Acute hamstring strains are common injuries for many popular sports, including various football codes, hockey, cricket and track and field. Hamstring injuries are the most common injury in Australian rules football, constituting 15% of all injuries, with an incidence rate of 6 injuries per approximately 40 players per season, and a prevalence rate of 21 missed matches per club per season. Similarly, in the English Premier League, hamstring strains make up 12% of all injuries. Acute hamstring strains also have the highest recurrence rate of any injury, a rate of 34% in Australian rules football and 12% in the English...

Pathophysiology: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a common condition, especially amongst office workers and those whose work tasks involve repetitive movements of the wrist. It is characterised by pain, numbness, and tingling (a sensation of pins and needles) in the hand but may also affect the arm. It is caused by a compression of one of the 3 nerves that pass through the wrist (most commonly the median nerve). In most cases, carpal tunnel syndrome is progressive with early diagnosis and treatment essential. If left untreated CTS can worsen, which can lead to nerve damage and a severity of symptoms...

What is Pain? Pain seems like a simple concept externally – you stub your toe and it hurts. Simple. But internally the process can be quite elaborate! Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience in the body associated with actual, or potential tissue damage. Your nervous system is used to convey messages of injury from your body to your brain, and messages of pain from your brain to your body. Acute pain is a necessary survival mechanism – it is your bodies way of warning you of tissue damage and it teaches you to avoid further tissue damage. Chronic...

Trochanteric bursitis is inflammation of the bursa in your hip.  This particular bursa sits on the outside of the hip joint, just below part of your protruding hip bone (greater trochanter). A bursa is a fluid filled sac which cushions and reduces friction between bone and the surrounding soft tissue (predominantly tendon).  Trochanteric bursitis rarely occurs in isolation, and often includes some form of tendinopathy of the overlying tendons. For this reason the term “Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome” has been suggested as a more accurate description. It affects people of all ages and levels of activity; however it is almost...

A wry neck is the term given to a presentation of insidious onset of neck pain and stiffness. Wry necks can cause severe pain without any obvious mechanism of injury. You will often have pain on one side of your neck and the inability to turn your neck in one direction. An acute wry neck is used to describe when the condition has come on quickly (commonly overnight). Whilst the cause is relatively unknown, findings suggest the facet joints along the side of the neck can become “locked” causing spasm and pain. Facet joints are found along the back aspect...

Everyone loves a good massage every now and then. But there’s one kind that’s more than just a feel-good experience. It promotes wellness and relief for injury, and it’s called remedial massage. Remedial massage is a technique used by trained therapists to locate damaged areas of the body, such as strained muscles. The massage can hasten the body’s natural healing process. As the term implies, it remedies the pain you may be feeling, allowing you to go back to your daily routine without worrying about having any aching muscles or bones. The great thing about remedial massage is that it...

What is the purpose of Remedial Massage and does it work? With everybody pushing the boundaries in their working lives and/or sporting pursuits, having a good therapist who can help you get up the next day feeling better and ready to keep pushing those boundaries isessential. So why do you need a massage if your running short on time? Massages help the muscles recover back to a “rest length”. Increases in training loads or leading up to a big game or sporting event are perfect times to come in for a massage. Having muscles lengthened back to their healthy state...