Physiotherapy & Sports Injury Clinic

Sports Injuries

Sport is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle. It provides exercise, social contact, relaxation, competition and promotes good health. Unfortunately however sports related injuries can occur. With correct stretching and warm up techniques sometimes soft tissue injuries can be prevented. In cases where these injuries do occur physiotherapy, if indicated can help promote healing and accelerate the return to sport.

Back Pain

Eight out of ten Irish People will suffer from back problems at some times in their lives. For six of those eight the pain will go away within a few weeks, but the remainder will suffer from chronic back pain throughout their lives. The most common place to get pain is the lower part of the back. Recent studies have found a direct link between chronic low back pain and weakness in the core stabilising muscles i.e. transversus and multifidus. This can be addressed by re-educating these core muscles and therefore improving postural control.

Neck Pain

Pain arising from the neck is a common problem which can occur at any age. The pain may be caused by postural stress, degenerative changes or direct trauma such as whiplash injuries. The aim of physiotherapy is to improve range of motion in all directions of the cervical spine and to address muscle imbalance issues.

Women's Health

The role of Chartered Physiotherapist in Women's Health is to promote fitness, health and wellbeing of women through life stages. During the ante-natal period women experience a change in their normal posture. Women commonly develop an increased lumbar lordosis which can put strain on the lower back and sacro-iliac joint area. Additionally the release of the hormone relaxin causes increased laxity of the joints which may also lead to back pain. During this time pelvic tilting exercises, postural advice and in some cases a sacro-iliac joint belt may help relieve symptoms. One in four women experience urinary incontinence. The commonest causes of this include pregnancy and childbirth. Different types of incontinence affect patients e.g. stress or urge incontinence. Treatment consisting of bladder retraining, pelvic floor re-education using bio-feedback can help improve patients symptoms. In certain cases electrotherapy maybe required.

Physiotherapy in the Work place

Physiotherapists have additional expertise in human movement at work, its effect on the musculoskeletal system and disorders attributed to the physical working environment. Along with clinical practice and the treatment of work related injuries, Chartered Physiotherapists can provide education and training, manual and patient handling instruction, ergonomic considerations, health promotion and general fitness, health and safety, risk assessment, work hardening, functional capacity evaluation and pre-employment screening.

Acupuncture

How does acupuncture work? Qi (or chi) is the vital energy that flows through us, which consists of the opposing forces of yin and yang. It flows through 14 major channels known as meridians that link every part of the body and all the organs. To restore and maintain a positive state of health, this energy must flow freely and evenly and the yin and yang must be perfectly balanced. If the flow of Qi is blocked or your body experiences stress (either physical or emotional) the meridians become unbalanced, resulting in illness. Threadlike needles are inserted into specific points to rebalance the energy.

Conditions commonly treated with acupuncture: