July ’23 news: 🤫Psst…want to be in our secret club?

This month’s newsletter is for club members only… but if you’re not in the club yet, keep reading. We take a look at a couple of different clubs that are all about results, as well as how Physiotherapy can be incorporated into your Diabetes management plan and how you can prevent recurrent Hamstring Strains.

What Happens in the Club, Stays in the Club…

Ok not really, but we are excited to spread the word about the hottest new Running Club in your local area, and the best news… it’s FREE!

The first rule of the club is, there are no rules. Running with a group is one of the best ways for beginners to gain their footing (pun intended) and for different levels and abilities to improve their performance and achieve their goals. More importantly, running groups boast a long list of mental and physical benefits and have built-in “motivation” at the core of their success.

But what’s that, you don’t have time to participate in group runs?

Our free local running group is essentially a connected group of people that love to run, regardless of ability, pace or goals. Using Strava as our virtual home base, we share experiences, running routes, encouragement, and even a bit of healthy competition in the form of a leaderboard. It’s also a place where people can reach out (virtually) and ask questions about their injuries or training.

Joining the group is easy, click here, and getting started is as simple as taking those first steps, literally, at whatever time of day works best for you.

The group is open to anyone to join (our own Chris Andreano and Angus Tadman are members too), so while it’s cold outside and the days are short, do yourself a favour and signup; you might still be running alone, but when you’re part of the club, you’re never training alone.

GLA:D Australia – The Results Are In! 

Diabetes + Physiotherapy = …

When most people think of diabetes they think about insulin shots, glucose jelly-beans and blood sugar monitoring devices. Perhaps physiotherapy isn’t the first thing they think of, but maybe it should be.

Whether a patient suffers from Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes physiotherapy can help them manage their condition by improving mobility, reducing pain, preventing complications and, getting right to the heart of the matter, improving blood sugar control.

Jump over to our latest blog post for an in-depth look at how and why physiotherapy should be incorporated into your Diabetes management plan.

The Education Quarter

How to Prevent Recurrent Hamstring Strains

So, you strained your hamstring. It was painful. It’s been a few days and the major pain has subsided. Now that it’s feeling better, you feel eager to get back to all the things you need and want to do – jobs around the house, running around with children and pets, playing sports… And we want that for you too. But we need to make sure you are fully healed and rehabilitated before you go diving back into the deep end. Straining a hamstring muscle and failing to follow through on your rehab greatly increases the risk of another hamstring strain in the future. Let’s not go there! Or let’s and read on to find out more…

The Anatomy

Let’s start by understanding what’s going on in your leg.

The hamstrings are three muscles located in the back of the thigh. They are the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris. The hamstrings originate from the ischial tuberosity (the sitting bone) and are attached to the tibia and fibula (the lower leg bones) by tendons. The hamstrings are responsible for bending the knee and extending the hip so they’re active in running, walking, climbing stairs, cycling, tilting the pelvis and are even involved in moving your foot from the accelerator to the break while driving – an injury can be very inconvenient indeed.  Damage can be to the muscle itself or to the tendons. In fact, the junction where the muscle fibres transition into tendon is a particularly vulnerable point.  The unique arrangement of the hamstring muscles, with long muscle fibres crossing two joints (the hip and knee), makes them susceptible to injury, especially when performing activities like running or kicking that involve both joints.  When you consider, on top of the unique anatomy of the hamstrings, that scar tissue is both weaker and less flexible than healthy, uninjured tissue it starts to make sense that this part of the body is particularly susceptible to recurrent injury. (Although it still feels very unfair!)

What To Do About It

Firstly, we hope you sought treatment for the original injury. If you did your physiotherapist will have ensured it healed as well as possible. If not, don’t despair – we can still help. Call to make an appointment on (02) 9438 1782.

Next, we need to work to strengthen the muscles and tendons. The best exercises for you will depend on the exact location and severity of the original and recurrent strains you’ve suffered, but evidence suggests you’ll be performing progressive bridges, squats and leg curls on your journey to recovery. Don’t forget we’ll need to address any core stability issues you have too!

Placing appropriate load on the muscle and tendon will help it to heal since exercise brings healing blood-flow to the area, stimulates the production of new muscle fibres and reduces the amount of scar tissue that forms. Improved strength and flexibility (in balance) also gives you stability in your movement, making future injuries less likely.

So, if you’ve suffered a hamstring injury in the past, please take care of yourself to make recurrent injuries less likely. And remember the physiotherapists at St Leonards Physiotherapy are always here to help. Call us on (02) 9438 1782 if you have any concerns or would like further advice on preventing re-injury. You might also like to follow us on social media for more helpful (and we like to think fascinating) tips and tricks for better health and better movement. We’re on Instagram and Facebook.