There are very few of us that reach middle age free from injury or medical conditions. Irrespective of age, very few of us get enough exercise. The Department of Health and Ageing recommend that you need 180 minutes of exercise a week – that is, half an hour a day, with one rest day per week - just to maintain good fitness levels.
In recent years there has been an increasing amount of medical evidence supporting the importance of exercise for health and well being, both physical and psychological. Exercises also need to be varied and progressed in order for you to continue to improve your strength, balance and endurance.
At Advantage Healthcare and Physiotherapy, we offer a variety of exercise classes that do just that. Our Exercise Physiologist is a university qualified professional who can prescribe an exercise program that is individually suited to your needs. Exercise Physiologists have extensive training in providing exercises that are safe and appropriate for your age and lifestyle. An Exercise Physiologist can see you individually or in a class.
We also offer mat and clinical pilates classes. Pilates has become very popular in the last 10 years. This is because it focuses on activation of your core muscle groups and this helps prevent injury, especially back and limb pain. Our clinical pilates has been developed by our team of physiotherapists and uses specialised pilates equipment to help ensure specific body movements to get the correct muscles activated. All our pilates classes are taken by a qualified Physiotherapist.
Physio can play a key role
Australia enjoys one of the highest life expectancies of any country of the world, at 80.4 years for men and 84.5 years for women (ABS, 2014). The average life expectancy of men and women is increasing. This means more of us are spending more time living in our senior years. It is important to make the most of this time by ensuring we can move independently and are pain free or at the very least have control of our pain.
It is important to implement strategies as to how you are going to continue to enjoy life as you age. Physiotherapy can play a key role in helping you reduce or eliminate pain, strengthen muscles and understand any movement faults you may have and how they impact on your body. In fact, at Advantage Healthcare and Physiotherapy we can help you in a variety of ways. From giving you advice on how to set up a great workstation that encourages correct posture while at your computer to hands on treatment and exercises tailored to your specific needs.
In recent times, massage has become an increasingly popular complementary medical modality. This is because many people have found it to be of great benefit for decreasing pain in a variety of conditions, as well as helping with relaxation and stress relief.
There are a variety of different types of massage depending on what your body needs. These include:
- Trigger point therapy
- Deep Tissue Massage
- Sports massage and
- Relaxation massage.
Trigger point therapy aims to release or loosen any trigger points or knots in your body. These trigger points can cause intense pain, aching, stiffness, restriction of movement and reduce circulation. A trigger point is a tiny area of irritation in a stressed muscle, commonly called a knot. A trigger point can refer pain and or cause weakness to an area. Trigger points result from overuse, misaligned posture, trauma and poor patterns of movement.
At Advantage Healthcare and Physiotherapy, we have a number of remedial massage therapists who are trained in a variety of different types of massage. Because they hold a Remedial Massage qualification, most Health Funds offer rebates for this treatment, depending on your level of cover. People are commonly amazed about the amount of pain relief that can be achieved with a massage from a qualified therapist.
Advantage Healthcare and Physiotherapy are very excited to be able to offer Shockwave Therapy to the community. Shockwave therapy is used to treat conditions which involve inflammation of the tendons. These include, calcific tendinopathies of the shoulder, tennis or golfer’s elbow, Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis.
Shockwave therapy works by transmitting radial pressure waves or vibrations into your bodies tissues to stimulate the healing process. It is a non-invasive, non-surgical way to speed up recovery and potentially cure various conditions. It should always be used by a trained therapist in conjunction with exercise and advice.
Shockwave therapy is great for people who have previously been non-responsive to other treatments. There has been some good quality clinical research proving the effectiveness of Shockwave therapy for various conditions.
At Advantage Healthcare and Physiotherapy, Shockwave therapy is incorporated into a normal physiotherapy treatment session at no extra charge. The effect of treatment is cumulative with patients usually requiring 6-8 treatments. There may be a slight feeling of discomfort during the treatment. However, since the treatment only lasts a few minutes, most people are able to tolerate this or they can request that the intensity of the treatment be adjusted. Treatments are usually performed about 1 week apart. Side effects of Shockwave therapy are minimal. It is possible to experience some redness and/or soreness in the area treated for up to 1-2 days.
View a video of shockwave therapy below.