Technically, the perfect computer posture is when you’re long and tall through the neck, with your shoulder blades gently retracted and your ears in line with your shoulders.

According to Marcus Dripps, Australian Physiotherapy Association president, “Desktop computers with the keyboard separated from the screen are really nice because they provide a neutral position of your body,”

“However, as soon as you tie to keyboard to the screen like with a laptop, you’re basically forcing your eyes and hands to be in a similar position, which places demands on both.”

Basically, expect to end up looking like something out of the The Hunchback of Notre Dame if you don't take care of your posture.

Find out more ways to protect yourself from tech injuries via The New Daily http://bit.ly/1yqW2AU

Do you have a Superior Pain Response?

Did you know that we all respond differently to pain? A recent study involving a sample of healthy, pain-free participants who were exposed to a painful stimulus found that some individuals responded adaptively to the pain stimulus while others responded in a non-adaptive or non-helpful way. It was observed that the pain adaptive individuals had a superior ability to inhibit pain compared to their counterparts. Interestingly the way an individual responds to pain can dramatically influence their road to recovery.

Please refer to the following link for more detail regarding how people respond to pain in very different ways:www.bodyinmind.org/pain-adaptability/

Amalan Sriskandarajah
APA Muscoloskeletal Physiotherapist

As we get older our bodies change, whether we like it or not. Some of these changes are a normal part of the ageing process, others are due to diseases and health issues. Some problems that may develop like pain, joint stiffness, and muscle weakness, can lead to mobility problems. Other problems such as poorer eyesight, dizziness, less feeling in the feet, and slower reaction times can also contribute to walking and balance difficulties. People often don’t notice these changes, as they often happen slowly over the years.

You may find it more difficult to get up from the lounge chair, or you may have had a slip, trip or a fall. It is important to talk to your doctor about any falls you have. Falls may be a sign of a new medical problem, muscle weakness, balance problems, medication side effects or a combination of issues. If you have fallen in the last 6 months you are more likely to fall again.

Physiotherapists can assess balance and mobility and provide treatment to improve function. Through manual therapies and exercise a physiotherapist can help reduce pain and increase mobility.

Exercise is a great way to strengthen muscles and bones. Physiotherapists create individualized exercise programs that can easily be followed at home. Balance training can improve an older person’s confidence and stability to help them to move around their home and community more easily and safely, and keep them doing the things they enjoy.

Begin your gardening session with a few exercises to warm up the muscles and joints you will be using. This helps prevent injury and reduces soreness at the end of the day.

Make sure the area in which you are working is free of obstacles such as gardening tools. This helps prevent slips and falls.

Vary your activities so that you are not in the one position for more than 30 minutes at a time.

When doing tasks at ground level, like weeding or planting, kneel rather than bend from the waist. Where possible, keep one hand on the ground for support as you lean forward.

With the cricket season now in full swing, injuries are already making their way through our doors.

Some of the more common injuries incurred by cricketers are simple muscle strains or joint sprains. Hamstring and calf muscles are often “pulled” when taking off for a quick single or going for a catch in the outfield. These acute injuries must be managed in the first 48 hours with, Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (R.I.C.E.). Once the acute management has commenced the injuries should be assessed by a professional qualified to assess and treat sports injuries, these include a Sports Medicine doctor or a physiotherapist.

Early assessment and appropriate treatment planning will reduce the risk of a simple injury blowing out to become a complicated chronic injury.

The more complex injuries are those that come on slowly over time, these could include injuries such as shoulder rotator cuff injuries, stress fractures in the low back and shin splints.

Exercise is a vital part of life for all people, including children. Exercise is essential for growth, health, and general wellbeing in kids. Participation in sport is an excellent way of providing exercise and it is becoming more important for our children every day.

A common reason for not participating in sport is the fear of a child sustaining an injury. While there is a risk of injury in most sports, this risk is far outweighed by the benefits of activity. Not playing any sport can have far worse consequences for a child.

Experiencing the sensation of spinning, being giddy or unsteady? These feelings are called vertigo. Vertigo is a symptom of a balance disorder, often due to dysfunction of the balance mechanism (vestibular system) in the inner ear. One of the most common causes of vertigo is Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BBPV). BPPV is common, particularly in older people, with one third of people over 70 having experienced BPPV at some stage. BPPV is caused by dislodgment of calcium crystals due to degenerative in the ear changes or trauma. The crystals migrate to the part of the inner ear that contains the sensory balance organs and vertigo results. Physiotherapists can effectively treat this disorder with application of techniques which reposition the crystals, thus resolving the vertigo.

Everyone has heard at one time or another someone commenting that they have “wear and tear” in their joints. Joint degeneration is an unfortunate natural process of ageing, but with some people, possibly due to their lifestyle or the activities that they engage in, degeneration can be more pronounced in one or several joints, than in other joints. Degeneration as a result of wear and tear is often referred to as osteoarthritis.

With the anticipation of a new addition to the family, pregnancy can be one of the most exciting times in a woman’s life. However, for some women the aches and pains that are sometimes associated with pregnancy can be quite debilitating, and leave them with a not so positive outlook on their experience.