Don Kelly physical therapy and Acupuncture clinic

17/11/2025

Single leg calf raise on floor

Stand on your symptomatic leg. Maintaining your balance, rise up on to your toes so the heel comes off the floor, keeping your knee straight. Control the movement back to the start position, and repeat.

1. Corrects Muscle Imbalances
Unilateral Focus: By working one leg at a time, the exercise forces the isolated calf (gastrocnemius and soleus) to bear your entire body weight.

Identifies Weakness: It helps you identify and correct strength disparities between your left and right calves that might be hidden when performing two-leg calf raises.

2. Enhances Balance and Stability
Proprioception Challenge: Standing on one foot while moving challenges your proprioception (your body's ability to sense its position in space) and forces smaller stabilizing muscles in your foot, ankle, and lower leg to engage actively.

Injury Prevention: Strengthening these stabilizing muscles helps guard against common ankle injuries like sprains and strains.

17/11/2025

The kinetic chain describes how each part of your body is linked. When one joint or muscle is not working well, the rest of the chain must compensate. Over time, this leads to stress, imbalance, and pain in areas far away from the actual source.

How the Feet Influence the Spine

Your feet are the first point of contact with the ground. Every step you take sends force up through your ankles, knees, hips, and spine.
If the foot is not functioning properly—due to weakness, flat arches, overpronation, supination, or old injuries—it disrupts alignment further up the chain.

Here’s how it affects the spine:

1. Misaligned Foot = Misaligned Pelvis

Poor foot biomechanics can tilt or rotate the pelvis.
A rotated pelvis forces the spine to compensate, often causing:

Lower back stiffness

Sacroiliac joint pain

Muscle tightness in the hips and hamstrings

2. Altered Gait = Increased Spinal Stress

When your walking pattern is uneven, every step increases load on the lumbar spine.
This can trigger chronic back pain, disc irritation, or nerve compression.

3. Shock Absorption Problems

If the feet can’t absorb impact correctly, that shock travels directly to the lower back—especially during running, standing all day, or repetitive lifting.

17/11/2025

17/11/2025

Here are the key benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet for managing arthritis:

Anti-Inflammatory Diet Benefits for Arthritis
1. Directly Reduces Joint Pain and Swelling
The core benefit is reducing the systemic inflammation that causes joint symptoms.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (from fish/walnuts): These fats convert into compounds (resolvins and protectins) that actively resolve or shut down the body's inflammatory processes. They can significantly lower levels of inflammatory proteins in the body, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6.

Oleocanthal (from Extra Virgin Olive Oil): This compound works on the same pain pathways as some over-the-counter NSAIDs (like ibuprofen), helping to dampen the inflammatory enzymes and reduce pain sensitivity.

Curcumin (from Turmeric): This powerful compound has been shown to block inflammatory cytokines and enzymes, leading to long-term improvement in joint pain and swelling.

2. Slows Cartilage and Joint Damage
Chronic inflammation, particularly in RA, is what damages the joint lining and cartilage.

Antioxidants (from fruits/vegetables): These fight free radicals—unstable molecules that damage cells and accelerate joint destruction. A diet rich in colorful produce helps protect the joint tissues from this oxidative stress, potentially slowing the progression of both RA and OA.

Vitamin C: This vitamin is essential for the production of collagen, a key component of the cartilage, ligaments, and tendons that hold your joints together.

3. Aids in Weight Management (Crucial for OA)
The anti-inflammatory diet, typically a whole-food, plant-forward eating pattern like the Mediterranean diet, is often lower in calories and higher in fiber.

Reduced Joint Stress: Losing weight directly reduces the mechanical load and stress on weight-bearing joints (like the knees and hips), which is critical for Osteoarthritis (OA) management.

Reduced Inflammatory Cytokines: Excess body fat itself produces and releases inflammatory chemicals, which can worsen arthritis symptoms. Managing weight reduces this source of inflammation.

17/11/2025

Feeling stiff when you wake up? 😩

An active, pain-free day starts with just 5 minutes!

Don Kelly Physiotherapy & Acupuncture recommends daily morning stretches to combat overnight stiffness, boost circulation, and prevent recurring injuries. It's the simple daily habit that supports your long-term recovery!

👉 Read our quick guide to starting your essential morning routine now!

Reduce stiffness, improve mobility, and prevent injuries daily.Discover the morning stretch routine recommended by Don Kelly Physiotherapy.

16/11/2025

Get Your Hip Pain First Aid Guide & Tracker!

Ready to take control TODAY? Download our FREE resource and learn the 3 crucial things you must NEVER do during a flare-up.

https://donkellypainrelief.ie/why-your-hip-pain-wont-go-away/

15/11/2025

Tips for strong and healthy hips

1. Focus on Targeted Strengthening Exercises
Hip strength comes primarily from the Glutes (maximus, medius, and minimus) and the Core muscles, which stabilize the pelvis. Aim to incorporate these types of exercises 2-3 times per week.

2. Prioritize Mobility and Flexibility
Strength is only half the equation. Tight hip flexors (from prolonged sitting) and adductors can pull your pelvis out of alignment and restrict movement.

3. Adopt Hip-Friendly Daily Habits
Your day-to-day routine has a massive impact on the long-term health of your hips.

4. Support Joint Health with Nutrition
Your diet provides the building blocks for strong bones and healthy cartilage.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Incorporate foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids (like salmon, walnuts, chia seeds) and antioxidants (leafy greens, berries) to help reduce systemic inflammation that can affect joints.

Bone and Cartilage Nutrients: Ensure adequate intake of Vitamin D, Calcium, and Vitamin C (vital for collagen, a key component of cartilage).

