Lisa came into the clinic 15 months post-partum with a new incidence of thoracic pain concentrated on the left side of her spine. Being the mum of a 15 month old toddler, and having recently returned to work, Lisa was constantly on the go and performing a lot of manual handling tasks. During questioning, we were unable to pinpoint any specific trauma or incident that caused Lisa’s pain, it just seemed to appear suddenly and randomly! However, further questioning into the way Lisa performs her manual handling tasks showed that she was constantly carrying her child on one side, lifting

Written by Ayleen Marinelli, Remedial Massage Therapist at Wellness Embodied Cairns. Recently I had a client ask what was the exact type of massage techniques I had been using on her. She had been responding extremely well with this form of therapy and she wanted to tell a family member who lives in another state, to get the same type of treatment. In this case I had mostly been using lymphatic drainage and myofascial release techniques.    As a remedial massage therapist I have many types of massage styles and techniques that I have acquired in order to use to treat the client to the best of my ability. I use a variety of techniques in a session, predominately Myofascial Release.

We often put all our effort into training. Increasing distance, decreasing time, more intensity, faster splits. But how much effort are you putting into recovery? In fact, some research points to your ability to recover as just as important as your ability to train. If you don’t recover optimally, you are starting behind the 8 ball with your next training session. When we run / swim / walk / lift / exercise there is a response at the tissue level and at the system level. Micro-trauma to muscle tissue, buildup of waste products, decreased circulation, increased muscle tension, nervous system

Earlier this year I attended an eight day Spinal Manual Therapy certificate course, run by Manual Concepts. Manual Concepts are well known and respected in the physiotherapy field due to the volume of research they put out and their role in changing the field of physiotherapy. They also run a manual therapy course which physiotherapists used to refer to as a ‘manips’ masters. (A manip or manipulation is a high velocity mobilisation of the joint, typically causing that ‘crack’). But perhaps we should change the name in our minds. As a skilled, patient specific treatment, when performed to its best