Category Archives: Posture

Sitting on a ball

Many of our clients are office workers and find sitting to be a significant requirement of their work. Continuous sitting has been widely reported over the past few years to be negative for a wide variety of health metrics. As a result we get frequent questions in the clinic as to whether there might be benefit in sitting on an exercise ball instead of a regular chair. Most people are familiar with the ball in a gym setting where it is regularly used as a vehicle for enhancing core stability (more on this in … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Low back, Posture | 2 Comments

Managing pregnancy related pelvic pain

From West 4th Physiotherapy associate Jennifer MacPherson Jennifer MacPherson attended Cecile Rost’s  and Susannah Britnell’s course this past weekend. Cecile is a physiotherapist in the Netherlands and specialises in the area of pregnancy related pelvic pain This post graduate study course teaches new methods for relieving sacroiliac and pubic pain during and after pregnancy. A frequent problem in pregnancy is pain in and around the pelvic musculature and joints. Clinicians were able to learn and share practical advice for teaching pregnant women how to manage their activities of daily life from turning in … Read the rest of this post »

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IFOMPT manual therapy update

I recently attended the IFOMPT congress in Quebec City.  IFOMPT is the International Federation of Manipulative Physiotherapists It is an organization that was formed to promote high standards amongst physical therapists practicing manual therapy in the field of orthopaedics (http://www.ifompt.com). Every 4 years, the top manual physical therapists from around the world, gather to share information and techniques with their colleagues.  I participated in an Explain Pain course from David Butler, the founder of the Neuroorthopaedic Institute in Australia (http://www.noigroup.com) and was not disappointed. No one is able to make … Read the rest of this post »

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Computer posture – part 3

Ok, so you have done your stretches through the day and maybe a bit at the end of the day. No doubt you feel that they help for a while but that nagging ache around the shoulders and neck keeps coming back. You want more! These exercises will help build your shoulder blade and upper back strength so that you can keep decent posture throughout the day without feeling tired from the effort. They are three of my favourite tension busters and work very well when combined with the stretch … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Children's Health, Head and Neck, Low back, Men's Health, Posture, Senior's Health, Women's Health | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Computer posture: part 2

During the last post I looked at some of the problems that develop in association with poor desk ergonomics and unsuitable posture at the computer. http://www.west4thphysio.com/archives/1751 I promised a few exercises that can help alleviate the symptoms of upper back and neck tightness after a long session stuck at the desk. Overall strengthening of the upper back also helps reduce symptoms by allowing you to keep a more upright and open chest position. First up is the Cobra as pictured above. This helps restore spinal length and alignment. If off … Read the rest of this post »

Posted in Avoiding Injury, Children's Health, Head and Neck, Posture | Tagged , | 1 Comment