I’ve written this blog plenty of times in my head, and now, with my 7 month old baby asleep on my lap I thought I would give it a go.
In essence this is a case study on myself, and I’m fully aware that no two pregnancies are the same, but I do feel I learnt a few things along the way that I could share, that may just help someone else…
Want to get the most out of your physio sessions? Here are some top tips to ensure that you do!
There is nothing quite like a new year’s resolution to get you starting something. That’s really the easy bit, the tough bit is keeping it up. You’re likely feeling fat and unfit after a festive season of excess, and whilst it is good to indulge ourselves now and again, let’s be honest if you carry on with that trajectory, you’re likely to have more than a few kilos by this time next year, you might even pick up a few illnesses and long term issues along the way too. Remember that low fitness kills more people than smoking, diabetes and obesity combined and that physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk for severe Covid19. If it’s not just your body you are worried about Google ‘Scholarly articles about the psychological benefits of exercise’ and you will find literally thousands of articles talking about combatting stress, decrease in suicidal thoughts, improved self-esteem, academic improvements in children, improved mood and quality of life etc etc. Exercise really is medicine.
This study aimed to look at injuries in rugby union over 2 seasons in both male and female amateur rugby players.
The most common injuries in men and women were concussion and ankle ligament sprains, and ACL injuries causing the most playing time lost.
THE REALLY INTERESTING BIT: 83% of non-contact injuries for women happened in the last quarter of the game…
Spinal stress fractures, Severe’s Disease, Osgood Schlatter’s Disease amongst other things are the scourge of every young cricketing team. With my background in academy cricket physio and national pathway cricket, I now find myself working in private practice based at a cricket ground and so still see a lot of young cricketers, and the stories really haven’t changed that much. School, club and county are all competing for time with the kids, and parents either feel pressured or are doing the pressurising of the kids to do all of the training and matches laid on by all of the entities. Coupled with the fact that children no longer play in seasons, a perfect storm begins to brew.
1) You can book online
2) If required, you can do your rehabilitation up to three times a week in the David Lloyd gym in Derby
3) We have a specialist Women's Health Physio to help you through all your pregnancy related issues
4) We've the yummiest humbugs in the world for patient consumption (as well as a fabulous cuppa tea or coffee!)
5) Two of our physios worked at London 2012
6) Four of our therapists have worked in full time professional sport
7) We are very easily accessible: we are five minutes walk from Derby Train Station, we have a car park outside and we're fifteen minutes walk from Derby City Centre
8) Our staff have some interesting interests! One of our physios is an archery instructor, another physio is a qualified highland dancing teacher, one of our physios has completed an artisan butchery course (not used in clinic!!) and another one of our physios competes for Great Britain at Olympic Weightlifting!!
9) We are sponsors of Derby Rugby Club, and volunteer at various sports events throughout the year for charity, making sure we give back to our local community.
10) Our logo man is called Stavros, named after Steve his creator
As an added bonus you get all this at the lowest cost of any multidisciplinary clinic in the area
HAPPY MONDAY!
Are you suffering from Pelvic Girdle Pain?……10 tips that will really help .
PGP can really take the fun out of pregnancy. However if you follow a few simple rules you can really take control again.
1. Do not stand on one leg. Now you’re probably thinking, well I don’t stand on one leg, but trust me you do, and much more than you think! For example, every time you put your knickers/socks/trousers/boots on etc you need to be sitting down. Moving something left on the floor by sliding it with one foot also constitutes standing on one leg……… Resist ladies!
2. Both legs need to go in the same direction at the same time (obviously walking is the exception to this!). So when you get out of the car, first slide the seat back as far as it will go and swing both legs out at the same time (sit on a plastic bag so you swivel easily). Turning over in bed is the same, keep both knees together so both legs roll over at the same time.
3. Avoid wearing heels. They tip all your extra weight forwards onto the front of your pelvis and that leads to a grumpy pelvis every time. Sorry, it’s just the way it is.
4. Take shorter steps and walk slower. Most of us love to walk at a fair ole pace but it’s unkind to a pelvis that is adapting to having an increased load. Learn the skill of walking slower to keep a painfree pelvis.
5. Limit stairs. As you can’t go upstairs without standing on one leg, stairs are the enemy to a woman with PGP. Plan, delegate, and limit as much as possible. Your pelvis will thank you at the end of the day.
6. Decrease the load you carry. The more weight your pelvis has to carry the more likely you are to get pain. As no one can help you carry the baby around, delegate some of the other stuff you lug from A to B.
7. Give up work earlier than you think. I know this is a controversial one but often that last month is more tiring than you can imagine and a long commute can often aggravate PGP. Maybe you can negotiate working from home one a day a week?
8. Bump lifts. This is when you lift the weight of the baby out of your pelvis by using your abdominals. It’s such a useful skill to employ when getting out of a chair, rolling over in bed or when you are just standing to relieve pain in your pelvis.
9. Pace yourself, regular rests to take the weight off your feet/pelvis are better than having a whole morning on your feet and then crashing in the afternoon.
10. Exercise. Keeping strong is always a good idea. The pelvis tends to love symmetrical exercises, including things like squats, making the sure the legs don’t go too wide. Breaststroke tends to aggravate PGP, so use a float between your legs and just do the arms so you can keep exercising.
Sally Murray, Resident Women's Health Physio @ The Derbyshire Sporting Joint
