Physiohealth News

Australia Day Triathlon

Fine but windy weather greeted the competitors in the annual Western Suburbs Triathlon Club’s Australia Day event at Altona beach.  The Physiohealth sponsored event saw competitors of all ages and abilities tackle the course in front an enthusiastic crowd.  Physiohealth massage therapist Melanie Grant with Physiotherapists Jacqueline Bolder, Adam White, and Cory Prout greeted the finishers with warm hands and comfortable tables for a well deserved post-race rubdown to assist in their recoveries.  There was certainly sore calves and quads a plenty for the team to work on and it was  great to be on hand to see some of our patients putting all that hard training into practice.  There were also some lucky competitors to win a spot prize consisting of a massage treatment at the Physiohealth clinics to keep them in fine tune while they get back into training.

We look forwards to supporting those in preparation for the upcoming Ironman Melbourne event.

Adam works with Melbourne Victory W-League team

Physiotherapist Adam White has recently returned from a trip to Canberra with the Melbourne Victory W-League team. Adam has been working with the team throughout their season and this latest trip was for the team’s semi-final clash against Canberra United.

Unfortunately, the team was knocked out of the finals with a nail-biting 1-0 loss. Lead by Coach Vicki Linton, the Melbourne Victory was highly regarded for their discipline and technical play during the season. Despite the loss, the Melbourne Victory has had a fantastic season, scoring more goals and winning more matches than any previous season. The team had a fantastic squad including 3 international imports and 6 young ladies who recently represented the Young Matilda’s in Vietnam.

Adam has been kept very busy by the girls who have been put through a gruelling training schedule for several months. While the work has been tough, it has certainly been both rewarding and enjoyable working with such an enthusiastic and energetic group of young ladies. With such a young team, greater things are expected in the coming years. Physiohealth are very proud to support the FFV and women’s football and look forward to further involvement in the future.

Support Stella in raising $5000 for Cystic Fibrosis Victoria

Stella is one of our inspirational patients doing Ironman Melbourne on March 25th 2012.  She is raising much needed funds for CFV.

Stella says:

"I am attempting Ironman Melbourne on 25 March 2012. For those of you who do not know what this entails, its a 3.8km open water swim followed by a 180km bike ride and then finishes with a 42 km run. In doing this event, which will be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, I am raising money for Cystic Fibrosis, because a friend of mine has a little girl dangerously sick with this illness. I want to make a difference in my journey, please help me"

To donate, visit Stella's fundraising page at:

stella barber's fundraising page for Cystic Fibrosis Victoria

Amelia Travels to Sierra Nevada for Altitude Training

Physiotherapist Amelia Tregear has recently returned from a trip to Spain with a group of Victoria’s elite swimmers. Amelia accompanied the eight athletes from Nunawading Swimming Club to Sierra Nevada for an altitude training camp ahead of the Olympic Trials in March.

Athletes underwent three weeks of gruelling training both in the pool and outdoors. Led by strength and conditioning coach; Jeremy Oliver athletes hiked through knee deep snow carrying heavy weights. Needless to say they were eager to get on the massage table in between sessions.

Amelia’s trip to Spain follows her trip to the Isle of Man, UK, for the IV Youth Commonwealth Games where she was the Physiotherapist for the Australian swimming and badminton teams. Amelia’s next trip will be to Hawaii in August 2012 for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

Justin's report from his trip to the Swimming World Cup

Justin McEvoy travelled as the team physiotherapist with the Australian swim team that competed in the Asia world cups during November. The team consisted of some older swimmers seeking their form for another Olympic campaign. Brenton Rickard the world record holder in the 100m Breaststroke, and his closest rival and the 200m breaststroke world record holder Christian Sprenger both trying for their 3rd Olympics. Libby Trickett on her return campaign attempting to regain her “queen of the pool” status and of course Ian Thorpe racing for the first time in over 5 years. There were also a number of young guns Cate Campbell swimming very fast in the 100 Freestyle, Emma McKeon also racing in the female sprint events, her brother David McKeon who has only started swimming seriously in the last 12 months and a young man from Queensland named Cameron McEvoy.

