CORE STABILITY
At Dalkeith Physiotherapy we have the latest technology in assessing your core stability: Real-time Ultrasound. Research conducted over the last 10 years has shown us how the deep abdominal and deep back muscle function is altered and reduced during and after an episode of low back pain, and does not always recover without retraining (1). On many people who have experienced the discomfort of low back pain, the “stability muscles” stop working effectively, and the “sit-up muscles” (the rectus abdominus and the obliques) try to make up for the loss. Because the sit-up muscles are designed to work at high intensity for short bursts, and the core muscles are designed to work at low intensity for most of the day, they cannot effectively take over this role. The deep abdominals and back muscles need to be retrained, using Real-time Ultrasound, and other methods, to get your back working like it used to before the back pain began.
What is involved?
Usually 3 or 4 sessions of retraining at Dalkeith Physiotherapy will get you on the right track for using your core again. The Real-time Ultrasound allows us to show you on a monitor which of your muscles are working, which are working too hard, and which aren’t working at all. We can then help you to change your pattern by doing about five minutes per day of specific exercises and instruct you on how to keep your core working well.
MUSCLE IMBALANCES
Have you had pain which resolves with treatment or on its own, then returns again and again?
It could be that some of your muscles are weak and long, and others are short and tight. These imbalances can lead to specific postural types (sway back, lordotic, kyphotic etc.) which may predispose you to neck or back pain. Passive treatment in isolation reduces the symptoms, but once treatment ceases, you sit, stand and walk with the same faulty pattern.
At Dalkeith Physiotherapy we analyse which muscles need retraining and give you a personalized exercise program to learn how to move differently, and to improve your sitting and standing posture. We can also help you incorporate your new movement patterns into your chosen sports or hobbies.
(1) Hides, JA: SPINE (1996) Vol 21, Number 23, pp2763-2769
Neck Pain and Headaches
There are an incredible amount of different headaches diagnoses (cluster, migraine, muscular tension, cervicogenic, postural and many more). If there is a mechanical basis to your headache, then Dalkeith Physiotherapy may be able to help. For example, if your headache comes on after a particular activity or sport, after getting a new pillow, after a motor vehicle accident, or often comes on after long periods of a sitting at a desk or on the computer, these are often associated with stiffness and pain in the neck itself, which then refers pain to the head.
At Dalkeith Physiotherapy we can examine your neck, and treat the stiff joints, or weak muscles or faulty posture which may be contributing to your headaches.