fluid called lymph (the Latin word lympha refers to the deity of fresh water, "Lympha") back towards the heart, for re-circulation.
Taping is a technique designed to work with the body’s natural healing process while providing rehabilitative support and stability to muscles and joints. It can be used to decrease pain, reduce inflammation, and relax overused or tired muscles. Kinesio tape, also known as kinesiology or elastic therapeutic tape, boasts up to 40 percent elasticity. The tape is typically made of cotton and spandex with a heat-activated acrylic adhesive to keep it in place on the skin.
Myofascial pain can have two sources. Pain can be generated from the skeletal muscle or connective tissues that are 'bound down' by tight fascia. In addition, pain can also be generated from damaged myofascial tissue itself, sometimes at a 'trigger point' where a contraction of muscle fibers has occurred. In either case, the restriction or contraction inhibits blood flow to the affected structures, thus accentuating the contraction process further unless the area is treated.
Muscle Energy Technique is one of the most effective and gentle manual techniques for the correction of somatic dysfunction. MET uses accurate assessment techniques to discover if a joint is stuck out of alignment. Then the practitioner positions the patient and asks for gentle resistance in such a way that the joint is brought back into alignment, and the tight muscle relaxed. This technique can be incorporated easily into any treatment protocol, and is an excellent addition to any practice.