massage

Thoracic pain

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thoracic pain

The thoracic spine is your mid back between lower back and neck. Each of the 12 vertebrae of your thoracic spine has a rib on each side. Acute thoracic spine pain can be very debilitating. When it hurts to breathe the joints between the ribs and the thoracic vertebral body and transverse process can be the source. Postural loading and stress are common causes of this type of pain. Another is trauma in sport, but you also need to make sure there are no rib or other fractures in these cases.

Simple analgesics are usually advised at first. Sometimes taping can limit the pain by restricting painful movement when pain is bad but shouldn’t be used for more than a few days. The next step is to get moving via walking in water or on land followed by stretches. At this stage massage and joint mobilisations can improve your overall movement and increase the speed of your recovery.

Get good advice early is the quickest way to get back to normal once you have acute thoracic pain. This also includes analysis of the causes and implementing movement-based prevention strategies. Read more here on how we can help or contact us on 4921 6879.

Feel better through movement

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Manual physio newcastle

The Uni Physio Clinic on Callaghan campus is located within The Forum Sports Centre. NU Moves has been helping staff and students for more than a decade now, specialising in manual therapy, exercise prescription, and rehabilitation. Our goal is to help you feel better in the short term and increase movement / exercise in the long term.

Are you currently:

  • Sitting most of the day?
  • Not exercising daily?
  • Stressed (workload, interactional, emotional)?
  • Have any neck / shoulder or back / hip pain?

If you answer yes to 3 or 4 of these questions then it’s time to reflect and make some changes to your daily habits now.

If you answer yes to the first 2 questions then consider how you can start to fit a walk or another exercise you enjoy into your day. The goal for long term health and feeling better now is 30 mins of activity per day. It can also help prevent muscular pain associated with excess sitting.

If you have neck & shoulder or back / hip pain, that is when we can help you the most. Physiotherapy has a range of treatment options from massage, spinal manual therapy or dry needling to reduce pain. There should always be advice on activity / exercise or we can design a full exercise program suited to your goals. Assessment of your computer ergonomic setup is essential and advice on simple changes often helps. Occasionally we utilise orthotic prescription but only if it helps you get active with less pain.

To book an appointment with NU Moves call 4921 6879 or email admin@numovesphysiotherapy.com.au

Physiotherapy massage and manual treatment

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We frequently get asked the question, “Do we do massage?”

NU Moves physiotherapists use manual therapy within most of our treatments. But what is manual therapy? Manual therapy includes massage, joint mobilisation, joint manipulation, and myofascial stretching. The appropriate treatment will be used after careful assessment. These are skilled, specific hands-on techniques that can all be effectively used to assist recovery, prevent injury, help keep you active, and make you feel better.

massage

1. Sports Massage

This massage is for the active individual who is seeking to maintain and optimise their physical potential. The purpose of this massage is to alleviate tension which builds up in the body’s soft tissues during physical activity. Sports massage can prepare you for sport and assist in your recover after sport. However, it is best used as a preventative treatment to control muscle tension and prevent injury.

 2. Deep Tissue Massage

This massage focuses on the deeper layers of muscle tissue. The aim of this massage is to release patterns of tension in the muscles with slow deep strokes through the muscle fibres. A deep tissue massage will loosen muscle tissue, release toxins from the muscles, and assist blood and oxygen to circulate properly.

3. Soft Tissue Massage

This massage involves light to medium pressure aimed at relieving general muscular aches and pain, soreness and tension. It provides the benefits of massage while retaining a relaxing essence.

Book in for a physiotherapy session and discuss manual therapy and massage with your physio. Often a combination of joint and muscle treatments are required to get you moving better and feeling better. The depth of the massage varies to the tolerance and goals of the individual.

Call us at 4921 6879 to book an appointment.

 

 

 

Neck Headaches

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neck headache massageHeadaches are often caused by disorders of the neck or physical and emotional tension. For many people, headaches start as pain or tension at the top of the neck. As the pain worsens, it may spread to the back of the head, temples, forehead or behind the eyes. Moving the neck or bending forward for a long time tends to make it worse. This happens because the nerves in the upper part of your neck are connected to the nerves in your head and face. A disorder of the upper neck or muscles can cause referred pain to your head.

Any of the following points could suggest that your neck may be causing the headache:

  • Does the pain radiate from the back to the front of your head?
  • Headache with dizziness or light-headedness
  • Headache brought on or worsened by neck movement or staying in the same position for a long time
  • Headache which always feels worse on the same side of your head
  • Headache eased by pressure to the base of the skull
  • Headache which persists after your doctor has checked for other causes

Physiotherapy can successfully treat headaches originating from the neck and teach you how to prevent or control the pain naturally. Treatment can include:

  • Mobilisation or manipulation of joints in the neck and thoracic spine
  • Functional and rehabilitative exercises
  • Encouraging normal activity
  • Postural assessment, correction and advice
  • Massage

We particularly focus on identifying what causes the headache, which often leads to successful self-help strategies in preventing or reducing frequency of further headaches.

* Based on an Australian Physiotherapy Association client education article