A Quick Introduction to Pain Science
Let’s face it, pain sucks. Period. It can put a damper on our performance, may it be physically, mentally, and or emotionally. But what is pain? How does it work? Why does it function as such?
Your Symptom is the Tip of the Iceberg
I can still clearly remember a poster I saw as a child in a healthcare clinic. It was a beautiful poster of an iceberg where you could see the exposed tip and the much greater mass underneath the water surface. It read, “Your Symptom is the Tip of the Iceberg”. At the time, the true […]
Tendon Rehabilitation: Is it ok if my home exercises hurt?
A common question we get asked in clinic regularly is if the prescribed home exercise should hurt when they’re done. The answer is everyone’s favourite: “It depends.” Professor Hakan Alfredson, an orthopaedic surgeon, was a pioneer in tendon research who stumbled upon a treatment for tendon pain when he developed a painful Achilles tendinopathy (photo […]
Good Pain vs Bad Pain
Getting back into shape, taking care of your body, running that first half marathon…..all great goals. But, with an abundance of excitement and eagerness to tackle these goals, sometimes we go a bit too hard and our bodies pay for it in the form of pain. Isn’t this just normal though and part of the […]
Referred Pain
Here are some scenarios I see as a massage therapist: “I had this chest pain that radiated to the arm last week but had gone to emergency and had all of the tests and nothing could be found.” Or “I have low back pain that keeps recurring intermittently for the last few years. But no […]
Shoulder Pain
This time of year, we start seeing a lot of shoulder injuries pop up as volleyball, baseball, and ultimate seasons start up. Although we’ve been waiting all winter to get back into action, we have to remember that we don’t go from zero to hero in one day. So try these few pointers to get […]
Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness
You just finish a great workout. Your muscles are warm, your heart rate is up, and you feel pumped up. You’re feeling energized with a sense of accomplishment. The exercise gives you gratifying deep and restful sleep at night. You wake up the next day and BAM! You feel stiff and sore and the simple […]
Stop getting on my nerves!
Our nervous system spans the entire body through a series of mobile and adaptive conductors. We typically divide the nervous system into the central nervous system – brain, brainstem and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system which basically covers everything else. Our peripheral nervous system encompasses the nerves that relay commands to affect or […]
5 Common Sources of Knee Pain
I’m sure that many of you have heard of various knee dysfunctions from patella femoral pain syndrome, IT band friction syndrome,and patellar tendonitis to name a few. What many people don’t know however, is that the cause of knee pain almost always is coming from dysfunctions in other parts of the body. In today’s blog […]
Does pain = injury?
So you just woke up and your neck was hurting for some reason. You go to see your favorite therapist or doctor for some relief. You are in pain and not happy about it. Your practitioner treats you and advises you to move your neck around every so often even if it hurts. Wait a […]