The team competed in Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo, lots of racing and travelling, so the swimmers had many stiff necks, shoulders and hips for Justin to work on. Justin also was assisting some swimmers from other countries when they really needed help and didn’t have there own physio.

The tour was very successful especially for the young swimmers and also some of the older ones. If anyone is interested they can look up the swimming Australia website to see our Olympic hopefuls results over the next couple of months. Olympic Trials are in Adelaide in March.

Physiohealth goes to Ironman 70.3 Shepparton

A group of Physiohealth therapists travelled north to Shepparton for the annual Half Ironman Triathlon last Sunday.  They were on hand to support our ETPA triathletes who had been in preparation for the competition for many months, and many aches and strains later arrived on the start line in good health.  It was a great atmosphere at the transition zone and finish line where the group set up in prime position to see the competitors running through to complete the 113km course of swim ride and run.

The conditions toughened up on the bike when the wind picked up and the temperature rose steadily during the run leg to make the course a challenging one for all, but particularly ETPA’s very own CAPTAIN TRIATHLON, who despite an overheating problem in his superhero attire, managed to finish on strong and show everyone how it should be done- no cement required, just a few ice blocks!

Congratulations to all who competed and completed the grueling event and we look forwards to assisting the ETPA athletes in their preparations for Busselton and Ironman Melbourne.

To contact ETPA please visit http://www.etpa.com.au

Physiohealth go to Swimming World Cup

The Australian swimmers have travelled to Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo for three world cups to start race practice against the rest of the world. In Singapore the Australians were superior. Ian thorpe has returned to the pool after a 5 year hiatus and is swimming well. In Singapore he raced in two events that he is not known for but were a great ice breaker for him. He swam in the 100m medley and the 100m butterfly showing his ability to compete in all strokes at international level. Young Australians, David McKeon, Emma McKeon, and Cameron McEvoy, Performed very well being part of the Australian Gold medal haul. Justin McEvoy from PHYSIOHEALTH, is the team physiotherapist, with the responsibility of assisting the swimmers cope with their race work load.

Race Report – 2011 Melbourne to Warrnambool
by Adam Murchie

Interesting conditions greeted the 220 starters for the Melbourne to Warrnambool, the second such year that riders have faced rain and wind. This year however, the wind would be from the southwest – the worst kind as it means a direct headwind for almost the entire 262kms of the race. The Bikebug.com – Forza Capital team was prepared and everyone was going well after a specific block of training in readiness for this race. The team comprised of Aaron Salisbury, Adam Murchie, Ben Johnson, Dave Mulhall (guest rider) and Trav Nuttall. The first 20 kms were hectic with a number of early attacks but nothing that would stick. Coming to the first sprint, Murchie used local knowledge to jump ahead with another rider and take out second place – a few $ in the kitty.

There was a nervous moment about 30kms in when the race split in the crosswind. We were in the second group on the road but there was no panic as it was way too early for a move of this nature to stick. The race came back together and shortly after a group of 5 riders managed to sneak off the front. The thing is, Warrnambool is a long way with a block headwind so the old hands were content to just sit in the bunch and wait for them to detonate. The break may have gone out to 5 minutes but the race hadn’t even started.

It was clear the race was going to be on after the second feed station at Lismore and this sense proved to be correct, especially as the final remnants of the break were picked up just after the feed. It was essential to have a good position going through the feed, not only to ensure you miss discarded drink bottles, fallen riders and inexperienced campaigners trying to work out what was going on but also to ensure you were prepared for the inevitable attacks.

As soon as the race turned left, we went into a strong crosswind and all the strong teams started appearing at the front of the bunch. The race split in almost exactly the same place as last year. And this year it was the Bikebug.com – Forza Capital team helping to animate the race. After a series of attacks, Murchie countered and got up the road a little. This move was covered by Nathan Haas who then countered and split a small group off the front which also contained Ben Johnson. This was good as the field was starting to string out and fragment. After watching and waiting, Murchie attacked again and rode across to the break. Aaron Salisbury made a huge effort to get across which then gave us 3 in the lead group – a good sign.

