Physiotastic

09/06/2025

New hip or knee replacement? Rehabilitation after these surgeries is important. To many times I see that people struggle after the surgery with all there daily life activities due to lack of hip mobility or strength. Sometimes to the point that their quality of life is less then before the surgery.
Very often people will not get any or very basic physiotherapy treatments provided by the hospital after surgery.
At Physiotastic you will get a personalised treatment plan that focusses on your needs. That will be hands on treatment when needed. Specific exercises. No 1 plan fits all.
We also do home visits when the distance is in a reasonable radius from Porthmadog of LLanwnda. Ideal for the early phase just after surgery.
Give me a ring or send me a text/email if you want to know more or if you want to make an appointment.
07359 194162 info@physiotastic.co.uk

07/04/2025

Struggling with shoulder pain? The latest research shows that you get the best recovery outcome on the long term by getting hands on therapy combined with exercises. Exactly what we do at PHYSIOTASTIC!! Give us a ring or text if you want to get rid of your shoulder pain. 07359 194162 or info@physiotastic.co.uk.

OBJECTIVE: Guidelines include manual therapy and exercise for subacromial shoulder pain, but there is low certainty for these recommendations. Here, we evaluated if adding manual therapy to a resistance exercise program improved patient outcomes. DESIGN: Randomized parallel controlled clinical trial...

31/03/2025

Sports injury? I have been a sports and conditioning coach for 20 years and a physiotherapist for the last 14 years. Let me help you improve your performance. Give me ring 07359 194162 or send me a text. www.physiotastic.co.uk Porthmadog and Caernarfon area.

Johan Van der Ven is an experienced, qualified physiotherapist specialising in musculoskeletal physiotherapy and sports massages in Caernarfon. Learn more.

24/03/2025

Need physiotherapy because of (osteo)arthritis. Better known as "wear and tear". Give me a ring or send me a text 07359 194162. With 14 years of clinical experience as a physiotherapist I can help you reduce pain, increase mobility and improve quality of life.
www.physiotastic.co.uk located in LLanwnda and Porthmadog.

17/03/2025

There is no need to be walking around with pain. I am a highly skilled (sport) physiotherapist that has been practising for over 14 years in the Netherlands and the UK. Specialised in any musculoskeletal or sports injury. Increase your quality of life and give me a ring 07359194162 or contact me via the website www.physiotastic.co.uk The clinics are based in Porthmadog and Caernarfon area.

24/07/2023

Don't let pain get in the way. Physiotherapy can help manage pain or get you back to the level that you need to be able to enjoy work and physical activities again.
At Physiotastic we can help you to get back on track. Visit our website www.physiotastic.co.uk or give us a ring or text 07359 194162.

15/02/2023

Osteoarthritis post 2

Hip OA (long post)

In the last post I wrote what generally happens to a joint when it suffers from Osteoarthritis (OA). With hip OA people can feel pain (especially in the groin area that can radiate towards the knee) stiffness and weakness either due to the pain of muscle strain/wasting.
Depending on the severity of the OA and what people like or need to do in daily life they experience minor or more severe problems.
Research but also clinical experience has showed that with the right lifestyle changes, self management and exercises the quality of life can significantly increase. Some do not need any other form of intervention anymore such as invasive surgery. This is very positive because the surgery always has risks and post-surgery rehab is intense and long (when provided).

People are unique but there are some general basics that work for anyone with hip OA.

- balance out daily life activities. It is ok to feel some discomfort or pain whilst doing activities or exercises. If the pain has not significantly increase in the next 24 hours the activities you did the day before are not aggravating your OA. Sometimes you will feel more pain the next day and your daily life activities will be more difficult to perform. It is important to listing to your body at this stage. Plan other activities that put less strain on the hip for that day. Sitting tasks for example. Also leave the strength exercises for that day. By balancing out your days like this you still get everything done in the week without to much problems.

- Maintain joint mobility.

Due to the changes in the joint people with OA often loose joint mobility. The joint becomes stiffer. If the stiffness increases to much it starts to effect daily life activities and very often strain on other joints such as the lower back.
Performing mobility exercises or stretches on a regular basis can slow down joint immobility.

- Keeping up muscular strength.

For everything we do in daily life we need muscle support. The weaker the muscles the harder it becomes to perform tasks. Even simple ones such as walking or walking the stairs. Standing up out of a chair. Lack of muscle strength can have a major effect on the quality of life and some ones independent.
By performing strength exercise 2 to 3 times a week muscular strength can be maintained.

With the right self management, working on prevention by doing the right exercises to maintain or improve joint mobility and muscle strength, many problems can be avoided.

