How Strong are your Feet?
How strong do you think your feet are? Our feet play an essential role in how we transfer our body weight when we move, provide vital information to our brains for position awareness and sometimes are even called upon to help out our weak cores. We need to look after them and have them strong enough to meet these many demands. Modern foot wear, orthotics and lack of time walking around bare foot all contribute to weak intrinsic foot muscles and it is these which we need to strengthen. Try the following movements shown in the video below to see how strong your feet are 1. Foot Crawl 2. Big Toe Up while keeping other 4 down 3. 4 Toes Up keeping big toe down 4. Toe Pianos 5. Toe Spreads “In order to master it you need to practice it” Start with doing any weak or difficult movements everyday for 1 minute If you would like to book an appointment please contact us today for a quick chat to see how we can help! Yours in Health The Lawlor Clinic, Portlaoise Chiropractic & Sports Injuries | Active Release Techniques (ART®)
What is Functional Range Conditioning (FRC®)?
Functional Range Conditioning FRC® FRC® is a comprehensive joint training system backed by science and research. Whether you are experiencing joint/ muscle tightness or not, the FRC® approach will help you achieve increased mobility while also aiding to reduce inflammation and pain. It utilises various types of exercises for example Controlled Articulated Rotations (CARs) to promote joint health, mobility and control, and Pails and Rails which uses isometric holds to strengthen the target joints. 3 main goals of FRC® Joint Mobility Joint Strength Body Control What is FRC® used for? Mobility training Joint health and maintenance Joint strength Rehabilitation Performance enhancement The Functional Range Conditioning concepts can be used on clients of all ages and all abilities and has proved to be highly successively with patients of the Lawlor Clinic. If you would like to book an appointment please contact us today for a quick chat to see how we can help! Yours in Health The Lawlor Clinic, Portlaoise Chiropractic & Sports Injuries | Active Release Techniques (ART®)
Treatment of Scars
Scar tissue can be detrimental to body mechanics if not addressed as soon as possible. It can alter proper movement patterns and generate pain and dysfunction in the body. It can also predispose the area to future injury. The aim of therapy is to improve tissue texture, flexibility, local blood supply and drainage. Therefore the earlier and more regularly that a scar is treated the better. Qualities of a Scar Tough fibrous and non pliable, with reduced circulation and lymph drainage Reduced local tissue flexibility, resulting in limited joint mobility Our Approach to Treating Scars Soft Tissue Release: Gentle hands on massage technique applied around and at the site of the scar to stretch the tissues and promote healing Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation (IASTM): uses specialised instruments and cream to glide across the scar in a form of cross friction massage to reduce pain and improve pliability of the tissues Dry Needling: needles are applied around the scar site to encourage an inflammatory healing response How Effective Can Treatment be? Below is an example of my own scar healing with the help of treatment following a right clavicle (Collarbone) reconstruction with a surgical plate and pins […]
Arthritis: What you can do to improve and manage your condition
Arthritis Management Anti-inflammatories Antioxidants, herbs and spices are important ingredients in a healthy diet and are very important in helping to treat joint pain and arthritis. Different combinations of these herbs and nutrients are likely to be particularly powerful anti-inflammatories and painkillers, which can improve the progression of arthritis. Natural anti-inflammatories: Curcumin (found in turmeric) Boswellic acid (found in Indian frankincense) Ashwagandha Quercetin (found in tea, red onions, apples, citrus fruits) Ginger Bromelain (found in pineapple) Hope extracts Hydroxytyrosol (found in olives) Cream-based anti inflammatories: Arnica Celadrin Capsaicin Bone Builders The major bone mineral is calcium. 99% of the calcium in our bodies is found in bone. Calcium should be taken in via your diet, but one of the greatest factors in calcium balance is exercise. Studies at NASA discovered losses of calcium in astronauts living in zero gravity conditions. They also demonstrated that weight-bearing exercise (such as walking) can raise calcium levels in the body by 2%, which will help slow down the progression of arthritis. Without magnesium, calcium is unlikely to be used properly. Vitamin D is also needed to enable calcium to be used properly with the body. Boron is involved in the transportation of calcium […]
Golf Injuries: Rib Injuries & Stress Fractures
As many of you will have read over the past couple of days Rory Mcilroy had to withdraw from this week’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in the middle east after it was confirmed by MRI that he suffered a stress fracture of one of his ribs. What is Stress Fracture? A stress fracture is a small crack in the bone usually caused by overloading and by an increase in activity. They are normally seen in the weight bearing joints of the body including the foot, shin, thigh and hip. Rory had been doing increased testing with his golf equipment in the off season due to Nike taking themselves out of the golf equipment market. This meant that Rory Mcilroy hit a lot more balls than his standard practice and this is the likely cause of the rib stress fracture as he didn’t have a fall or trauma. What is the recovery time? The most likely recovery time for a stress fracture is about 6 weeks which allows the bone to heal. The patient or athlete is usually prescribed full rest to allow the bone to heal. It will be very difficult to hit any balls during the 6 weeks as […]
Scars Causing Your Pain?