Unfortunately, with a few guys sitting on there was a little bit of gutter action as the guys working tried to give the guys sitting on a few reasons as to why they should work turns. This is a fairly blunt negotiating tool but it did help motivate a few riders to start working. Unfortunately, it resulted in the loss of Ben Johnson who was caught in the cross fire and went back to the second group. Huge ride by BJ though in managing to pick the right move.

By now, the front group was about 25 riders strong and read likes a who’s who of the racing scene. The bunch was working well and we were fast approaching the two climbs at Camperdown that help animate the latter stages race. By this stage, Aaron was cramping and was trying to preserve himself. Nathan Haas assisted Aaron’s recovery by drilling it on the long climb and stringing out the whole field. Murchie was managing to hold himself at third wheel and over the top of the climb was able to cover a move that was initiated by Joel Pearson. Hitting the second, and very steep, climb Murchie was well positioned and hit the gas about half way up to get a gap which he was able to hold to the top of the climb to claim the Victorian 200km Championship. Some more $ in the kitty and a Championship but the main prize is still to come…….

Unfortunately, Aaron succumbed to cramp, and the earlier effects of Hass’ kind assistance, on this climb and started slipping back to the second group on the road. Up front, the action was heating up as the lead group turned left onto the highway for the final 60kms. Almost immediately the attacking started. Somehow, Mark O’Brien, Top Leaper and Matt Lloyd managed to get across on the climbs which was a staggering effort. Leaper and Lloyd have ridden 5 Giro’s between them so they are classy riders and O’Brien had just come off a huge ride in last weekends Grafton. Not the kind of guys you really want to see roll onto the back of your bunch.

There was a lot of attacking and counter attacking for the next 40 kms but nothing was sticking. Murchie was covering the dangerous moves and initiating a few of his own but there were simply too many Genesys and Search2Retain riders to try and escape. With 20kms to go, Pearson slipped off the front with Luke Fetch and got a gap. As they are Genesys and Search2Retain riders respectively, their teammates were just marshalling the bunch. Murchie had a serious dig at one point and got some way across the gap only to be closed down. The two riders were dangling just off the front but no counter move was allowed to go.

At this point, Murchie decided to take the wheel of Tom Leaper who was in sensational form and capable of closing the gap with his eyes closed. This bloke has legs like they have been chiselled out of granite and most pros would pay good money to have a set just like them. The group was starting to get a little nervous and with some further gutter action everyone was riding in the gravel on the side of the road trying to get a sit. This is where you try not to think about what you are riding over on your $2000 race wheels and $200 tyres….. At about 8km to go Leaper punctures – very unfortunate given how good he was looking. A further 500m up the road, Murchie punctures – more unfortunate still!!

Trying to remain calm, Murchie drops the gear into the 11 cog, puts the hand up – the universal sign of a puncture - and pulls to the side of the road. Stopping, he pulls out the wheel and holds it up. Unbelievably, all the spares vans drove past leaving Murchie on the side of the road. Left with no alternative, Murchie puts the flat rear wheel back in and rides it for the next 3 kms until he manages to convince someone of the side of the road with a bike on the car roof that he needs their wheel.

After the necessary wheel change, a very frustrated Murchie limped to the finish to register 24th place, 5 minutes down on the winner (of which at least 4 were spent standing on the side of the road). This result, whilst OK, was not the result obtainable given that with 7km remaining an upset may have been possible. Salisbury, Johnson and Nuttall all rode brilliantly to finish in the second group which gave the Bikebug.com – Forza Capital team four riders in the top 30. This is a huge result given the calibre of National Road Series teams at the race.

A huge thanks to everyone who has supported us this year – Bikebug.com, Argon 18, Fast Forward, Forza Capital, PhysioHealth and Club Warehouse. We look forward to doing some damage now on the local circuit and continuing to fly the flag.

Jacqueline Travels with Victoria Squads

The town of Coffs Harbour recently played host to the Football Federation Australia’s (FFA) National Youth Championships. Four Victorian teams (U/13 Country, U/13 Metro, U/14 Country and U/14 Metro) comprised of talented young males competed against teams from around the nation in a 5 day round-robin style tournament. Each team played one or more matches daily, competing as a team for the championship trophy and competing individually for a position in the All-Stars team.

