Yoga- a hate/hate relationship?

 
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I have a pretty bad relationship with stretching. It goes back a long way. I remember never being very flexible- in fact, to go further, it was always that I was very inflexible. I have a clear memory of doing ballet as a very young child and being aware that everyone else was able to contort themselves into these crazy positions, and I was nowhere near achieving them, no matter what. And that was just in the warm up. One day I just decided I wasn’t getting out of the car for ballet practice as I was just done with … Continue reading →

Falling off a bike- Hip bursitis

 
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As you may or may not know, I’ve had a couple of minor issues on my most recent forays on the bike. The first one ended with me getting some kind of nasty GI symptoms for about 3 days after I ingested something gnarly that probably got flicked up onto my water bottles. (Relatively easy fix- bought some new water bottles with caps over the top). The second one – well it didn’t end with me falling off- that is far too dramatic- more that I fell over. It was about halfway through the ride at the bottom of a … Continue reading →

The problem with Evidence in Physiotherapy

 
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It would seem that the problem with evidence in physiotherapy is quite often that: a) there isn’t enough of it b) what there is is of bad quality c) you can’t really blind people to a lot of the treatments d) a number of the outcome measures are subjective as opposed to objective which gives an inherent risk of bias. e) the outcome is nearly always “we need to do more research”. And these are only the problems that I can pull off the top of my head on a Saturday evening. Traditionally we see clinical trials- randomised double blind … Continue reading →

What they want vs what the evidence says: the MaccyD problem

 
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You walk into McDonalds and order your big mac and fries and a milkshake the size of a walrus, all good and well. The guy takes your order, goes and gets it- but comes back with a Lean Chicken Salad with a veg juice. “What the heck is this?” You think….” I came in here with a certain expectation of what I want and what, at this point, I *need*, and yet *this* is what I get. What the hell”? So you question the guy behind the counter… “What happened to the Big mac, the fries and the milkshake?” “Ah, … Continue reading →

Load and Capacity in sports and life

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This was going to be a post specifically about runners, but to be honest it is very much about the majority of people that I see as a physio- it just happens to be a lot more obvious in the runners. Most people understand that their body has a finite capacity. It has an ability (to a point) to absorb force and carry on with life with barely any alteration to their daily goings- on. This capacity is different for every single person and is quite often thought about in a physical context. As an example: I, for one, will … Continue reading →

The problem with nocebic language

 
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Nocebic language? What? Is Tim making words up now? No. Ok- let’s back up a little bit and start with an old saying. Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me. This is perhaps not the most truthful of statements, as pretty much anyone can attest. Ok, so words can hurt you emotionally- but they can’t hurt you physically… can they? Nocebo is the opposite of placebo. A harm inducing practice. Nocebic language is pretty much an encouragement to harm. Why would any health professional say something that might harm you? It might seem strange … Continue reading →