The Pure Method
Published on
05 Feb 2019
Call us on: (03) 9975 4133
You may have noticed that here at Pure we do things slightly differently. If you see us for treatment, you will typically have two physios looking after you (you lucky thing!) – a manual physio and a rehab physio. Most injuries, be they gradual or sudden, result in varying levels of pain and/or stiffness and require some form of hands-on (manual) treatment plus retraining altered movement patterns and strength work (rehab).
“The combined focus on rehabilitation and manual is simply best practice – it’s how the elite athletes train, and why shouldn’t we all aspire to move the best we can?”
For example, if you sprain your ankle and start limping, you will develop areas of weakness and compensation. Your ankle may be stiff and swollen and need hands-on treatment to improve mobility and help you ‘feel better’. However, ‘feeling better’ is very different to actually ‘being better’. Pain causes you to move differently, which can lead to weakness. Even once the pain has resolved, you may still be left with weakness or altered movement patterns. In order to return to full function or sport you need to walk, run, jump, change direction and balance, all of which require full mobility, strength, and body awareness to prevent future injuries.
You may not realise you aren’t moving properly or lack full strength until you reinjure. The risk of re-injury after an acute ankle sprain is high. Rehabilitation will retrain your proprioception, which is how you recognise what position your body is in and adjust accordingly; build strength including plyometrics (impact); and can offer sport specific training. A recent meta-analysis demonstrated that proprioceptive training programs are effective for reducing future ankle sprains in the sporting populations (Schiftan et al, 2015).
It’s not only sports injuries that benefit from rehab. For office workers with chronic neck and shoulder pain, Andersen et al (2014) demonstrated significant reduction in pain with a ‘scapular function training’ program.
“We place a strong emphasis on prevention as well as relief from your injury.”
So not only can rehab improve movement patterns and muscle strength, it can also reduce pain!
At Pure Physio we work cohesively with you to achieve your goals; be they to sit at your desk pain free or run your first marathon! Our regular communication meetings ensure seamless treatment between the manual and rehab aspects of your management. Our treatment plans are evidence-based and we strive to keep up-to-date with current musculoskeletal and sports knowledge.
Here are some of the things we offer…
- Video analysis of movement patterns e.g. shoulder and scapular movement; hip and pelvis control in single leg activities
- Running assessments
- Cycling assessments and bike fit
- Ergonomic assessment
- Tendon loading programs
- Return to sport
We’re here to help.
If you have any questions about the services we provide, please contact us at Pure!