One of our physiotherapists, Jacqui Bloder, travelled with the team as part of a group of professionals dedicated to optimising the performance of these young athletes in the gruelling tournament. Jacqui worked closely with the coaching staff, sports scientists and massage therapists in the daily pre-match preparation and post-match recovery sessions to keep the boys performing at their best.

Overall Victoria performed exceptionally well, earning praise from the FFA’s National Technical Director, Han Berger, for their newly developed possession based style of football. Of the 40 individuals selected to play in the All-Stars team, 8 were from Victoria. Furthermore, the coach named to lead the U/13 All-Stars team was Ivan Jolic, the Victorian U/13 Metro head coach. If this wasn’t enough to do our state proud, both the U/13 player of the tournament and the U/14 player of the tournament were Victorian representatives. With all this up and coming talent Australian football is destined to continue to shine in future years. It was a pleasure to work with such enthusiastic and talented young boys as well as the friendly and dedicated staff of the Football Federation of Victoria. Physiohealth are proud to support the FFV and look forward to an ongoing partnership.

2011 State Teams Age Short Course Championships

In mid-September Jacqui travelled with a group of Victoria’s best junior swimmers to the “2011 State Teams Age Short Course Championships” held in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport.  The competition sees the Australian states and territories go head-to-head in a variety of individual and relay events to score points for their state. The swimmers competed intensively in four sessions packed into less than 48 hours. Jacqui helped to keep the injured and the sore competing at their best, even lending a helping hand to an injured Queenslander.

Victoria proved to be an impressive side with a many athletes placing in the top three and even claiming a number of Championship records. One Victorian, Mack Horton was named “Male 14/15 Swimmer of the Meet.” Our state placed third overall with 1649 points behind Queensland (2060 points) and New South Wales (1900 points), bridging the gap on New South Wales from previous years. Physiohealth hopes to continue to support up and coming Victorian swimmers in their continued effort to match the New South Wales and Queensland teams in the “State Teams Challenge” in future years.
 

Marg Hillis Level 3 Sports

Marg Hillis recently passed the level 3 sports course after attending a grueling 8 days of lectures and practical sessions at the home of sport - the Australian Institute of Sport. The course was run by leading sports physiotherapists and physicians and was attended by a chosen few physiotherapists nationally.  Our sporting styles including running and swimming were analysed by eminent sports people. Knowledge gained from this experience will further enhance the management of our athletes. It will also assist with understanding and treating all sporting injuries.

Book In Now For a Naturopathy Session! 

Feeling off colour?  Having trouble sleeping? 
Want to speed up your healing time?  Or just want to shift those stubborn kilos? 
 

Contact Julie Curran at julie@naturoway.com.au or 0422 684 052 to make an appointment. 

What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy integrates conventional health sciences, with a range of natural therapies and traditional medicines, to treat a person as a whole. This is achieved by assessing all aspects of the individual’s health, including their physical, mental and emotional state.

Naturopathy acknowledges the importance of identifying the underlying causes and triggers which may be inhibiting further improvement of an individuals’ overall health status.

Naturopath Vs Nutritionist?

The 4 year Naturopathy degree included all the subjects in the 3 year Nutrition degree, PLUS herbal medicine, flower essences, massage and more advanced subjects.  

What services do I have to offer?

I will encourage the ‘healing power of nature’ which utilises the body’s own healing properties along with naturopathic treatment to support and stimulate the body to repair itself and recover from illness.

• I will utilise a combination of natural therapies and healing techniques including:
• Herbal medicine (tinctures, tablets and herbal teas)
• Nutritional supplements (powders, tablets, liquids, creams)
• Dietary advice
• Ear candling (great for frequent flyers/divers, headaches, sinus problems, tinnitus, snoring)
• Lifestyle advice
• Aromatherapy
• Relaxation Massage using Essential Oils

Naturopathic diagnostic techniques such as:

• Hair, tongue and nail analysis
• Blood pressure
• Iridology
• Blood type testing
• Bacterial Infection testing
• Weight measurements
• Other medical tests and assessments (including stool, urinary, blood, liver function etc)

These, together with a detailed case history, form the basis of the therapeutic care plan.

