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Sitting is the new smoking

BOSIC sports medicine

Sitting is the new smoking

Is Sitting really that bad for you?! Are standing desks worth it?

It is not uncommon to read public health articles in the news and wonder if there’s any truth behind the story or is it all just being blown out of proportion?

Here we explore the story, the research and what us health professionals think.

(You might want to stand up for this!!)

  • Your chair is not out to kill you. It’s not necessarily all about the sitting itself but more the problems associated with inactivity. We all know that there are several risk factors for heart disease including family history, high blood pressure, obesity, cholesterol, diabetes and being physically inactive – whilst the action of sitting won’t necessarily cause you harm, it’s the periods of inactivity.
  • Knowing the risks and implementing strategies is useful, if your job largely involves desk based work, get up and about on your way home, at the weekends and use your lunch breaks effectively.
  • Sitting and low back pain. The discs between our vertebrae are compressed in certain positions. The lumbar vertebrae more so when you’re sitting or in flexion. We all have a flexion capacity. If you are sitting all day long, don’t go to the gym and continue to do sit ups or activities where you load in flexion, modify to increase your flexion tolerance and reduce your risk of low back pain.
      • Use a lumbar roll in your chair to support your spine, limit your sitting to a maximum of 30mins and don’t slump over your laptop on the couch!
  • Don’t just stand there like a lemon. Standing all day equally isn’t the answer either. No posture is good enough to be maintained for lengthy periods of time without variation. It’s important to distribute loads equally through your body.
      • Rest your feet and legs for short periods. Change your postures. Start by sitting for an hour, standing for a couple of hours and repeat.

As health professionals we recommend the use of a height adjustable standing desk that allows you to easily switch between the two. It’s a cost-effective solution to all of the above problems for those of you working in an office environment.

If you have any questions or concerns about your back, your posture or your ergonomic set-up, just ask us! We’d be more than happy to assess and advise.

 

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Stay Fit When You Hit The Slopes

BOSIC sports medicine

Are you hitting the ski slopes and haven’t prepared properly?

A week of skiing involves at least 5 hours of exercise everyday as well as continuous squatting, pivoting, turning, bouncing and occasional falling. These factors plus fast speed, obstacles, jumping and undulating ground, it’s no wonder snow fields are risk factors for injury.

Whether your skiing, boarding or skating – these sports require huge levels of endurance and lower limb strength so be prepared. You wouldn’t take part in a marathon with no training so skiing shouldn’t be any different.

We know from studies that Hip strength is crucial to reducing knee injury risk and this is vital when skiing. Not only do you need strength to stabilise on a moving surface but you also need this strength to keep you going all day long.

Here at Barangaroo Orthopaedic & Sports Injury Clinic, we believe in injury prevention and with only 8 weeks to go until prime snow fall we want you to be ready to make the most of the time you have on your ski’s / board.

It is never too late to strengthen up your muscles to decrease your risk of soft tissue damage.

Here are our top five exercises to get you ready:

1-Hip Extensions on a Swiss Ball

2-Lateral Banded Resistance

3-BOSU Squat Holds

4-Single Leg Squats

5-Forward and Lateral Plyometric Jumps

Our Exercise Physiologist Rachael runs “Get fit to Ski” Programs. If you have a trip planned get in touch today on 8599 9811.

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Acupuncture v Dry Needling

BOSIC sports medicine

Acupuncture is an ancient therapy which has been practiced for over 5000 years. The belief is that health relies on a steady flow of “chi” – (The vital flow of energy in all living things) through the body’s energy pathways, known as meridians. These meridians are linked to specific organs such as the heart, spleen and liver and It is thought that problems or pains arise when there is blockage in any of these energy channels.

Whilst Acupuncture and Dry needling both involve the insertion of needles, the theory and clinical reasoning behind the practice is different.

Physiotherapists practice dry needling as it is proven to be an effective way of relieving pain and reducing myofascial tension. Physio’s use needling techniques alongside manual therapy and rehabilitation to correct musculoskeletal dysfunctions.

Physio’s use their knowledge of anatomy to needle specific tight spots or knots within a muscle. The research shows that inserting needles into these points can cause biochemical changes which induce healing properties into the affected tissues.

Some of these points also happen to correspond with some of the traditional acupuncture points.

Dry Needling, can be used effectively for:
  • Neck tension and headaches
  • Low Back Pain
  • Muscle Strains
  • Ligament injuries
  • Tennis Elbow
  • And More….

If you have a pain or muscle imbalance, then dry needling may be of benefit to you.