We often get asked in practice if dry needling is the same as acupuncture. Although the same fine needles are used to elicit a change or reaction within the body, there are some key differences between the two.   What is dry needling and how does this differ to acupuncture? Dry needling involves inserting sterile needles into trigger points within the muscle. Trigger points are taut bands of muscle which can cause and contribute to pain within the body. Inserting the needle into these trigger points will elicite a local ‘twitch’ response, allowing the muscle to then relax and begin

Are you worried we’ll tell you to stop exercising after a concussion? One of the main barriers we hear from athletes against seeking help post concussion is, ‘I want to play in the Grand final/ compete in 2 weeks’ BEST PRACTICE concussion management is to obtain a baseline test at the beginning of season (so that when you sustain a concussion, we’re comparing your performance to your normal- as well as dealing with any niggling issues BEFORE the season begins… ), plus to see a practitioner with knowledge of all facets of concussion management WITHIN THE FIRST 48 HOURS POST

The Quadratus Lumborum (QL) is a deep lower back muscle that lies on both sides of the lumbar spine. The QL muscle is critical for spinal stability and side bending, and it has the capacity to cause a lot of pain and imbalance when it gets tight. Quadratus Lumborum (QL) Muscle QL Muscle Pain The QL muscle has the capacity to cause a lot of pain in the body when it is ridden with trigger points, also known as knots. Trigger points are tight, shortened bands of muscle that constantly pull on joints when present. Constant muscle tension induced by

There’s a compelling reason why the Cairns Ironman send an email out the very next day after athletes have completed their first 70.3 team or solo, or a full Ironman event on the iconic course. While we may be tired and sore, we’re also on a high from the buzz of the crowd, the pride at having completed an endurance event or the lovely medal we now own. It’s the perfect time to hit the sign up button- with many potentially thinking ‘I’ll train up next year!’ But before you get back into Netflix, camping and fishing (or whatever floats

Have you ever had a niggly hamstring and you’re wondering why it just won’t go away? First of all, let’s run through a bit of anatomy. The hamstring group is made up of three muscles. They all originate at your sit bones, and insert either side of your knee. Because they attach over two joints (hip and knee), they can produce movement at both! The main movements they produce are knee flexion, hip extension, and rotation of the hip through different movements. So, being a relatively big muscle group, why are they so often injured? Well, the hamstrings are most

Do you know what patellofemoral pain (PFP) is? It is a common condition, and studies have suggested that 25% of people suffer from PFP at some point in their lives, and 2.5 million runners experience PFP in a year. PFP is usually caused by malalignment of the knee-cap and the distal end of the thigh bone, which the knee cap glides on to when we move our legs. It is similar to a train on its track. The knee-cap is the train and the femur (thigh bone) is the track. If they are not aligned properly, the soft tissue underneath

Whether you’re frustrated with the rate of an injury healing, or your progress in training/ life, the concept of the ‘dip’ is important to be aware of. A simple case study on how injury healing isn’t linear might be a sprained ankle in a marathon runner. Say the runner simply rests for several weeks – even with Physio to restore normal range of movement and advise on protective loading. By the time they go back to training, they’ll already be a little bit behind, may have lost some vital strength in the glutes and other muscles (unless they’re very diligent

Many back injuries occur after incorrect bending or lifting, especially when we try to lift a heavy object up by ourselves with incorrect technique. If we try to lift something heavy with our back it would put on a big load onto our lumbar spine, which might cause injuries. Therefore, a good lifting technique is essential to protect us from sustaining a back injury. Generally, we should try to push the object rather than lift and move. If pushing is not feasible, then we try to lift it (with a correct technique!!!). Secondly, if we decide to lift something, we

April is autism awareness month!  Let’s talk about autism, what is it and how it affects a person. Autism is a condition that affects how a person interacts with others, how the person feels, thinks and experiences their environment and situations. People with autism spectrum disorder can have repetitive behaviours or hyper- or hyposensitivity processing information from vision, auditory, touch, taste, smell, from the vestibular system or proprioception.  They can have difficulties with social interactions, communication or can show restricted interest. It is a developmental condition and the cause of autism is not fully understood, but early intervention, education and

Our fortnightly Facebook Wellness Embodied live videos are back! We are going live on Facebook every fortnight on Thursdays at 1:00pm (Cairns time) Tune in on Facebook to watch us live!   In this weeks Wellness Embodied Live, our Cairns Physiotherapist Alyza talks about exercise during pregnancy. If you or a loved one is pregnant and would like some guidance on exercising safely, please contact our Cairns clinic on 42319777 or visit our online booking page

Our fortnightly Facebook Wellness Embodied live videos are back! We are going live on Facebook every fortnight on Thursdays at 1:00pm (Cairns time) Tune in on Facebook to watch us live! In this week of our Facebook Live we have our Cairns paediatric Physiotherapist Maigi talking about motor skills and the test we are using in our clinic to assess fine and gross motor skills of 4-21 year olds. For further information about our Cairns paediatric physio services or our Bot2 testing with report provided, please call our clinic on 42319777 or visit our information page on our website.  

What is Stroke? Stroke is one of the most common causes of death in Australia and worldwide. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018, there was an estimated 387,000 people in Australia had had a stroke at some time in their lives. There are two types of stroke: ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke. While ischaemic stroke is caused by a blockage of a blood vessel, haemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding inside the brain from the result of a broken blood vessel.   Both types of stroke cause damages to the brain. Depending on the area that is damaged and

Neck pain is one of the most debilitating types of pain we see at our Cairns physiotherapy clinic. There are multiple factors that contribute to neck pain, including sleeping posture. Poor neck posture may not just lead to neck pain but also headache, shoulder pain and even jaw pain! A suitable and supportive pillow is essential for our sleeping quality and keeping our neck pain-free! Different people have slightly different types and curvatures of cervical spine, and different necks require different types of pillow. Here at Wellness Embodied Cairns, we recommend the Denton’s pillow and we stock these at both

Our fortnightly Facebook Wellness Embodied live videos are back! We are going live on Facebook every fortnight on Thursdays at 1:00pm (Cairns time) Tune in on Facebook to watch us live!   Here is Clara our Cairns Complete Concussion Management Inc certified physiotherapist chatting about Post Concussion Syndrome characteristics and management.   If you or a loved one has sustained a concussion, it is best to book an appointment with us as soon as possible, at least within the 24 hour period following so we can get working on getting you back to work and play as soon as possible!

Benign: because it is easy to fix Paroxysmal: symptoms start very suddenly, without other symptoms ever happening before Positional : when you put your head in a specific position Vertigo: sensation of movement when you are stationary    Crystals? What crystals? They live in our inner ear. They are formed by calcium and carbonate. They lie down on hairy cells and they move every time we move our head up and down or during acceleration and deceleration of our body. Like if you had little rocks lying on your head: every time you bend your head forward they will fall,

Now that restrictions are easing, I’m sure most of you are very excited to resume your normal gym routine and return to your previous exercise regimes. Whilst this is very exciting, and exercise is indeed the best thing for our bodies, I am here to tell you to start slowly and build yourself back up.  Commonly, injuries are caused by overloading body tissues that aren’t equipped to deal with the activity you’re trying to complete. Ever seen a dad try to outsprint his 17 year old son and tear a hamstring because he hasn’t sprinted in about ten years? Then

Wellness Embodied Live is our free Weekly Facebook live series for people in isolation, or those who are keen to learn and improve their health. Videos will be available to watch online on our Facebook page or on our Youtube channel  This week, Practice Principal Suzanne Rath will share some insights from her recently completed training on Nutrition for musculoskeletal complaints- assisting you to improve your healing! You can view it here on our youtube page! We stock a large range of BioCeuticals products in our Cairns City Clinic, pop in to take a look, we can even set you

Let’s talk about warm-up for hamstring injury prevention! Hamstring injuries commonly occur when the muscle is subjected to an excessive stretch whilst producing high force under high speed movements. Completing a proper warm-up before commencing a game or exercise session (especially those involving high load on your hamstrings) can reduce your risk of sustaining a hamstring injury. The aim of a warm-up is to increase blood flow to your muscles prior to placing them under high stress, and taking your muscles and joints through specific exercises that are directly related to the sport or activity you are about to perform.