I will endeavour to educate, empower and support you to take a more active approach in your own health care.

You can be assured that I have a Bachelor of Health Science (Naturopathy) Degree and a certificate IV in Massage. I am professionally registered with the National Herbalists Association of Australia. Their Continuing Professional Education Policy is designed to ensure its practitioners regularly update their clinical skills and professional knowledge.

I will work in conjunction with your other health care providers to ensure a safe and combined approach.  Private health rebates are available with most funds.

What are my specialties?

Although, I have the tools to treat or at least support all conditions, I specialise in the following:

• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Hormonal Imbalance
• Tissue repair and wound healing
• Natural alternatives to anti-inflammatories and pain relief
• Digestive conditions
• Allergies
• Skin conditions
• Immune and sleep support will also tie in with these as they are a key aspect of treatment.

Physiohealth Mount Waverley moves to great new rooms!

As you know we have been bursting at the seams at our Mount Waverley rooms, so we have moved to a fantastic new location! The new rooms are only 5 minutes away at 299 Blackburn Rd Mount Waverley and are known as “Proactive Physiotherapy” but will soon be re-branded to Physiohealth.

Our great new facility if freshly renovated and has plenty of space, a huge waiting area with comfortable couches, an exercise area and it even has a coffee machine! There is also plenty of onsite parking and we can’t wait for you to come and experience it all.

Our whole team has moved down to the new rooms and we are also extending the Nunawading aquatic sessions with the introduction of our newest Physio, Scott Rolph. He is another swimmer that some of you will already know so if you can’t find him in the rooms he will probably be in the pool! Dave Morarty will still be available but at the new rooms while Scott and our fantastic Myotherapist Celia Glewis will be available if the Aqualink location is more convenient.

As our Group of practices is growing and our services and opening hours keep extending you can rest assured that, as always, our focus is clearly on getting you back to your sport, work or play as soon as we can by giving you the best care possible with our team of highly dedicated and skilled physiotherapists.

We have plenty of available times and locations so contact us today or call into the new rooms to discuss your injury treatment or preventive therapy.

Physiohealth working with Athletics Victoria

Physiohealth was invited by Athletics Victoria to assist in the testing of the young athletes in it's 2011 AVIS squad in July. Physiotherapists Cory Prout and Jacqueline Bloder traveled to Geelong with the squad and conducted a thorough musculoskeletal screening on each athlete to identify deficiencies in strength, flexibility and control in order to maximize their performance and limit injury. The 80 athletes screened all had areas to improve on and benefited  from the expert information provided by Jacqui and Cory.  Physiohealth looks forwards to assisting Athletics Victoria and their athletes again in the near future.

If you are interested in being assessed, this can be conducted on request by Physiohealth staff at any of our clinic locations around Melbourne.

Richard Dallalana presents at Physiohealth

Physiohealth was fortunate enough to have recognized upper limb and knee surgeon Mr Richard Dallalana present at last week’s in-service.  He managed to squeeze us in between some other international presentations he had scheduled.   Mr Dallalana informed the group of Physiohealth physiotherapists about the latest arthroscopic techniques in use for the repair of SLAP tears in the shoulder, and fielded a variety questions about a number of other shoulder conditions.  It was a very interesting topic and certainly valuable for the physios to hear a surgical perspective on the management of this type of shoulder injury.  We thank Mr Dallalana for his time effort in preparing this lecture for us.

Cory Returns

Physiohealth saw the return of Australian Swim Team Physio Cory Prout to the clinic after a successful overseas trip with a squad of Aussie swimmers in their preparation for the upcoming World Champs in Shanghai.  After a period of altitude training in Mexico, the squad all competed well at the Santa Clara International meet and posted some excellent times in their events.  Cory managed to keep them all in good enough shape to recover from the hard training and race well against the best of the Americans at the high quality USA Grand Prix event. Megan Nay swam the second fastest time of the year in the 200m backstroke to win and Stephanie Rice was quickest for the year in the 400 IM.  They both look to be good medal chances for the worlds in a few weeks time.  Bronte Barrat also looks to be a contender in the freestyle events.

After a successful 3 weeks Cory was glad to return home from the Californian summer to Melbourne’s wintery weather.

