Blog | Agile Physiotherapy

What Can Make Neck Pain a Headache?

May 5, 2022

Often people experiencing a headache are also experiencing neck pain/tightness at the same time. There are different ways that neck...

How Physio Can Help Your Headaches

July 2, 2021

Headaches are no fun. Some people will only experience short-term headaches every now and then, but for some people headaches...

Muscle Strains

May 4, 2021

Winter sports are back and with them come more muscle strains, particularly hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. So what is a...

We Need to Rely Less on Medical Imaging for Back Pain

March 28, 2021

Medical imaging technology seems great, right? It can take pictures of what your tissues look like and tell you exactly...

Muscle Cramps – Why They Happen And How to Stop Them

February 15, 2021

I'm sure we've all experienced painful muscle cramps in muscles like the hamstrings, calf or quadriceps during or following exercise....

Do We Need to Diagnose the Cause of Your Pain?

November 19, 2020

One of the key things that patients expect when visiting a physiotherapist is a diagnosis. But is a diagnosis necessary,...

Why Chronic Pain is Worse in Winter, and What to Do About It

May 25, 2020

It's a commonly reported phenomenon that people with chronic pain experience worse symptoms in winter. But why would this be?...

Exercising with No Gyms and No Sport

May 7, 2020

The current environment makes it hard for many of us to work as much exercise into our routine as we'd...

Telehealth

March 26, 2020

Modern technology allows for consultations with health professionals to occur via a video link, and this is referred to as...

Five Reasons Physios are Great Help for Chronic Pain

February 28, 2020

People with chronic pain often find it difficult to know where to go for help. They can get conflicting information...

Take Control of Your Back Pain

February 10, 2020

Lower back pain, the majority of the time, is a temporary annoyance that will resolve fairly quickly, sometimes requiring a...

Lateral Hip Pain Can Be a Pain in the Butt!

January 23, 2020

Lateral hip pain, that is pain on the outside of the hip, is a very common complaint, particularly among middle-aged...

The Importance of the Rotator Cuff

November 27, 2019

"Rotator cuff" is a phrase we come across often when talking about shoulder injuries. But what exactly is it, what...

When Kids Need Physio

November 11, 2019

Even kids need physio sometimes. Sure, they're less prone to things like back pain, neck pain and injuries than the...

What Could Be Causing Your Shoulder Pain?

October 30, 2019

The shoulder is a very common site of musculoskeletal pain. We hear terms like "bursitis" and "frozen shoulder" but what...

Tennis Elbow (It’s Not Just For Tennis Players)

October 24, 2019

Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylalgia (which literally means "pain on the outside of the elbow"), is the most common non-traumatic...

Pes Anserine Bursitis

October 9, 2019

Pes anserine bursitis is a seldom thought of, but surpringly common cause of knee pain. The pes anserinus (latin for...

Why Muscles Feel Tight

September 25, 2019

When muscles feel tight, what exactly does that mean? The feeling of tightness in muscles is related to their length...

Pain as a Protector

September 18, 2019

When muscles feel tight, what exactly does that mean? Maybe it's time we stop thinking of pain as simply a...

Does an ACL Tear Need Surgery?

August 29, 2019

Conventional wisdom has been that if you tear your ACL and want to return to sports such as football, soccer,...

Piriformis Syndrome – What a Pain in the Backside!

August 21, 2019

A fairly common cause of buttock pain is piriformis syndrome. Pain from this condition is usually felt in the buttocks...

The Patellofemoral Joint

August 14, 2019

We think of the knee as one joint. And while "the knee" primarily refers to the joint between the femur...

Calf Pain in Runners

August 6, 2019

Calf pain and/or tightness is a very common complaint in runners. While we might be familiar with the concept of...

Load is Good for Tendons!

July 24, 2019

When you get tendon pain then tendency is to rest. Exercise makes the tendons hurt, so resting will make them...

Guiding you Through an Ankle Sprain

July 17, 2019

Ankle sprains are the most common sports injury. One in five patients seen in an emergency room for a sports...

Osteoarthritis

July 10, 2019

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a super common condition causing joint pain. It may effect a number of different joints in the...

Lateral Hip Pain

July 4, 2019

When people come in complaining of "hip pain" they are sometimes referring to the groin, sometimes to their lower back,...

The National Strategic Action Plan for Pain Management

June 21, 2019

Regular readers of these blog posts will know that I'm often banging on about the advancements in our understanding of...

Rupturing an Achilles Tendon

June 13, 2019

Anyone who watched game 5 of the NBA finals a couple of days ago would have seen Golden State Warriors'...

Why it’s Important to have a Strong Glute Max

June 6, 2019

*"Strength" incorporates power generation, endurance and control. These all play a role in preventing different injury mechanisms, but for the...

Golfer’s Elbow

May 29, 2019

I have seen, literally, zero people with golfer's elbow who actually play golf (I have seen golfers that are suffering...

Loading Based Back Pain

May 22, 2019

Load is a common cause of chronic lower back pain (Lower back pain that has lasted longer than three months)....

The Sacroiliac Joint

May 15, 2019

The sacroiliac joint (SIJ) is an often underlooked potential source of lower back pain. It's particularly common to be a...

What is a Physiotherapist?

May 8, 2019

Now there's a big important question that I, perhaps, should have addressed in a blog post earlier. I think there's...

Kinesiology Taping

May 1, 2019

Kinesiology taping has been around since the 1970s, but a surge in awareness of it and its popularity occurred after...