In the following post I will show a simple exercise routine you can do if you suffer form hip OA.

02/02/2023

Osteoarthritis, the beginning of the end?

Osteoarthritis (OA) or more commonly known as "wear and tear", is a natural process that will effect everybody. With OA the cartilage of the joints wears down, and the bones of the joints change. Very often the surface of the joint bones increase and Osteophytes (bone spurs) exist. These are bony lumps that grow on the bones or around joints. They form when a joint or bone has been damaged by arthritis, but do not always cause major problems. A very common symptom is loss of joint mobility due to the changes in the joints.

Not everyone will have problems due to OA, but for some the condition can be life changing or debilitating.

They hear there is not much there can be done and just have to live with it. And due to the waiting lists it can take up to 4 years to get a full knee or hip replacement.

With the right management and exercises the quality of life can be significantly improved. Reduce symptoms as pain and weakness.

Coming posts I will be diving deeper in what you can do yourself if you are suffering from OA and which lifestyle changes can make a big difference.

Stay tuned

12/01/2023

Do you need a Scan or X-ray?

It is in our human nature that we want to understand what is going on in our bodies when we are in pain. Especially when the pain is persistent.
Very often people think any form of imaging (scans etc) is needed to get better. But what many people find difficult to understand is that structural changes to bones and joints for example are normal and do not always correlate with the pain they feel. So if they see wear and tear on a X-ray (something they will always see) it is to easy to say " that is the cause of the pain". Research has proven that taken scans etc of healthy indiviuals without pain can show a range of "abnormalities". (See picture below)
As musculoskeletal and sport physio's we do not need imaging in almost all of the cases because it does not change our treatment approach. With the right advice, coaching, hands on but especially exercise treatment the problem can get sorted without expensive imaging.

05/01/2023

Many people decide that the new year is the best time to start and change there lifestyle. To loose weight and to get fitter! The new years resolutions!! With my 20 years experience in the fitness industry alone I have seen loads of people start this journey but falling out within the first 2 months. No motivation? No discipline?
More putting the bar to high, I think. Expecting to much in a short amount of time. No plan and unrealistic goals are the recipes for failing. If you have never been in a gym before, don't expect to become a gym fanatic in the first couple of months.
To work on general fitness and strenght, getting fitter to suffer less from injuries and pain or to loose weight you need to make a plan. Create realistic goals. Here are some tips to help you to work towards your goals.

First think about how much time you want to spend per week on exercising etc. How many moments in the week and how many minutes you want to spend per session. Make a weekly schedule of your planned activities. Get your diary out and book 2 to 3 moments in that week. Like an appointment with yourself.

If you have never done any exercises before, it is important to take it slow. The more uncomfortable you feel the less you are going to like it. Any form of physical activity is good. Walking, swimming, cycling. Going to the gym, anything.

Slowly increase the intensity of your sessions, ones you got the frequenty of your exercise moments going.

But most importantly lower the expectations. Losing weight and building up strength takes a while. Focus on short term results. Getting more energie, just feeling better. Sleeping better etc. This will help you with keeping motivated.

19/12/2022

As a former LesMills/Reebok athlete I know that having an injury can have significant effects on performance. And if exercise is a way of life it will definitely have an effect on how you feel mentally.

Often there is a good explainable reason for getting an injury.

Ask yourself the following questions:

- am I getting a good night sleep every day?
- do the things I eat support my exercises and training sessions?
-has the intensity or load off my exercises and training suddenly
increased.

Very often decreasing the load, frequency and intensity of the exercises for a short while will help.
Try to increase the hours of sleep (7 to 8 hours a night) and make sure you eat enough of the right carbs and protein to support the energie need .
Sometimes specific exercises or coaching is needed to recover from an injury but the above is a good starting point.

15/12/2022

Feeling pain is ok?

Pain can be debilitating. Experiencing pain for long periods of time can affect all aspects of life. Especially, if you feel you have no control over it. You start to avoid movements and activities that cause the pain. This generally has a negative effect on tissues, making them weaker. Making you more prone to strain and pain. The principle “use it or lose it!” It also has a major effect on how you experience life. Suddenly it feels you can’t do the things you like to do.
Feeling pain during activities does not always mean that you are making it worse. Keeping up your activity level is key! But maybe perform the activity less often or change the duration of the activity. “if walking for a mile feels ok but a mile and a half does not, don’t walk for a mile and a half. But still walk that mile!”
The 24 hour rule is important. You feel pain today? You perform activities or exercises and 24 hours later the pain is the same as before performing the activities and you are still able to perform your daily life activities as before? No worries. You are not making it worse.