Cory and Australian swimmers heading to Santa Carla

Cory has completed the first leg of his overseas trip with a squad of Australian swimmers preparing for the upcoming World Championship in Shanghai. The group, which includes Meagan Nay, Kenrick Monk, Ryan Napoleon, Bronte Barrat, Mitch Larkin and Stephanie Rice first travelled to La Loma altitude training centre in San Luis Potosi for 3 weeks of steady training before moving on to Santa Clara in California for the annual swim meet.

The altitude not only proved a challenge for the swimmers with their training but also for Cory who continued his running sessions in preparation for Team Physiohealth's assault on this year’s City to Surf in Sydney. He certainly found breathing at 1900m above sea level hard work running the hills around the complex.

They now fly on to Santa Clara where they will train at Stanford University for their final pre-race training sessions.

Swimming Australia Professional Therapies Seminar

Justin, Amelia and Cory all attended the Swimming Australia Professional Therapies Seminar on the Gold Coast last weekend. It was a great opportunity for all therapists involved with Swimming Australia to get together and listen to some excellent presentations about latest developments and research in the management of swimming specific conditions. They had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Simon Bell, and excellent Melbourne based orthopaedic surgeon, fellow Australian team physiotherapist Craig Botcher about his research findings on the rotator cuff, and research guru Carrolyn Richardson about new approach for the activation of stabilizing muscles when exercising. The afternoon brainstorming session was well contributed with Justin presenting his new technique for mobilization of lower back and hips, Amelia demonstrating the important link between the anterior cervical spine and shoulder range of movement and Cory discussing some swimming specific exercises for pelvic control.

A good weekend was had by all and we look forwards to seeing this event continue in the years to come.

New at Physiohealth – Psychological Services

From May 2011, Psychologist Dr Tarah Kavanagh will be joining the Physiohealth team. Tarah has specialised training in sport, performance, exercise, injury rehabilitation, and general counselling. She works with athletes and coaches at various levels, of different ages, across many different sports. She also works with students, teachers, performing artists, public speakers, individuals working in high pressure environments, managers and organisations interested in high performance, individuals who are ill or undergoing physical rehabilitation, individuals interested in exercise and health, individuals interested in enhancing their mental wellbeing, and individuals needing confidential assistance for personal issues. She combines over 20 years experience as an athlete, coach, and psychology consultant to AFL clubs, professional athletes, national sporting organisations, sports academies, schools, universities, and corporations. Outside of Physiohealth, Tarah is currently working at the North Melbourne Football Club, Maribyrnong College Sports Academy, Victoria University, and Athletics Australia. She also still finds time to do some tennis coaching on the side!

Tarah will be consulting from Williamstown Physiohealth. If you think Tarah may be able to assist you, please contact our office.

Zoot Triman Triathlon

A blend of age and youth from the Physiohealth team headed down to Torquay for the Zoot Triman Half Ironman event in support of the ETPA team. Newcomers to the team Jacqui and Tate helped out stalwarts Justin and Little Dave in blustery conditions on the foreshore of Zealy Bay. Physiohealth, who are proud sponsors of Mat Tippett’s team Elite Triathlon Performance Australia enjoyed hearing the stories of pain and hardship that these athletes experienced over the 1900m swim, 90.1km ride and 21.1km run. It was a great way to help the recovery of the athletes and Physiohealth would like to wish all the athletes heading to China the very best!

 

Dressing Up

Friday 18th March saw physios Sharbil Wehbe and Zoe Agar attend the Melbourne Victory Medal Night at Crown Palladium, for their work with the W-League and Youth League teams. It was a very different environment with players and staff dressed to impress, to be rewarded for their efforts during the season.

The youth league medal was presented first, with Matthew Foschini taking away the youth team player of the year.

The women had their turn next, with Steph Catley receiving the award for best young player. Steph again was up on stage to receive joint honours for player’s player with Ella Mastrantonio. The medal for best player went to international Kendall Fletcher, who unfortunately wasn’t present to receive the award, but sent an acceptance video from the USA.

Overall, a successful night with great times had by all.

For more Physiohealth news and articles, visit the Physiohealth News Archive