Crouch & Kirwan Chartered Physiotherapists

16/07/2023

Try out Julie’s 5 minute core routine to strengthen your body, creating stability when running 🏋️‍♀️🏃‍♀️Check out more from Julie on Instagram ...

06/01/2022

Check out ISCP’s askthephysio.ie website for info about what we do as Chartered Physiotherapists

Looking for a Physio? Select one or more from the following options to find a Chartered Physiotherapist working in your area.

31/12/2021

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2022!

28/12/2021

23/12/2021

5 minute strength routine for runners

17/12/2021

Change it up

Change it up! #

16/12/2021

Knee pain & movement patterns

Knee pain when running

15/12/2021

Check out our marathon journey on Tik Tok

Running cool down #

09/12/2021

Simple ideas for self treatment of neck and shoulder pain/discomfort after a long day at your desk!

Muscular tension increases when we place our spine in a vulnerable position for extended periods, such as slouched over a computer for several hours. By the end of our work day, the muscles involved in supporting the spine are fatigued and overused.

So what can we do to help this.

Improve our postural awareness. Draw shoulder blades down and back as if placing them in your back pockets intermittently throughout the day. This will help engage the mid back muscles, taking some of the work of the neck and shoulder muscles and will instantly make you more aware of what it is to be truly upright.

Standing desk. Place your computer or laptop on a box or several books so you can work in a standing posture for part of the day. This will allow for improved blood flow throughout the body. In addition, simply changing posture frequently throughout the day will mizine chronic tissue changes that occur from too many hours of sitting.

Yoga mat stretch at night
When the time is right and you finally get to unwind after your day, place the body in an optimal position to rest and recover. Don't sit on the couch after already sitting for the majority of the day! Lie on your yoga mat (Flat pillow under head, shoulder blades in contact with the mat and a folded pillow under knees). The spine is aligned, fully supported and the neck and shoulder muscles finally get to switch off and rest. This is an ideal sleeping position also.

Self mobilization with ball

Finally for that nagging pain, place a golf or tennis ball at the tender spot, apply pressure for several minutes and allow the tissue to relax around the ball. This can be helpful to manage chronic muscular tension that builds up from sitting the majority of your day.

03/12/2021

The common theory regarding icing and cold thermogenesis (bodily exposure to cold temperatures) is that it can reduce pain and soreness of an injured area allowing a runner to return to running, faster. However, more recently it is thought icing and cold water exposure may also prevent the body's natural inflammatory response to stress, inhibiting necessary tissue adaptations for long term performance. Research is divided. If short term performance is the goal, ice/cold is best. It will give a runner the best chance to keep training by minimizing pain and soreness to the region. In addition there may be a psychological benefit to cold exposure.Athletes tend to perceive less soreness after cold water exposure. However, if it is early in the season with no racing on the calendar there is another theory to suggest skipping the ice or cold thermogenesis to allow the full inflammatory responses to take place along with the associated pain and soreness.
If the long term goal is for true tissue adaptation, an upcoming run can be skipped and this to allow soreness (inflammation) to subside naturally (no need to ice for pain modulation). In a nutshell, cold thermogenesis decreases the level of inflammation throughout the body (making a runner feel better) but this delays muscle healing. Training cycle and race date should help guide an athlete whether to ice an injury or take an ice bath. It is important to note that although ice minimizes swelling and speeds the removal of extracellular fluid it does not interfere with the post-injury cellular process.
This is unlike nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs or NSAIDS. NSAIDS act on the body at the cellular level. This blunts the natural healing response and can lead to inadequate healing of an injury. Injured cells signal chemicals that are critical to initiate the inflammatory/healing process. Swelling is a result. This swelling protects the site of injury physically by applying increased pressure to the injured region. In addition, this causes increased sensitivity of the region which forces the runner to unload the injured tissue. NSAIDS suppress this swelling at the cellular level allowing little to occur. Popping NSAIDS to alter the perception of pain to allow a runner to run through injury is an unhealthy and unsustainable approach to training and running.
As for acute muscle aches and pains obtained during activities of daily living (gardening/cleaning) we continue to recommend the use of ice to decrease pain and return to daily function as quickly as possible.

15/11/2021

Glad to be back!

10/09/2021

Excited to participate in another Hope & Dream 👏👏👏