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Latest News Sorry for the delays with updates to the blog in recent times. I have been extremely busy with work away from the clinic with both the lecturing that I have recently started in the Myotherapy course at NMIT as well as writing some articles for 2 of Australia’s main cycling magazines so hopefully that is all finalized shortly and I can get back into some regular updates. I will post copies of the articles to the SportsMyo facebook page once they are printed.
HICAPS Some of you may be familiar with the Hicaps terminal already. For those of you who are not it basically allows on the spot rebates from participating health funds so that when you go to pay you only have to pay the Gap payment as the rebate is automatically paid by your health fund. I am glad to finally have this on board at the clinic as it makes life easier for everyone involved and requires no follow up effort by you the patient to get your rebate as it’s done right then and there. We are aiming to have this up and running within a week’s time!
Cupping Cupping is a treatment that can be used on most areas of the body. From a Myotherapist’s point of view it is used to create a local stretch to the Myofascial tissues (muscles & connective tissues) to help decrease problematic restrictions and restore normal function and movement. At the clinic we use glass cups that are operated by a hand pump that draws air out of the glass and causes a suction effect inside the glass onto the muscle, there are various different types and styles of cupping including a more common style that utilizes a flame inside the cup to provide the suction effect, this is probably the most common style and the cups are normally left stationary on the skin without moving them (this is when you will see the big dark colored circles on peoples backs). The dynamic style of cupping we use at SportsMyo results in far less discoloration after the treatment and better results when it comes to decreasing the soft tissue dysfunctions you present with.
Muscoloskeletal Therapy Update It is great to see a step forward in the Musculoskeletal therapy training with a permanent clinical program being put in place at the Alfred hospital in Melbourne, the students in their final year of their Musculoskeletal therapy training will now be able to assist patients that are recovering from cardio-thoracic surgical procedures. This will hopefully be a good start to allow more integration of qualified MST’s into the hospital setting if that is where they are wanting to work once they graduate.
Dry Needling We use trigger point dry needling a fair bit at SportsMyo for problems that fail to respond to other soft tissue treatment techniques. We have recently purchased equipment to allow us to do Electro needling on persistant pains that are failing to respond to normal dry needling and other treatments. Electro needling uses an electrical current to run between the points where the needles are inserted into the muscle; it is pain free and all you feel is a muscle pulse on and off. For those who have had TENS therapy in the past it will feel similar to this, electro needling tends to have a longer lasting effect however.
AAMT Workshops I recently attended the AAMT workshop day in Victoria, it was good to hear from some passionate presenters and good to see that the current knowledge level of therapist’s in the soft tissue therapy field is gradually improving! There should be some interesting developments over the next couple of years with so many different courses being run in competition to each other and different associations pitting themselves against each other, this should be a healthy thing for soft tissue therapists in general as the associations should be trying to offer more but we will wait and see what happens…
Brisbane Workshop I have recently enrolled in an advanced dry needling workshop in July in Brisbane, it will be interesting to see if I can take away any new needling techniques from It compared to the Level 1 & 2 course I did last year in Melbourne with an Acupuncturist, this one is run by a Physiotherapist so I should hopefully get a different perspective on things and hopefully it allow’s me to pick and choose techniques even better to suit the client’s needs. Looking at the course content it looks to have a few different topics that I haven’t been exposed to in person yet and have only seen in journals and texts so hopefully it lives up to my expectations!
Workshop Locations I am looking into getting some professional development workshops up and running for Myotherapist’s and Musculoskeletal therapist’s possibly by the end of 2011, the group size for these seminars/workshops will be kept to a small class size of 15-20 participants. If you have a suggestion for some good location’s I would be interested in hearing from you.
Thank-you To Alphington Sports Clinic I’d just like to say a quick thanks to the sports medicine team at ASMC. I had not intended to leave for at least another 12 months but due to the demand in Port Melbourne and deciding to expand the opening hours I have left Alphington earlier then I had planned. I had a great time while at Alphington and got to work with some great people and clients. Thanks
Health Fund Rebates SportsMyo services are covered by the majority of major health funds providing you have cover for Remedial Massage or Myotherapy. The rebate will vary from fund to fund and depend on the package you have so feel free to check with your health fund provider.
There are a wide range of different musculo-skeletal conditions that can affect the elbow and forearm and are one of the most common presentation's at the clinic in recent times, injuries can range from acute to chronic, sporting to occupational. In general this area responds really well to Myotherapy techniques such as deep tissue massage, joint mobilization and dry needling and can generally get the patient to a point where they no longer have any pain or discomfort in the area. A good way to keep the area in good shape so you don't need to get treated in the first place is to get into the habit of taking regular stretching breaks to stretch out the area while working or playing sport, self massage techniques can be quite beneficial too when shown how to do these correctly, if this is something you are interested in learning how to do make sure you let me know at your next appointment so i can take you through this. It is also common for patients to think that it is normal for them to feel some pain, tension or discomfort in the area, this is not normal and the quicker you get on top of it the quicker you will be back to normal function!
We are currently working on setting up some professional development programs at SportsMyo, it is likely they will be held from the seminar room at the Port Melbourne clinic. The courses will aim to fill common assessment and treatment gaps that are often missed in the standard Myotherapy courses. The aim is to have these up and running by the end of this year (will basically depend on how long they take to get approval from the associations so that you can claim continuing education points). The courses will be aimed at therapists that have studied Myotherapy, Remedial Massage, Musculo-skeletal therapy or similar.
I'd just like to say a quick thank you to the management & staff at NMIT in Preston for giving me the opportunity to lecture in their Myotherapy course. It is great to be back where i started my studies in the field and be able to pass on some new skills to the students there.
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