It’s safe to say that the majority of us have a scar of some sort,for example surgical related, c-section scars, appendectomy scars or scars from cuts or broken bones. What is scar tissue? Scar tissue forms after injury to the normal cells of the body and it is the body’s natural response to repair any tissue damage. Scars can however generate its own issues once it has laid down, the effects of which is something we come across daily in the clinic. The effect of scars on the body? Excessive scarring will create tissue tension throughout the fascial system and limit the mobility within the muscles, tendons, ligaments and ultimately the joints. This results in altered postures and movement patterns. When this happens a cascade of compensatory movement starts elsewhere, creating pain and stiffness, such as neck, shoulder and low back pain. The assessment and treatment of scars is often a neglected area in the management of musculoskeletal pain and is of upmost importance, particularly in the case of an unproblematic longstanding scar which may be preventing the patient from returning to full non painful movement. Our Approach? At the clinic we examine and address scars old and […]
Fibromyalgia – How to Manage This Chronic Condition
Fibromyalgia is a chronic syndrome marked by widespread muscular tenderness and pain. Those with FM commonly experience disturbances in sleep, mood, and cognition, as well as having neural symptoms also. Fibromyalgia is characterized by 18 tender points (9 pairs) throughout the body. These tender points are located in the hips, neck, chest, elbow and knee.Fibromyalgia sufferers will have at least 11 tender points and will have had symptoms for >3 months. It is accepted that the treatment of Fibromyalgia is multimodal. Generally, this encompasses relaxation, meditation, exercise, physiotherapy, acupuncture, nutrition, medication and laser therapy. Exercise: Resistance training is a great way to build up muscle strength, power, and endurance. Studies have shown that after 16-21 weeks of beginning a resistance training programme, the tenderness and pain levels in female Fibromyalgia sufferers reduced. The training helped to improve overall well-being, physical function, and muscle strength. After 12 weeks of beginning a flexibility programme, overall muscle and joint pliability and flexibility improved. And, doing 20-30min walks @ approx. 60-70% max heart rate has been shown to improve mood and sleep patterns. Chartered physiotherapists are fully trained in providing exercise programmes for Fibromyalgia patients. Acupuncture: Evidence suggests that acupuncture can provide short term benefits to Fibromyalgia […]
Dry Needling: How Can It Help
Dry needling is a minimally invasive procedure in which an acupuncture needle is inserted directly into a muscle (known as a myofascial trigger point – MTrP). An MTrP is a highly localized, hyperirritable spot in a palpable, taut band of skeletal muscle fibers. Essentially an MTrP is a knot within a muscle. 74-85% of patients with pain present with MTrPs in their area of discomfort. Dry needling an MTrP is most effective when local ‘twitch responses’ are elicited, probably because of rapid depolarization of the involved muscle fibers, which manifests as local twitches. Once the needle hits a tight part of the muscle, the patients’ muscle can twitch. After the muscle has finished twitching, the spontaneous electrical activity subsides and the pain and dysfunction decrease dramatically. Dry needling breaks up muscle tightness, tension, knots and scar tissue. It helps in reducing muscle spasms, pain and muscle sensitivity. More specifically, dry needling has been proven to be very effective for low back pain. It provides pain relief and functional improvement in those with chronic low back pain and lumbar myofascial pain. Evidence suggests the improvements are further enhanced when the muscle is stretched afterwards. Needling deep into the muscle […]
The Importance of Sleep for Runners
Sleep & Running Everybody knows how important sleep is. Runners need more sleep than most people. Running sleep deprived can be as dangerous as driving intoxicated! You probably know someone who brags how he only needs five hours of sleep a night and another who insists on eight hours — and it’s true, sleep needs vary. As an athlete, getting enough sleep is as important as your food and exercise choices. Cheating on sleep makes it hard to concentrate at work, may impair your appetite and causes irritability. A sleep debt can negatively affect your running. The National Sleep Foundation says that “sleep is as essential as diet and exercise. Inadequate sleep can result in fatigue, depression, concentration problems, illness and injury. Sleep helps general protein synthesis, cell growth and division, and tissue repair and growth.” So, what happens during sleep that is so important? Water Reabsorption One of the most important ways sleep can help your running is water reabsorption — especially during the summer months when you sweat more and dehydration is more of a concern. During sleep, the kidney balances water, sodium and other electrolytes. Without enough water the kidneys can’t balance electrolytes properly. Being […]
What is Laser Therapy?
Many of you who already attend the clinic may have had one of us use our LiteCure Laser on you. And as you sat there, feeling the warmth coming from that little machine, you were probably wondering, what’s this laser treatment all about?! What is a Laser? Firstly we have to start with the basics- what is a laser? According to google, a laser is “a device that generates an intense beam of coherent monochromatic light (or other electromagnetic radiation) by stimulated emission of photons from excited atoms or molecules.” Lets try to simplify that. LASER is actually and acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. So in other words, through some amazing process of science and physics this light coming out of the machine is a very intense, amplified beam of light. How can the laser help me feel better? So we now know that the little machine is sending out a high powered very intense beam of light. That’s great and all, but how does this light actually help decrease pain and help to stimulate healing of the area? To put it simply, the light from the laser gives energy to the underlying tissues, helping the […]
