CategoriesKnee Pain Knee Replacement Surgery

What You Need To Know About Knee Replacements and Hip Surgery

What many people fail to recognize until it is too late is that they are slowly destroying their hip or knee joints from not moving enough or moving very poorly. At first they don’t have any pain just some slight awkwardness or weakness but after doing this for so long eventually they hit 40, their joints have become so stiff to protect them from more damage that they can barely move. Resting and use of NSAID’s or cortisone injections are regularly used to get rid of the pain and reduce the inflammation. However while these methods might actually achieve that goal they do not address the weakness and instability that was causing the pain in the first place. (See the article about cortisone injections for more detail on this.) For many surgery may seem like the best solution, and perhaps it is if the problem has become so great they cannot move. Yet I have met several people in their late 40’s and early 50’s who could have tried exercise intervention but chose to have a knee replacement instead only to be left in more pain than they had before the operation. Or worse still, developed other injuries and complications as a result of the surgery! In this article we look at the reasons behind chronic problems at the hip and the knee and what you can do about it and try to avoid surgery if you can. Sometimes it may be all you can do, but it should be the last resort and the only option left after all alternatives have been tried first.

CategoriesStability Toe Touch Drill

Why the Toe Touch Drill Is My Favorite Stability Exercise For Beginners

There are so many exercises I use every day with many clients in my training studio to correct postural problems and movement dysfunction causing weakness and pain. However, there is one exercise that stand above all others as my best stability exercise and that is the toe touch drill. One of the main reasons I rate it so highly is the fact it relates to people of all ages and abilities. For example, I regularly use this with clients in their 80’s for preventing falls and people with serious hip or knee injuries as it helps to restore optimal stability of the pelvis with the single leg stance used in walking. At the same time I also include this in training programs for elite athletes for improving sporting performance. In this article I will explain in great detail exactly what this exercise can do for your body and why you should include it in your training program.

CategoriesBack Pain Back Pain Prevention Manual Handling Technique

Are Manual Handling Instructions Creating More Back Problems?

This article was inspired by conversations I held with several people over the last few months who came to see me for help with a chronic back problem that was hindering their job. During their assessment I could see in each case how poorly they would complete a bending action using their spine instead of their hips. This is not unusual and a very common problem to most back pain sufferers, especially those with a bulging disc. However, as I got to know these people I discovered this was not their natural way to move. They told me that they had spent considerable time learning how to lift a certain way at work where they use their knees and keep their back straight. It was this poor method that they had been taught that was to blame for their pain. Unfortunately, it was not a simple task to reset their movement to a more efficient and safer technique as their body had developed a lot of compensation and stiffness in the meantime. If they had been shown a better way in the beginning I believe they would have avoided a lot of pain and suffering.

CategoriesCore Strengthening Stability

Stability Training – What Is It Really & Why Is It So Important?

Stability training is one of those terms I regularly use when talking about injury management or injury prevention. When most of us think of the term stability, we think of exercises like planks to challenge the core or balance exercises to challenge our balance. While both of these examples are to some extent stability training it is so much more than that. True stability is all about being able to react with perfect reflexes to be able to maintain joint alignment ready for efficient and smooth movement. Also stability training is not just limited to the core, for all joints require stability, with some requiring more than others! In this article, I will discuss what stability really means, and how you can use it to enhance your training and performance.