Welcome to Portland Physiotherapy Health & Wellness Centre.

Dartmouth's Integrated Health Provider for 25 years.

At Portland Physiotherapy Health & Wellness Centre we are dedicated to delivering integrated health programs and services that facilitate recovery and restore optimal quality of life and health. Our team of health care professionals offer physiotherapy, occupational therapy, massage therapy and psychological services. Our Occupational Rehabilitation Programs provide proactive treatment to clients to prevent time away from the workplace and/or limit disability.

Portland Physiotherapy Health & Wellness Centre has been accredited for a period of three years for its Occupational Rehabilitation Programs. This is the second accreditation that CARF, the international accrediting body, has awarded to Portland Physiotherapy Health & Wellness Centre. By pursuing and achieving accreditation, Portland Physiotherapy Health & Wellness Centre has demonstrated that it meets international standards for quality and is committed to pursuing excellence.

 Useful Gardening Tips to Help Avoid Injury

Keep in mind that gardening is a physical activity, so always remember to warm up!

A proper warm up will increase flexibility and mobility in our muscles and joints, reduce muscle strain and fatigue, as well as preventing possible injury.

Gardening involves movements in the neck, shoulders, wrists, low back and legs.

Therefore, make sure to incorporate light stretches to these areas to prepare the body for your activity.

In order to maximize benefits, hold stretches for 10-15 seconds for approximately 2-3 sets.

Work within your limits!

Space out heavy workloads and repetitive tasks and switch up your gardening routine to reduce strain on joints and muscles. Don’t forget to pace yourself and take breaks as needed, remember, this is an activity you enjoy!

If you experience low back discomfort, you may consider performing certain gardening activities with your workload raised to a heightened position or on a table where bending is not necessary. Additionally, use knee pads or kneeling pads to create a more comfortable work space when you need to work on ground level.

Use good body mechanics - Nose between toes & bend with your legs!

Avoid bending with your back when lifting gardening tools, soil or other supplies you will need to carry out your activity. Bending with your legs and keeping your back in a neutral position will reduce the risk for a lower back injury. Constant reaching and twisting motions can increase your risk for sprains and strains, so keep the tools you need close to your body.

Use the right tools

There are a wide variety of gardening tools that have been ergonomically designed in order to decrease risk of injury and provide you with more ease and comfort while carrying out your gardening activities, which can be found at your local garden centers.  For instance, if you need to transfer supplies, use a wheelbarrow in order to reduce your workload.

Seek advice from a health care professional!

Physiotherapists understand how the body works and how to optimize quality of life. Therefore, physiotherapists have the knowledge and tools to bring you to a desirable level of mobility, strength and overall function in order to carry out activities of daily living that are important to you!

Resources

Canadian Physiotherapy Association

Physio Delta: Tsawwassen Sports & Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Clinic. (2013).Gardening tips. Retrieved from   http://www.myphysio.ca/physiotherapy-education/monthly-physiotherapy-tips/gardening-tips/

Top tips for avoiding injury and strain while gardening. (2013, April 28) San Fransisco Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Top-tips-for-avoiding-injury-and-strain-while-4473125.php.

 Tips for Golf

 As golfers, it is important to educate yourselves on ways to manage and/or prevent golf-related injuries, so that you can continue to enjoy this activity throughout life!

 Don’t Forget to Stretch!

Incorporating a proper warm-up and stretching routine increases flexibility and range of motion, which is an important factor in the game of golf! By having poor flexibility, our bodies will feel the need to accommodate for those restricted areas, which may negatively reflect on the golf course (i.e. poor performance, increase susceptibility to injury, poor timing and improper movements).

Areas that are most commonly utilized while golfing is the neck, shoulders, wrists, back, hips and legs. Therefore, include stretches that target each of these areas to increase muscle and joint movement, which will further increase performance!

 Shoulder Pain  

The most common shoulder injury reported by golfers is to the muscles in the rotator cuff area. This area of the shoulder is important when carrying out a proper swinging motion. Typically, injuries to this area tend to affect the dominant shoulder that is responsible for leading out the swing, as we have a tendency to put more stress on this area when we make contact with the ball.

Tips to avoid injury:

-        Modify your technique!

• During your back swing, try to “tuck in” your trail elbow (i.e. bring your elbow closer to your trunk)
• When following through, make sure to have your hands below the top of your head. During the finishing motion, you want the shaft of the club to be across the backside of your neck horizontally, as opposed to vertically down your back.    
• Try not to swing too forcefully – use an extra club if necessary!

 Lower Back Pain in Golf

Due to the nature of the sport, many golfer’s report lower back injuries. This is mainly attributed to the excessive bending, twisting, poor body mechanics and extensive practicing.

Tips to avoid injury:

-        When bending, use your knees and hips, NOT your back! You can also use your golf club for extra support if necessary.

-        Avoid carrying golf clubs over your shoulder. If this can’t be avoided use a double shoulder strap and make the weight of the bag as light as possible.

-        Push rather than pull your clubs. By pushing, we can keep our clubs closer to our bodies and reduce the tendency for twisting motions.

 Elbow Pain in Golf

Two conditions that are reported by golfers within the elbow region are: Golfers elbow and Tennis elbow. The main difference between these two conditions is the location on the elbow. Hence, Golfers elbow is pain on the bone that protrudes from the inside of the elbow and Tennis elbow is pain on the bone that protrudes from the outside of the elbow.

Tips to avoid injury:

-        Modify your hand grip! Keeping a lighter and more neutral grip will decrease your risk for injury.

-        By washing your grips with soap and water and replacing your grips once they have worn down can help reduce the pressure that golfer’s tend to put on their clubs.

References

 FitforeGOLF. (n.d) Education series: Elbow pain in golf [Brochure]. North America: FitforeGOLF Inc.

FitforeGOLF. (n.d) Education series: Lower back pain in golf [Brochure]. North America: FitforeGOLF Inc.

FitforeGOLF. (n.d) Education series: Stretch [Brochure]. North America: FitforeGOLF Inc.

FitforeGOLF. (n.d) Education series: Shoulder pain in golf [Brochure]. North America: FitforeGOLF Inc.

We celebrating 25 years in business!

What does this mean to you?

It means that we have over 125 years of clinical massage therapy, physiotherapy, and occupational experience to draw on to support your recovery and health prevention needs.

We are looking forward to celebrating our success with you!

Regards,

Portland Physiotherapy

CARF Canada www.carf.org

Physiotherapy, massage therapy, and occupational therapy, customized to your needs and delivered with the highest standard of ethics and professionalism.