5. The Role of Custom Orthotics for Hip Health
Custom-made orthotics are prescription medical devices tailored to the unique structure and biomechanics of your feet.

Correcting Biomechanical Alignment
Many hip issues are rooted in abnormal foot function, such as overpronation (feet rolling inward excessively) or supination (feet rolling outward).

The Chain Reaction: When your foot is misaligned, it forces your ankle and knee to rotate, which, in turn, causes your thigh bone (femur) to enter the hip socket at an abnormal angle.

Orthotic Solution: Custom orthotics stabilize the foot and ankle, promoting a neutral foot position. This prevents the excessive twisting motion that travels up the leg, ensuring the knee and hip joints are properly aligned during standing, walking, and running.

15/11/2025

Strengthening exercises, particularly those targeting the hip, gluteal (buttock), and core muscles, can significantly alleviate pain and improve function for individuals with Piriformis Syndrome

Reduced Pressure on the Sciatic Nerve
By strengthening the glutes and surrounding hip muscles (like the gluteus medius and maximus), you stabilize the pelvis and hip joint. This reduces the overworking and tension on the smaller piriformis muscle, which is often the source of compression on the sciatic nerve.

Improved Muscular Balance
Piriformis syndrome is often linked to muscle imbalances, where the glutes and core are weak, causing the piriformis to become tight and overactive to compensate. Strengthening these areas restores proper balance, leading to more efficient and less painful movement patterns.

Enhanced Stability and Biomechanics
Stronger hip and core muscles improve your overall stability and balance. This helps correct poor posture and movement mechanics (like excessive hip adduction or internal rotation during walking), addressing the underlying causes of the syndrome and preventing future flare-ups.

15/11/2025

If you’ve tried resting, stretching, and generic painkillers without lasting success, you’re not alone. The reason many self-treatments fail is simple: hip pain is rarely just about the hip. It’s a mechanical puzzle involving your posture, lower back, pelvis, and movement patterns.

At Don Kelly Physiotherapy and Acupuncture, we don't just treat the pain—we solve the puzzle using a comprehensive, two-pronged strategy that addresses both the immediate symptom and the underlying cause.

Hip pain is more than just an inconvenience; it can be a constant, grinding frustration that steals your mobility and dictates your daily life. If you’ve tried resting, stretching, and generic painkillers without lasting success, you’re not alone. The reason many self-treatments fail is simple: ...

14/11/2025

Resisted ankle eversion - bilateral

Sit on a chair with your legs hip-width apart and feet flat on the floor.
Place each foot in a figure of 8 exercise band loop.
Place a small ball or your fists between your knees.
Keep your heels on the floor and pull your feet up and out against the resistance from the band.
In a controlled manner return to the starting position.

Primary Benefits of Bilateral Resisted Eversion
1. Synergistic Hip and Ankle Strengthening
Performing the exercise bilaterally often requires a seated position with the resistance band looped around both feet, or a standing position where both ankles are braced. This setup forces the simultaneous engagement of:

Ankle Evertors: The peroneal muscles (fibularis longus and brevis) are the primary movers, responsible for turning the sole of the foot outward.

Hip Abductors: The gluteus medius and minimus and other outer hip muscles must contract isometrically (stay fixed) or dynamically to keep the knees from collapsing inward due to the band tension.

This co-contraction strengthens the entire lateral stability chain from the hip down to the ankle, which is crucial for gait and single-leg balance.

2. Enhanced Endurance and Stabilization
Doing the exercise bilaterally against continuous tension allows for focused endurance training of the evertor muscles.

The evertors are often fast-twitch dominant, but they must also exhibit endurance to stabilize the ankle during prolonged walking, running, and standing. Bilateral work allows for higher repetitions and sustained isometric holds, building this critical endurance.

3. Improved Proprioception and Motor Control
Proprioception is the body's awareness of joint position. Moving both ankles against resistance while maintaining hip and knee alignment improves the nervous system's ability to communicate with the muscles, enhancing overall motor control and reaction time.

This is vital for preventing lateral ankle sprains—the stronger and faster these muscles can contract, the better they can resist an unexpected inward roll of the foot.

13/11/2025

Understanding Your Feet: A Look at Arch Types and Custom Orthotics

High Arch (Supination): Rolling out/outward.

Normal Arch (Neutral): Stable rolling.

Flat Foot/Fallen Arch (Pronation): Rolling in/inward.

These foot mechanics can lead to various pains and issues. How do we fix them? With individually made, custom orthotics!

We use a special casting process to get a perfect impression of your foot, then send it off to the lab to create a device tailored just for you.

If you’re looking for guaranteed, custom-made orthotics, give us a call!

13/11/2025

Core Benefits of Hip Exercises

Reduced Risk of Injury
Strong and mobile hips prevent other parts of your body, like your lower back and knees, from having to compensate for weakness, which is a major cause of pain and injury.

Reduced Lower Back Pain
Weak glutes and tight hip flexors often lead to poor pelvic alignment, putting excessive strain on your lower back. Strengthening the hips can significantly alleviate chronic back pain.

Improved Stability and Balance
The hips are your body's center of gravity. Strong hip muscles stabilize your pelvis and spine, leading to better balance, coordination, and a lower risk of falls.

Enhanced Athletic Performance
Strong hips are the foundation for power in almost all movements. They improve your performance in activities like running, jumping, lifting weights, and changing direction quickly.

Easier Daily Activities
Simple actions like bending down, getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, or carrying objects become easier and more comfortable with strong, mobile hips.