Mark Barrett was recently a guest on the Beyond Bariatric Surgery podcast.
Over the past few months I have been seeing an increasing amount of patients with shoulder related pain who are complaining of very similar issues.
These things include :
“ I have pain laying on my shoulder at night”
“ My Shoulder pain warms up and becomes sore only after exercise”
“ It feels weak and painful”
“ Im finding it difficult reaching behind my back – in particular getting things out of the back seat in the car”
“ I find it painful only when I put the washing on the line or taking my shirt off “
If these things are familiar with your shoulder, here are things to keep in mind:
by Tim Rigby, Associate Physiotherapist
The Kokoda Challenge is Australia’s iconic team ultra-marathon, with 4 person teams tackling the tough 96km (4500m elevation) event through the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterland.
The event raises funds for the Kokoda youth Foundation. Our team this year comprised of 4 very experienced runners with our resident running physio Dave Coombs joined by Simon Byrne, Brad Glover, Kieran O’Brien and crewed by Troy Lethlean and Rob Bele.
The boys led things from the start and although their lead was only a handful of minutes at the Polly’s Kitchen checkpoint at 30k, they continued to extend their lead to over an hour by the finish. They completed the run in 12hours 55 minutes. To put this in perspective the cut-off time for all teams was 39hours and some teams needed all of that time to get through to the finish.
Photo of winning team and our ‘Running Physio’ Dave Coombs (right).
How do you train for a run like this?
The key thing in training is to set yourself and your team some realistic goals and then work towards them. Most teams will spend the majority of the day walking so its important to practice being on your feet and walking for many hours at a time. We knew that we would be running as much of the event as possible, so we included lots of running in our own training and then got together as a team in the weeks leading up to the race to get familiar with the course. I was running about 10 hours a week in the weeks leading up to the event.
Was it all plain sailing or did you have any low points during the run?
Oh, we definitely had our moments! Actually this is one of the things that makes me so proud of our team performance on the day, that we dealt with everything that came our way calmly and with the minimum of fuss. The team spirit was extremely high all day. At one stage we had split up slightly and the two boys in front went the wrong way, so we had a few minutes of panic trying to sort that out, and at the last checkpoint we couldn’t find our crew and were running about yelling, stressing that we would have to do the last 15km without topping up our food and water. We finally found them frying sausages and drinking beer – they certainly weren’t panicking (picnicking more like!).
And what were the high points for you?
There were so many, its hard to pick. I loved seeing my family and friends who came out to support at Syd Duncan Park and at the finish. Running the last 2k into the Velodrome was incredible -suddenly we were all charging down the final decent, pain forgotten, buzzing with the adrenaline of getting to the finish, as a complete team of 4, in a time we were really happy with.
Anyone you’d like to thank?
Wow, so many people. Here is the abridged version! First up, a huge thanks to Simon, Brad, Kieran, Troy, and Rob. This truly is a team event and we nailed it this year. Thanks to all of the Physiologic family who supported our journey and contributed to the charity fundraising. Finally, massive thanks to Amanda and my boys for being my inspiration and best supporters!
The Australian National
SOS Fracture Alliance unites 30 medical, allied health, patient advocacy, carer and other organisations under its umbrella. The more than 2.91 million members have one common goal – to ‘make the first break the last’ by improving the care of patients presenting with an osteoporotic fracture. This is the first time in Australia an alliance of organisations has formed to address this public health issue across the nation.
