Acupuncture/Dry Needling for Knee Osteoarthritis
There has been debate among researchers as to whether acupuncture, electro-acupuncture and dry needling are helpful for controlling pain and improving function in different conditions, injuries and diseases. There is now good evidence that for osteoarthritic knees, it is useful for both pain control and functional improvement, from two systematic reviews published in 2008 and [...]
Breathing and Neck Muscle Strengthening for Neck Pain.
Neck posture is often assumed to be a cause of neck pain, however, there is little research evidence to support this. Neck muscle strength is a different story though as there are links to certain neck muscle weakness and neck pain. People with neck pain have been shown to have a different pattern of neck [...]
Temporomandibular joint pain, vocal dysphonia and poor balance/proprioception
One of the main problems with resolving temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain and vocal dysphonia is that jaw clenching and tongue tension occurs without the person realizing they are doing it during the day and at night. At night you can use a mouth guard/appliance that helps inhibit clenching. However, this is not practical during the day [...]
Evidence for physiotherapy management of osteoarthritic knees.
In addition to medication, the main treatments for osteoarthritic knees are weight loss, general exercise and strengthening the muscles around the knee. Joint surgery is always the last option, once you are no longer able to continue with your normal activities of daily living including walking. Other commonly used strategies include pacing your activities to [...]
Gastric Reflux and physiotherapy breathing exercises.
Gastrioesophageal reflux disease (GERD or GORD) is a common condition, especially as people get older, where small amounts of the stomach contents move upwards into the oesophagus, causing a burning sensation due to the high acidity of the stomach contents. Many people do not get symptoms, only discovering they have GERD/GORD when they have tests [...]
Pilates or Yoga, which is better for me if I have back pain?
To work out whether Pilates or yoga is better for you, we need to outline what the differences between Pilates and yoga are. There are some similarities as Pilates is partly based on yoga, in addition to gymnastics and Pilates own input and apparatus. As a brief summary, Pilates involves learning to control the spine [...]