Promoting Recovery After Exercise

April 17, 2019

At this time of year many of us up our exercise levels. Heat's no longer an excuse not to exercise,...

Just What is Bursitis?

April 10, 2019

Bursitis is a common condition. But what is it exactly? You might have a friend that has bursitis of the...

ACL Injuries in Women’s Sport

April 5, 2019

Since the inception of the AFL Women's (AFLW) competition it's seen a high rate of ACL injuries. The injury report...

The Principles of Rehab

March 20, 2019

When we think of what physiotherapists try to do, we generally think about them trying to relieve very immediate symptoms,...

The Pitfalls of Starting a New Exercise Program

March 13, 2019

Overuse injuries are common when you're starting a new exercise regime, or increasing your exercise load. It can be disheartening....

How Muscles Tear

March 6, 2019

Muscle tears and muscle strains are common sporting injuries. Particularly now that we are heading into the winter sports season,...

What We Know About Shoulder Bursitis

February 27, 2019

Our understanding has come along way in recent years, in terms of shoulder pain that in the past we would...

When Work Gives You a Pain in the Neck

February 20, 2019

Many office workers are no strangers to neck and upper back pain. Ever wondered why? Or how to treat or...

Fibromyalgia

February 13, 2019

Fibromyalgia is a condition which causes widespread chronic (persistent) pain, and has associated sleep problems, depressed mood, fatigue and cognitive...

Exercise & Movement Are Best For Back Pain

February 6, 2019

Back pain is one of the most common reasons for presenting to a GP. It's also an enigma. It's less...

The Importance of Buy In

January 30, 2019

I read a post on facebook recently. Someone was asking for recommendations for a health professional, because they'd been to...

What You Need to Know About Neck Sprains

January 23, 2019

It can be a scary experience when it happens, but it's very common. You wake up with pain in one...

What We Know About Back Pain

January 16, 2019

Back pain is a very common condition. Most people will experience back pain during their lives. For many this will...

Pain in the Sole of your Foot and/or Heel? It’s Likely Plantar Fasciitis!

January 9, 2019

Pain in the sole of the foot or heel pain is more common in the summer. "Why?" you may ask....

Plantar Fasciitis or Plantar Heel Pain?

January 7, 2019

This time of year we find more patients are complaining of pain in their heel/s and/or the sole of their...

Making Your New Years Fitness Resolutions Stick

December 22, 2018

As we come to the end of the year, many of us start setting goals for next year. Many of...

Warm Ups & Cool Downs

December 5, 2018

What's the point of a warm up and cool down before and after an exercise session? It's just a time...

The Scoop about Shin Splints

November 28, 2018

You might have heard of shin splints before. They're a fairly common injury, particularly in runners and people playing sports...

What’s a Good Exercise for Back Pain?

November 21, 2018

I get this question all the time. Unfortunately, the answer is complicated. Wouldn't that be nice, if there was an...

Achilles Tendinopathy

November 14, 2018

Also known as Achilles tendinitis, Achilles tendinopathy is a fairly common affliction, particularly in people in their thirties. Runners and...

Is Your Knee Pain From Fat Pads?

November 6, 2018

Those of you with whom I've diagnosed "infrapatellar fat pad impingement" know that it's a tongue-twister of a diagnosis. But...

Keep (Foam) Rolling

October 30, 2018

Have you seen the rise in the use of foam rollers and wondered what it's all about? What does it...

Tight Hamstrings: Is There More to it than Tight Hamstrings?

October 24, 2018

"My hamstrings are always tight." Is this you? Maybe it's someone you know, or multiple people you know. Tightness in...

Growing Pains: Osgood-Schlatter’s & Sever’s

October 17, 2018

Knee pain and heel pain are common complaints in kids, particularly active kids between the ages of 10-14 years. Common...

It’s About More Than Weight Loss: The Many Benefits of Exercise

October 9, 2018

For many people, a big reason for exercising is the desire to lose some excess weight. But for many, despite...

What’s The Deal With Core Stability?

October 3, 2018

You might not know much about your 'core' but you've probably heard that it (and it's stability) is important, particularly...

What Do You Do When You Hurt Your Back?

September 19, 2018

Have you ever had this happen to you? You bend down to pick something up, or maybe you combine lifting...

Vicious Cycles & Breathing

September 13, 2018

I promised more blog posts on specifics related to chronic pain, so here we go. A lot of chronic pain...

Why we Need to do Better Rehab for Ankle Sprains

September 6, 2018

Ankles sprains are the most commonly sustained sporting injury. As an example, between 70-80% of basketball players have had at...

Is Your Headache a Pain in the Neck?

September 3, 2018

Headaches suck. We've almost all had them and they're no fun. A lot of the time headaches don't last too...

What is Chronic Pain and What do We Do About it?

August 31, 2018

The treatment of chronic pain is a particular interest of mine. So I thought I should probably take the time...

Get the Most Out of Sleep

August 17, 2018

We spend around a third of our lives asleep. So just how beneficial is sleep to our health? And how...

How Stretching Works

August 10, 2018

Surely everyone has tried stretching before. But what exactly does stretching do and how does it do it? And how...

Are You Moving Your Shoulder Blade Correctly?

July 30, 2018

Have you ever thought about how you're moving your shoulder blade? The answer's probably no, right? Well you're not alone....

Is Posture Causing Your Back Pain?

July 3, 2018

Poor posture often gets the blame for causing lower back pain. While it probably gets the blame more often than...

Good Acute Injury Management

June 5, 2018

You've sprained your ankle, or strained your calf, or done a similar acute injury. How you manage it in the...