Women’s Health Physio at the Baby & Toddler Friendly Show

sheffieldphysio — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:13:52 +0000

Vicky Keates, Hallamshire Physiotherapy’s Specialist Women’s Health Physiotherapist, had a good day manning our stall at the Baby & Toddler Friendly Show in Sheffield last Sunday (sponsored by the Baby Friendly Guide: www.the-bfg.co.uk).
Vicky was busy advertising her up-coming monthly antenatal classes: ESSENTIAL PHYSIOTHERAPY FOR PREGNANCY, which will be held at Hallamshire Physiotherapy between 6-7pm on the first Tuesday of every month, starting in December (for more details see her blog on www.womens-health-physio.co.uk). She was also encouraging all mums and mums-to-be to do their pelvic floor exercises. A number of women were lucky enough to be given free decaffeinated teabags (before they ran out!) together with some women’s health advice about how to avoid having problems with their waterworks.
But there was lots other stuff going on as well, with taster sessions, mums and baby activities, a crèche, a nearly new sale and a wide range of stalls selling all sorts from toys and jewellery to prams, photo sessions etc. The programme of events included an interesting session by St John Ambulance about how to give CPR to babies and toddlers, and there were hypnobirthing practitioners talking about how to have a relaxed birth (for example, www.birthpeacefully.co.uk). All very worthwhile!

Bare foot running (by Steve Hodgson PhD, Hallamshire Physiotherapy Clinic, Sheffield)

sheffieldphysio — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:27:56 +0000

The latest craze to hit running is ‘bare foot running’ or ‘minimalist running’. I can see some logic to the idea that by not wearing shoes: it can improve sensation to the foot (and it is the only part of your body to touch the floor-but not always!) and as there is no cushioning in the shoe to absorb the force of the foot hitting the floor you have to modify foot strike and this reduces shock loading to the lower limb. So no problem? Well not so in my clinical experience. For a start most of us have worn shoes since an early age and our soft tissues and bones are not used to this loading and stress. Skin is easily traumatised by rocks, branches and thorns. And we have not even mentioned the dangers of dog fouling!
Additionally, people I see running in bare feet start to use the forefoot to cushion the landing and this only creates stress on the calf and ankle. I would only consider running barefoot on a beach as the sand reduces the stress on landinThe latest craze to hit running is ‘bare foot running’ or ‘minimalist running’. I can see some logic to the idea that by not wearing shoes: it can improve sensation to the foot (and it is the only part of your body to touch the floor-but not always!) and as there is no cushioning in the shoe to absorb the force of the foot hitting the floor you have to modify foot strike and this reduces shock loading to the lower limb. So no problem? Well not so in my clinical experience. For a start most of us have worn shoes since an early age and our soft tissues and bones are not used to this loading and stress. Skin is easily traumatised by rocks, branches and thorns. And we have not even mentioned the dangers of dog fouling!
Additionally, people I see running in bare feet start to use the forefoot to cushion the landing and this only creates stress on the calf and ankle. I would only consider running barefoot on a beach as the sand reduces the stress on landing , but never on normal surfaces.
A superior way of improving running is to change how you run, but continue to wear normal running shoes. We concentrate on the shoe without giving due attention to the pattern of running we adopt above the shoe. How we run is dictated by postures we adopt at work, participating at sport and previous injuries. For example, the 400m runner that always runs anti-clockwise around the track, causes the body to lean to the left and eventually the brain learns this new position and sets it as the new ‘default’. This causes increased loading on the left side of the body and then the runner begins to experience problems in their left groin, hamstring or knee etc. A similar effect is seen with the runners who spend long periods of time sitting in front of computers. Some people who use their mouse in the right hand displace their trunk to the left (or right) to compensate for holding their arm away from the body and this posture is adopted by the brain and they start running in this new position. This will cause increased stress on joints and soft tissues and, more importantly, the abnormal loading through the body reduces running efficiency. Keep your normal running shoes but consider how you run.
Please note, I have not received any payment from running shoe manufacturers!
For more information please go to www.hallamshirephysiotherapy.com
g , but never on normal surfaces.
A superior way of improving running is to change how you run, but continue to wear normal running shoes. We concentrate on the shoe without giving due attention to the pattern of running we adopt above the shoe. How we run is dictated by postures we adopt at work, participating at sport and previous injuries. For example, the 400m runner that always runs anti-clockwise around the track, causes the body to lean to the left and eventually the brain learns this new position and sets it as the new ‘default’. This causes increased loading on the left side of the body and then the runner begins to experience problems in their left groin, hamstring or knee etc. A similar effect is seen with the runners who spend long periods of time sitting in front of computers. Some people who use their mouse in the right hand displace their trunk to the left (or right) to compensate for holding their arm away from the body and this posture is adopted by the brain and they start running in this new position. This will cause increased stress on joints and soft tissues and, more importantly, the abnormal loading through the body reduces running efficiency. Keep your normal running shoes but consider how you run.
Please note, I have not received any payment from running shoe manufacturers!
For more information please go to www.hallamshirephysiotherapy.com

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sheffieldphysio — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:52:00 +0000

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