MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK 13th- 19th MAY 2019 This week is mental health awareness week and here at Choice Physio mental wellbeing is something we take very seriously, both our patient’s and ourselves. Over the past year or two on social media mental health and wellbeing has been everywhere and this is a really positive step in addressing the stigma that people still have around mental health. Sadly though and all too often there are still devastating reports of suicides c

DO I USE ICE OR HEAT? THE BIG DEBATE! There is always great debate and confusion amongst patients about whether they should be using ice, heat or both. There are a couple of simple rules with ice and heat to make the decision easier. Generally as a rule if something is hot, red, swollen, therefore inflamed then cool it down. The theory I use with my clients is, “if you want to put out a fire don’t add more fuel to it. If something is already hot don’t make it hotter”. Use ice

Fibromyalgia is a very complex condition which is currently undergoing a lot of research so we as health care professionals can understand it better. In essence it’s a chronic pain condition, generally diagnosed by a Rheumatologist and looked after under a multidisciplinary approach of consultant, GP and Physiotherapist. If put into simple terms, it is diagnosed by a process of elimination. Your GP will test and look for a number of different health conditions which may be ca

There has been a lot of conflicting advice over the years when it comes to stretching. With varying recommendations, it can be hard to know which type of stretching is best and when to do it. Our Head Physiotherapist Katy has condensed the latest research recommendations into 6 top tips for you! 1 – A gentle warm up before stretching increases the muscle and soft tissue temperature, which can facilitate stretching. Examples of warm up activities include jogging or cycling. 2