There are many types of arthritis which may affect your joint health and function.  When you have arthritis, you may think that rest and medication are the only options for your pain.  In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.  Your joints depend on movement for lubrication, nutrition, and healing.   A specific program of appropriate exercise can be prescribed by your physiotherapist and can help you not only reduce your pain but improve your joint health, your fitness and your ability to get on with the activities you really enjoy.

Please refer to the website of the Arthritis Society for more information regarding the importance of activity in managing your condition:

http://arthritis.ca/manage-arthritis/living-well-with-arthritis/your-arthritis-treatment-team 

Back pain is one of the leading causes of lost time at work in Canada.  For those who suffer from back pain, the loss of function can affect their recreational activities, their ability to rest and sleep and their emotional well-being can be strained.  Though most cases of acute back pain resolve quickly (within one month), there is also a high incidence of recurrence.

When it comes to Back Pain, you will see that our philosophy at Back in Motion is that, even though the pain has resolved, if you haven`t figured out and addressed the true source of your pain, you are more likely to have a recurrent problem.  The source of the problem could be a muscle imbalance pulling you out of a good alignment, poor work or leisure postures, problems with flexibility, or weakness… just to name a few.

You can trust Back in Motion to not only treat the symptoms of your back pain but to dig deeper and look for the source of your pain in order to give you a better chance of avoiding the next flare up of pain.

Men and women both can be affected by pelvic floor problems. This can cause urine or bowel leaking or urgency and pain in the vulva, lower abdomen, scrotum, penis, even lower back and hips. There are options for treatment. For more information please check out the Canadian Continence foundation’s website: http://www.canadiancontinence.ca/index.html 

At Back in Motion, Céline Razeau, Physiotherapist, has training in the assessment and treatment of the pelvic floor.  She has been treating people with pelvic floor issues for over 10 years now and continues to learn new treatment techniques to stay up to date in her approach. She will treat your problem with care and respect and take your concerns seriously.

Bladder control problems and pelvic pain can occur at any age but there are times when we are more prone to developing or having a problem get worse:

• At or soon after menopause
• In older age when mobility is lost
• During pregnancy or childbirth
• After an accident or injury to the abdomen, back or pelvis
• After surgery or treatments for cancers like prostate or vulvar cancer
• After other types of abdominal surgeries or infections
• From conditions that cause inflammation in the abdomen and pelvis like PCOS, IBS, Colitis, or Endometriosis.
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What is pelvic rehabilitation?

Céline Razeau will do a thorough assessment of your condition including a complete history of your problem.  She will ask you questions regarding how and when the problem started and get the details about what exactly you are experiencing.  Pelvic floor rehabilitation involves an assessment of the pelvic floor. This will usually include an internal exam (vaginal and or anal exam).This helps your therapist to understand where the problem is.  She may also assess your abdominal muscles and fascia, your low back and your hips to see if there are any other factors affecting your pelvic function. 

The treatment will be specific to the problems that were found in your assessment and may include:

• exercise training for strength, endurance, control and timing of contraction, or even relaxation of an over-active muscle
• keeping a voiding diary
• re-learning to use the proper muscles in the proper way
•  behavioural (habits) changes
•  manual therapy such as lymphatic drainage or fascial mobilization to help with tissue or scar mobility.

article by Céline Clément, PT

No one really wants pain. Once you have it you want to get rid of it. This is understandable because pain is unpleasant. But the unpleasantness of pain is the very thing that makes it so effective and an essential part of life. Pain protects you, it warns you about dangers, often before you actually become injured. It is your body’s alarm system. It makes you move differently, think differently and behave differently which also makes it vital for healing.

It is believed that all pain experiences are an excellent, though unpleasant response to what your brain judges to be a threatening situation. Even if problems do exist in your joints, muscles, ligaments, nerves or anywhere else, it simply won’t hurt if your brain thinks you are not in danger. The opposite is also true and concerns many chronic pain sufferers. Even if no problems whatsoever exists in your body tissues, nerves or immune system, it will still hurt if your brain thinks you are in danger. The best way to prove that statement is to look at phantom limb pain where sufferers feel pain in a part of the body which is not even there.

Through scientific research we are now aware of some of the thought processes which are powerful enough to maintain a pain state long after tissue damage is over. (1) Some of these thought processes can have you saying things like “I’m so afraid of my pain and of injuring my back again that I’m not doing anything”. These fears will naturally cause increased stress, which releases a hormone called cortisol in your body. Persistent increased levels of cortisol has been linked to slow healing, loss of memory, depression, despair and a decline in physical performance. (2) These fears will also cause you to drastically decrease your physical activities. But inactivity has tragic consequences on our overall health and healing abilities. Joints adore movement and regular compression which keeps them lubricated and well nourished. Moving keeps our muscles strong, increases blood flow, improves our lung capacity. Our bodies were simply made to move.

Physiotherapists can greatly assist chronic pain sufferers. By educating people about pain physiology, it is scientifically proven to reduce the threat value of pain. (3) Educated movement is brain nourishing. It helps restructure pathways in the brain laid low by fear and ignorance. This can help the brain understand that our body is no longer in danger, and tune down the level of pain signals you perceive. Physiotherapists can act as “coaches” and encourage patients to gradually increase their level of activity as well as understanding their fluctuating levels of pain. There are many methods used to achieve this and every treatment method will be customized to suit every patient individually. By being compassionate, enthusiastic and informed, your physiotherapist can assist you in mastering your situation.