Do you find that you’re struggling to achieve the optimum squat technique for you? Squatting, whilst a seemingly simple exercise, requires a lot of coordination and balance, and is impacted upon by you individual anatomical make-up. If you’re someone who has always struggled with achieving a good squat, here are a few simple things that you can do to help: Stand with your feet shoulder width (or slightly wider) apart, and toes turned outwards (find that sweet spot for you!) Begin by slowly bending your knees and hinging at the hips, and allow your body weight to sink down and

Our theme for this week is sprains and strains! Watch to hear our practice principal talk about the healing phases of injury, how we can help in our Rehab Room and why RICE is no longer the treatment form of choice! #wellnessembodiedcairns #cairnsphysio Questions? For further information or to book visit our website www.wellnessembodiedcairns.com or call 42319777  

Liam came in to see us with clicking and pain on the outside of his knee. He had been doing a lot of rowing at the gym and the knee seemed to be getting worse every time. On testing his knee was stable, had full range of movement and other than being tender to touch it was difficult to reproduce his symptoms. The ligaments and cartilage of the knee was fine with specific tests and he had good muscular strength in the quadriceps and hamstrings.  We decided to look further upstream and assessed his hip, where we found an obvious

We recently had a competitive swimmer through the doors of Wellness Embodied who was struggling with persistent shoulder pain. This patient had seen two other physiotherapists who treated her shoulder locally with mild improvement, but the pain kept coming back when she returned to swimming. On assessment we did find a local impingement at the shoulder, but as the patient reported other physios found and treated the shoulder we decided to look for the root cause. The shoulder is a complex joint with many moving parts and relies on part on good mobility through the neck and upper back. A

What is a muscle strain? In short, it is the overstretching or tearing of muscle fibres. The majority of muscle strains occur for one of two reasons: either the muscle has been stretched beyond its capacity or it has beena forced to contract too strongly. The severity of injury can range from only a few muscle fibres that are damaged, and the muscle continues to function, through to complete tears where the muscle may be unable to function.  How do I know if I have strained a muscle? Symptoms include: Pain and tenderness in the muscle, especially after physical activity

In simple terms, concussion is a disturbance of brain functioning caused by direct or indirect force to the head. You do NOT have to lose consciousness to suffer a concussion, and it can commonly occur outside of sport. The brain can move within the skull, and if a sudden blow or movement occurs, the brain can knock against the skull, causing swelling and sometimes bleeding.  The brain is a highly sensitive structure and even a small insult can cause a variety of neurological symptoms. Concussion generally occurs from a mild blow to the head, either with or without loss of

Written by Suzanne Rath, Practice Principal Physiotherapist, Wellness Embodied Cairns. You’re reading a blog on a physiotherapy site and therefore we can assume that you’re a pretty health literate member of the population, or perhaps even a fellow health professional. But if you think you know every area that physiotherapists work in, think again… At the Australian Physiotherapy Association’s Business and Leadership Conference in Darwin this year, speakers from health insurance companies and representatives of the physiotherapy profession pointed out that policy makers don’t actually know what physiotherapists do, much less members of the public. But one area which you probably

When Wellness Embodied founder Suzanne Rath was hit by a car when cycling in Sydney over three years ago, she never imagined it would eventually lead to her starting a new life and business in Cairns… The physiotherapist and Pilates instructor was working three jobs in Sydney and training for the upcoming Boston Marathon, however multiple fractures in her jaw saw her sidelined from work and training for several months, with pain and anxiety which lasted for far longer. “I was getting constant headaches. I’d go to doctors, for physiotherapy. I did (and still do) lots of medical acupuncture on