The overwhelming majority of patients who sustain an osteoporotic fracture receive no investigation, nor treatment to prevent further fractures. Comparatively, Australia has one of the world’s poorest rates of identifying and managing osteoporotic fractures – some 70 to 80 per cent of men and women who have broken a bone and would qualify for osteoporosis treatment are not investigated or diagnosed, nor do they receive appropriate medical care and follow-up. As a result the numbers of preventable fractures impacting patients, their families and the healthcare system are steadily growing. The SOS Fracture Alliance is working to close this unacceptable gap in osteoporosis care, which greatly affects some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
The SOS Fracture Alliance advocates for the nation-wide implementation of fracture liaison services in hospitals and primary care to achieve better patient outcomes and prevent fractures. Founder and Chair of the SOS Fracture Alliance, Professor Markus Seibel says “The SOS Fracture Alliance is seeking to increase the recognition, nation-wide, of first fractures in people with undiagnosed osteoporosis, to make their first break their last. This is why the SOS Fracture Alliance strongly advocates the implementation of routine services that identify, investigate and treat patients with osteoporotic fractures.”
Source: https://www.sosfracturealliance.org.au/
While most of us have at least some notion of what remedial massage is, we might still struggle to explain specifically what it’s all about if we had to explain it to our next-door neighbour.
The key word in remedial massage is ‘remedy’. Whether you suffer from an actual condition (tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, tension headaches, knee pain, etc.) or from something more general, like neck tension or stiffness in the back, the aim here is not only to loosen up tight muscles, but also to correct the specific imbalances responsible for the pain or dysfunction – basically to treat the root cause of the issue. Your practitioner may hence assess your range of motion, observe your posture, how you use your body and identify any movements that are painful or uncomfortable.
On top of all the wonderful benefits of massage (reduced muscle tension, improved lymph and blood flow, and the release of the feel-good hormones endorphins, which reduce stress and pain), expect here a thorough understanding of anatomy and biomechanics, the use of techniques such as trigger point therapy or sustained myofascial tensioning, and above all the skills and knowledge to determine where and how to treat to get the results you want.
With a variety of styles to choose from, ranging from Thai to Chinese massage, Swedish massage, Therapeutic massage, Relaxation, Sports or even Clinical massage, we are rather spoilt for choice. While all types of massage have their place, the first difference in Australia is in terms of qualifications.
An entry-level massage therapist (Certificate IV) offers something called “Therapeutic Massage”, with specialisations available in sports or relaxation massage (a.k.a. Swedish massage). “Therapeutic” means that you can expect here all the valuable benefits of massage in terms of muscle tension and general well-being – but not necessarily the skills and knowledge to treat conditions and correct imbalances. As a result, do not expect a rebate from your private health fund either!
To get those preci
ous dollars off your bill, you need a practitioner who has completed a Diploma of Remedial Massage. The final words go to Medibank Private, which sets the requirements for benefit payments Australia-wide on the premise that “remedial massage is designed to balance muscle/soft btissue length, tension, tone which will in turn promote the return to normal joint/capsular/bone position; increase the flow of blood and lymph, particularly in the injured areas, thus removing blockages, damaged cells, scar tissue and adhesions resulting from injury 1 .”
by Aline Schlueter, Remedial Massage Therapist, Dip.
Click here to book an appointment with Aline or call us on 07 5578 7155.
(1) Goal setting: Surgery is the easy part, all the work is done for you – you now need to make sure you get the best possible outcome by committing to a set of goals. Whether its to run a 10km race, get back to playing soccer, or to be able to work each week without pain, its important to set yourself goals. We will make sure we manage your rehab by structuring your program specifically to achieving your goals.
(2) Break it down: Our clinicians will break your rehab into short term, mid term and long term treatment. For example short term will be aimed at reducing swelling and regaining range of motion, while long term treatment will be more strength focused aiming to get you back to running or in full health for an upcoming holiday (depending on what goals you have set). We will help guide you through each phase and prevent any ongoing complications.
(3) The hard work begins: The process doesn’t end with surgery. As we said earlier, surgery is the easy part- its the rehab afterwards where you will need to commit and put in the effort to make sure you get your optimal outcomes. We will outline and progress rehab exercises for you to start after surgery and its important that you complete these if you want to achieve your goals.
Our team here at Physiologic are here to help you. Call us on 07 5578 7155 or click here to book online.