References:

(1) Price, D.D. Psychological Mechanisms of pain and analgesia. Vol. 15. 2000,

(2) Lovallo, W.R. Stress and health. 1997

Martin, P. The sickening mind. 1997

(3) Moseley, Hodges, Nicholas; A randomized controlled trial of intensive neurophysiology education in chronic low back pain. Clin J Pain (In Press) 2003

Additional reading: Explain Pain by Butler and Moseley 2003

Dizziness can be caused by a concussion or by an imbalance in the vestibular system (a complex system that includes the eyes, inner ear, various parts of the brain and position sensors in the joints of the body).  Sometimes the different parts of this system can give us mixed messages (like your eyes say your not moving but your inner ear says your head is turning) and this can cause dizziness.

A physiotherapist who has been trained in vestibular rehabilitation, like Eric Mageau at Back in Motion, can help to establish what exactly is causing the imbalance and remove it if possible.  See more in our services section under vestibular rehabilitation.

The lymphatic system is made up of the body’s fluids, the vessels below the skin and the nodes in the neck, armpits and groin.  It is where most of the body’s defense against disease and infection is located.  It is very important to the circulation of fluids in the body.    Lymphedema occurs when there is malformation or damage to this system.  It can be present at birth or develop later but may also occur secondary to surgical procedures, infection, or other traumatic injury.  The swelling occurs most often in arms or legs but it can also affect the face, neck, abdomen or genitals.

The Lymphedema Association of Ontario‘s website can give you more information regarding the condition.

•  lymphedema
• cancer treatments
• breast re-construction
• mastitis
• mastectomy
• venous insufficiency
• scar tissue
• wound management
• various injuries

You may not know, but motor vehicle insurance includes coverage for the treatment of injuries received in a collision. If you have been injured in an accident involving a motor vehicle, you are eligible for coverage of your medical and rehabilitation costs.

At Back in Motion, we focus on one on one care to give you all the tools you need to get back to yourself as soon as possible – to work, to sports, to school, and to your normal routine at home.  We will not only provide you with excellent individualized treatment at the clinic but help you learn what the triggers are for your pain and how to avoid aggravating your symptoms while allowing you to do many of your normal activities during the healing process.

For more information on insurance coverage in Ontario, please refer to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) website – http://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/consumerbrochures/afteranaccident.asp

There’s nothing like neck pain to turn your day upside down.  It’s a real pain in the neck…  All joking aside, neck pain along with accompanying headaches, shoulder pain and sometimes even arm and hand pain affects a large number of Canadians every year.

Neck pain may be caused by any number of problems from a direct trauma like a fall or a whiplash in a car accident, to a job requiring long hours in less than ideal positions.  You may have been told your neck pain is because of arthritis and you think there’s nothing to be done about it but put up with it and take medication when you need it.

In fact there are many treatments that can help your neck pain in the short term that are offered by the professionals at Back in Motion. The most important thing we will do for you is to figure out what you need to do to avoid the pain or reduce the pain yourself.  This means we will try to find the source of your pain not only treat the symptoms – or what’s sore that day. This may involve asking you to change how you place yourself while at work, at home or even in the car. It may require exercises and posture correction along with the hands on therapy that the professionals at Back in Motion are trained to offer.

Book your assessment today – why wait another day?

If you have osteoporosis, you have an increased risk of having a fracture (break) in certain bones in the body.  At particular risk are the spine, hip and wrist.  The risk can be decreased with exercise, posture changes and modifying your lifestyle. Céline Razeau, Physiotherapist at Back in Motion Physiotherapy has completed training through Melioguide and can help you learn what your next step is to reduce your risk.

Please refer to Melioguide’s excellent website for further information regarding osteoporosis, its prevention and treatment. http://www.melioguide.com

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a condition where the bone loses its strength.  It is the result of a loss of calcium in the core of the bones.  It tends to strike women in the post-menopause years because of hormonal changes that affect the bones.  However, it can strike men as well and even younger adults who have other health conditions or risk factors.   Check out melioguide.com to find out about risk factors.

Many types of orthopaedic surgeries have specific protocols which must be followed to obtain the best results from your surgery. Your surgeon may or may not have provided you with an information booklet outlining the steps to follow in this protocol.  Your physiotherapist can help you be sure you are doing everything you can to regain full function by interpreting this protocol or by make appropriate suggestions if there are things you can’t seem to do that are included in your protocol.

If you have undergone any type of surgery, the time you spend in recovery can lead to stiffness, deconditioning, weakness… or other problems with your ability to do your normal activities.  We can help.  Whether with advice, a home exercise program or manual therapy  is needed don’t wait until a problem arises, consult us today.

Pregnancy and post-natal

The body goes through huge changes during pregnancy to prepare for and adapt to the new life forming inside the uterus. It is a joyous and often anxious time. It is a time filled with both wonder and excitement and bewildering change. These changes can sometimes include pain, incontinence (urine leaks), constipation, abdominal weakness or separation and leg swelling. Delivery wether vaginal or by cesarian section can also lead to difficulties for the mother.

Having a thorough physiotherapy assessment from a physiotherapist with training in pelvic floor and pregnancy can help you to rule out problems and encourage a full recovery after childbirth and prepare you for delivery.