Winter on the Gold Coast is a great time to get out and experience the beautiful outdoors.
Cooler temperatures and clear days in winter make for great hiking conditions here on the Coast.
Here are 3 quick tips before heading out on your first hike this winter:
1. Wear comfortable shoes- don’t decide to go out for an 10km walk in your brand new shoes that you haven’t worn in yet (you will be seriously regretting this decision later once blisters start to develop!). Wear shoes that have good support and that you are familiar with.
2. Warm up for a couple of minutes with some stretches- whether it’s a cruisy 3km walk along Burleigh beach or a 20km day hike in the hinterland, make sure you take a few minutes to stretch prior to starting. Calves, hamstrings and quads are the main muscles to focus on.
3. Hydration is crucial- our perception of thirst is different during winter than summer due to the cooler temperatures. We typically don’t feel as thirsty and we don’t feel like we are sweating as much. But this doesn’t mean our body doesn’t need the water. Hydration is just as important in winter as it is in summer so make sure you pack a water bottle with you (and drink it!) on every hike this winter.
There is no such thing as a simple rolled ankle. Ankle sprains are a very common injury seen in all ages ranging from rolled ankles on the sporting field to a twisted ankle while walking on an uneven footpath.
Jess Norton shares with you 3 good reasons why you should seek help from your physiotherapist following a simple ankle sprain:
1. ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS
Sprained ankles can vary in degrees of severity and the management and recovery time frames will differ depending on the severity of your sprain. Your physiotherapist can assess your injury in detail and inform you how to manage your acute symptoms and provide you with a recommended rehabilitation plan including specific exercises.
2. RISK OF RE-INJURY
A history of an ankle sprain means your risk of another ankle sprain is now higher. Your physiotherapist can help reduce this risk by ensuring you complete an adequate rehab program (consisting of strength, flexibility and balance training), perform a gradual return to training/games and complete any recommended agility work before returning to high intensity/change of direction type movements.
3. PERSISTING SYMPTOMS
Often the pain and swelling will settle after a few days of rest, however a significant number of people develop persisting symptoms if not managed properly or if no rehab is completed. These symptoms can include stiffness, weakness and instability (especially during cutting type manoeuvres). Your physiotherapist can show you exercises and guide you through your rehab to ensure you make a full recovery and don’t experience any of these ongoing issues.
If you currently have an ankle issue – ring our friendly staff on 55787155 and tell them that you saw this article and you will receive a GAP FREE initial physiotherapy consult when using your private health insurance.
If you missed our recent kids injury prevention evening, this is a must watch!
Press play NOW to watch the live video from the night where our principal physio, Josh Meyer, along with associate Physio Tim Rigby, shows you how to keep your child away from injury and towards happiness with their sport.
For bookings, simply click here or call us on 55787155.
Don’t forget to share with a friend so they too can benefit from this!
Parents you my have already noticed your children complaining of sore knees, feet and hips. In many cases kids will need to have several weeks away from sport in order to manage their injury.
We show you how to keep your child away from injury and towards happiness with their sport.
What you will learn;
How to spot early signs of injury in children
How growth impacts on active boys and girls differently
Why girls are 8 time more likely to have a severe knee injury in running/kicking sports and how to prevent this
Why your boy is limping at half time or after training
Tips on how to prevent injury and make sure your kids have full participation and enjoyment
The latest injury prevention
strategies for kids
Perfect for parents of kids who play soccer, netball, Rugby League/Union, touch football, Futsal, AFL.
1. WHY are you doing it? Weigh up the key reason as to why you are considering the injection? Is it because you have pain, cant sleep, not progressing with your exercise program or cant get back to sport or just day to day function? Your key reason why you want to go ahead with an injection should be clear.
2. WHAT are you using to inject? Based on the nature of the problem that you have will really dictate whether or not an injection should be a Cortisone or Corticosteroid as we call it or Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is another thing that you can get injected. Depending on the nature of the condition will govern what it is that we inject and how we are going to rehab it afterwards.
3. The way in which it is injected. This is really important and unless it is Ultrasound guided, CT guided or has some sort of guidance associated with it, the effectiveness of it will probably be minimised. 10-15 years ago we didn’t really have the capability to inject under ultrasound as much and it was costly but now it has become a lot more accessible and I think the only way to get injected these days is under ultrasound guidance. There is some pretty good evidence out there to attest to that as well. So make sure the injection is guided.
4. The advice you receive post injection is really important and can have a massive impact on the success of the injection. If there is a rest period after the injection to facilitate the healing of the tissue then you need to rest. If you are not sure ask whoever is looking after you, we can also help you with that.
5. The education of your condition. If you don’t understand the nature of your condition and why it presented in the first place, it is highly likely that you will get symptoms recurring again. Without addressing the cause the successfulness of the injection will be hampered. My advice is to get some education, understand whats going on and why its occurring. Is it related to your sport, is there something technique wise you may be doing, do you have an imbalance, or an asymmetry in your body or the way it functions?
If you have anymore questions about injections or your not sure or you want to get your condition assessed, just call us on (07) 5578 7155 or click the link above to book online.
Winter on the Gold Coast is a great time to get out and experience the beautiful outdoors.
I’VE ROLLED MY ANKLE… DO I NEED TO SEE A PHYSIO?