True or false: avoiding physical activity will help to reduce your pain. The correct answer is, FALSE. Avoiding physical activity doesn’t usually reduce pain; it exacerbates it. This may seem counterintuitive. Someone with back pain, for example, would probably assume that resting the back would bring the most relief. This is an understandable conclusion. However, too much rest only makes … Read More
Don’t Let a Backpack Cause Your Child Back Pain
Would you agree that back-to-school time is almost always hectic? Go to any superstore a few days before school resumes and you’ll find moms and dads with shopping carts filled to the brim with school supplies, lunch ingredients, clothes, and, last but not least, backpacks. Unfortunately, because there is so much to buy in preparation for the coming school year, … Read More
Posture Is More Important Than You Think
If you created a list of things you should do to stay healthy, what would it look like? Perhaps your list might look something like this: — Take vitamins — Exercise — Eat healthy, whole foods — Sleep 6-8 hours per night — Drink 8 glasses of water per day While these activities should be priorities for people who want … Read More
Can Physiotherapy Heal Headaches?
How often do you suffer with a headache that just won’t let up? Dull or shooting, headache pain is one of the worst, most-dreaded types of pain. No doubt you’ve taken your fair share of over-the-counter painkillers in hopes of experiencing pain relief. Or, like thousands of others, perhaps you’ve taken prescription painkillers for your headaches and STILL not gotten … Read More
Why Sit Ups Are So Bad For You
Sit ups have historically been touted as an important part of a person’s exercise routine. After all, sit ups will chisel your abs fast, right? Wrong. Not only are sit ups not the most effective exercise for building abdominal strength; they are also flat out bad for your back. How Sit Ups Damage Your Body Sit ups do not live … Read More
The Right and Wrong Way To Stretch Tight Muscles
Are your muscles stiff and achy? Are you frustrated by decreased range of motion? If so, there’s a good chance that your muscles are too tight. Most people don’t think of stretching as a first line of defense against pain, but it can be. When done correctly, stretching can lengthen your muscles and relieve annoying aches and pains. The question … Read More
Should You Use Heat Therapy or Ice Therapy to Reduce Pain?
If you’re like most people, at some point in your life you have reached for an ice pack or heating pad in hopes of quelling a stubborn ache or pain. As you probably discovered, heat therapy and ice therapy can both increase comfort and lessen the pain that results from injury. Best of all, these therapies are drug-free and cost … Read More
5 Back-Saving Tips for People Who Sit at a Desk All Day
Having a desk job can be less than thrilling. Not only does such a job usually require long hours of staring into a computer screen; it also prevents movement (except, of course, typing and pushing a mouse around). This restriction of movement can eventually take its toll on a person’s back. Why Does Sitting Increase Back Pain? Some people are … Read More
Physiotherapy May Help You Avoid the Use of Prescription Drugs
Do you experience chronic pain? If so, you are in good company—millions of others are in the same boat. Chronic pain is severe, life altering and difficult to control. Many who live with this condition will admit that they feel trapped in and helpless against the unceasing aches that trouble them on a daily basis. With good reason, some of … Read More
Recover from Knee Replacement Surgery with Physiotherapy
Have you recently had knee replacement surgery? Or, will you be undergoing this type of surgery soon? If so, don’t fear. Although there can be pain involved in the process of knee surgery, the surgery is necessary to ultimately reduce your pain. One way you can lessen your anxiety related to the after effects of surgery is to learn about … Read More