Basic Spinal Anatomy

If you suffer from back pain, neck pain or headaches please watch this video and check out our website www.elitespinalphysio.com.au

5 Tips to Relieve Headaches

Headaches are very prevalent in Australia with 50% of the population experiencing headaches regularly. They can be very debilitating 

1. Increase your water intake

Dehydration is one of the main causes of headaches. Drink at least 2 litres of water over 2-3 hours when you have a headache. It is important to drink clean water that is high in minerals. This allows your cells to more easily absorb the water and therefore increase your cellular hydration.

2. Increase your thoracic mobility
When your thoracic(upper back) is stiff your head sits further forward. This makes the muscles that run up to the base of the skull work harder than they should, therefore causing them to become tight and sore. Doing thoracic mobility exercises are very helpful. These type of exercises help keep the thoracic spine subtle.

3. Meditate for 5 minutes
This will help your muscles to relax and increase the oxygen levels in the blood if you take some nice deep breathes while you are meditating

4. Take a 20 min break from electronic devices
Over use of electronic devices such as computers, iPhones, etc for extended periods of time can aggravate your neck and strain your eyes. If you already have a headache take a 20 min break where possible. If you are starting to feel your eyes strain look away and focus on something in the distance for 20 sec every 20 minutes. This will stop your eyes fatiguing. 

5. Get your neck assessed by a physiotherapist
Dysfunction in the first three cervical vertebrae can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. These are called cervicogenic headaches. Having these vertebrae gently realigned and your thoracic spine mobilised by your physio will help immensely.





For more information check out our website www.elitespinalphysio.com.au

Physiotherapy for Headaches and Migraines

Headaches and migraines can be very debilitating and affect approximately 50% of the population. 

There can be a range of causes responsible for headaches. Some of the latest research has shown that dysfunction in the top three vertebrae of the spine is a major contributor to headaches and migraines. This is the case is because it has been shown that the brainstem has become sensitised. This means that normal stimuli that is transmitted through the brain stem is interpreted in a different way to normal by the brain.

The areas that transmit stimuli through the brain stem are:

• Neck
• Eyes
• Ears
• Nose and Sinuses
• Forehead
• Sinuses
• Scalp

This is why if one of your triggers is associated with one of the areas mentioned above, dysfunction in the neck may be a causative factor.

Treatment of the cervical spine consisting of gentle mobilisation helps to reduce the dysfunction of the cervical spine, therefore decreasing the sensitisation of the brainstem. This leads to a decrease in heartaches and migraines.

www.elitespinalphysio.com.au

5 Top Tips To Prevent Low Back Pain

Back pain now affects 80% of the population at some point their life. It is debilitating and can greatly affect quality of life if it is not treated properly. 90% of back pain comes from one of the structures of the spine such as the disc, facet joints or sacroiliac joint. Dysfunction within these structures causes the muscles to tighten and cause more discomfort.

1. Keep Active

The spine thrives on movement. Movement within the spine promotes healthy discs and healthy joints. Exercise such as walking is good for your whole body however mobility exercises are vital to preventing back pain. These can consist of pilates, yoga or a well prescribed gym program.

2. Keep Your Core Strong

The core muscles work together to provide stability for the spine. Working on the deep core stabilising muscles is     incredibly important and can make all the difference when preventing low back pain. It is important to not build up the superficial core muscles too much as this actually leads to compression within the spine. The superficial muscles are your ‘six pack’ muscles which are technical called the rectus abdominus muscles.

3. Keep Your Deep Spinal Muscles Strong

The multifidus muscle is a very important muscle group that provides stability between the segments of the spine. It is not worked in traditional back strengthening exercises such as back extensions. The way to get this muscle group strong is by rolling down to touch your toes and then unfurling back up keeping the core muscles switched on.

 4. Avoid Sitting for longer than 1 hour at a time

 Sitting causes compression of the spine. In between every vertebrae is a intervertebral disc. These discs are like soft centred chocolates. They are filled with fluid which allows the disc to act as a cushion between the vertebrae, absorbing impact and allowing comfortable movement of the spine. With sitting causing compression on the spine the fluid slowly leaks out leaving the disc dehydrated  and loss of disc height. This leads to spinal degeneration over time.

By getting up every hour and moving around you are decreasing the pressure on the disc and allowing it to reabsorb.

5. Keep Your Inflammation Levels Low

Inflammation levels within the body can have a large effect on back pain. Due to the world we live in inflammatory levels generally are quite high in the majority of the population. Curcumin which is an extract of turmeric is a wonderful natural anti-inflammatory that can be taken regularly with out the side effects of pharmaceutical anti-infammatories.

Fish oil is also another one of my favourite natural anti-infammatories. When choosing a fish oil make sure you choose one that has been mercury filtered.

Check out our website for more info: www.elitespinalphysio.com.au

Physiotherapy Bondi Junction

About Us

Elite Spinal Physiotherapy and Pilates is Sydney’s premiere spine and headache treatment centre. Our boutique clinic provides client-focused care, with state of the art hands on spinal treatment and tailored Physiotherapist led clinical Pilates sessions.

We offer the complete package. We will teach you how to self manage your problem and get you on the road to recovery.

www.elitespinalphysio.com.au

Our Services Include:     

Back Pain Physiotherapy
Neck Pain Physiotherapy
Headache Physiotherapy
Pre and Post natal Physiotherapy
Clinical Pilates
Post Surgical Rehab
Chronic Pain Rehab

Clinic Info

Elite Spinal Physiotherapy and Pilates is located at 360 Oxford St, Bondi Junction, close to the train station and parking. The entrance is on Vernon St.

Parking

Bondi Junction Westfield has FREE 2 HOUR parking

Gateway Shopping Centre: $2.00  for 2 HOUR PARKING

Street Parking Available