October 2023

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Updated on Health

Why Athletes are Turning to Cold Laser Therapy for Nail Fungus

Fungal nail infections thrive in warm and moist environments, like showers, locker rooms or even in ill-fitting shoes. These pesky fungi can easily infect toenails and spread them to other nails or even the skin around your feet.

Lunula uses two beams of laser light to both damage the fungus and help your body clear it. It’s a painless, walk-in, walk-out procedure.

 

1. It’s Painless

Unlike oral antifungals, which can cause side effects such as nausea and stomach pains, laser therapy for nail fungus is completely safe. It also doesn’t require any downtime, so you can resume your regular activities immediately after the treatment.

In fact, it takes less than an hour for a complete nail fungus laser treatment session. It’s perfect if you have a busy schedule and don’t want to take any time off work.

This innovative technology uses a laser beam to vaporise the fungus that causes toenail infections. A handheld device that emits a particular wavelength of light, called the Noveon laser, uses no heat and targets only the fungus. Its fungicidal effect occurs as the laser light passes through the toenail and reaches the inner tissue.

The Noveon laser has a dual wavelength that projects two different colours of near-infrared light at the toenails to selectively kill fungi, without damaging the surrounding tissues or nail matrix. It’s the most advanced laser therapy currently available for nail fungus.

2. It’s Effective

Fungus is a bacteria that overpopulates in moist environments, such as your shoes and socks. It can also enter your toenails through cracks or cuts. It can be very hard to get rid of, especially since the fungus loves warm and wet conditions. Fungus can cause itching, nail discoloration and a foul smell. It’s a pain to deal with, but you can cure it with a new treatment that’s been proven as effective.

The fungus laser machine uses low-level laser light to kill the fungi in your nails. The fungus nail laser machine emits two different types of laser light; one to destroy the fungus on a cellular level and another to increase blood flow and encourage healthy nails to grow. This is the most advanced laser treatment for nail fungus and it is completely safe to use.

Fungal nail laser treatment is significantly more effective than the toxic oral medications and expensive topical treatments. Oral antifungals like terbinafine and itraconazole are only around 60% effective at best and require multiple months of treatment to work. And even with these, you are likely to see the fungus resurface within 12 months. In comparison, cold laser therapy is painless and has been shown to have a higher recurrence rate reduction than traditional treatment methods.

3. It’s Safe

The fungus is vapourised and killed in seconds and the treatment is completely safe for the surrounding skin tissue. It also does not have any of the side effects that are associated with oral antifungals.

In fact, the fungus that causes nail fungus is so hardy that even popular antifungal pills (terbinafine and itraconazole) are only effective less than 50% of the time and carry a risk of liver damage1.

Adelaide Fungal Nail Clinic uses the Lunula Cold Laser treatment to treat fungal nail infections or onychomycosis. The Lunula is the first and only laser nail fungus treatment that is proven to work. The treatment involves passing the laser light over each of your infected nails and is quick and painless. The result is a nice healthy looking nail that will take a few months to grow out and replace the fungus infected nail/s. We recommend that you attend for treatments once a week for four weeks followed by a monthly check up.

The Lunula Laser Nail Fungus treatment is recommended by podiatrists and is a superior option to time consuming nail paints, possible side effects of oral medications and painful hot laser treatments. It is especially helpful for patients who are diabetic or suffer from poor circulation, or are immunosuppressed and at high risk of developing nail fungus.

4. It’s Fast

When fungus is present on the nails it is not only unsightly but also slows down the healing of the nail and can cause pain. This often results in a patient not being as active and the fungus can spread to other toenails and other areas of the foot. Fungus can be difficult to eliminate with oral anti fungal medications as they have serious side effects and the fungus is resistant to them.

Laser therapy has shown to be extremely effective and the Lunula low level cold laser treatment Adelaide is the gold standard in eradicating nail fungus. This device uses two laser beams simultaneously to help destroy the fungus in the nail bed and surrounding skin. The first laser is red (660 nm) which helps to promote healing in the area and the other is blue (405 nm). The blue laser acts directly upon the fungus causing changes in its outer wall and weakening it significantly. This allows the body’s immune system to attack and kill it.

Patients can expect little if any discomfort during the laser nail fungus treatment. There is no need for any anesthesia and this treatment can be done in the comfort of your own home or at clinic. Patients who receive a course of four Lunula laser treatments can expect to have their fungus eradicated and clear healthy nails in about three months.

Updated on News

The Connection Between Mindfulness and Physiotherapy: A Holistic Approach to Healing

Everyone is looking for ways to feel better, manage pain, sleep better, fall asleep faster, or just improve their quality of life. The solutions to these issues range from over-the-counter drugs and supplements, to exercise or yoga, to doctor visits or therapists, or even mindfulness practices. Mindfulness is the practice of being fully engaged with current experiences without judgments or evaluations, a technique that has been shown to have positive effects on health outcomes.

Psychologist Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “a way of living that fosters awareness of and acceptance of the experience of the moment, including emotions, thoughts, body sensations, and physical activity.” There are seven core components of mindfulness: non-judgment, present-moment focus, accepting what is occurring right now, developing compassion for self and others, non-striving, non-reactivity, and willingness to be with difficult emotions or sensations. These skills can be used to reduce stress, improve sleep, and lower blood pressure, as well as promote emotional and mental well-being.

A growing number of studies use mindfulness to improve the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, such as chronic pain and patellofemoral pain (PFP). Mindfulness-based interventions are a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that involves meditative techniques developed to address psychosocial needs. They are designed to promote psychological flexibility and reduce threat appraisals and reactivity, both of which contribute to the development of symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and depression. Why not visit the website www.acealliedhealth.com and find out more about these?

In addition to improving clinical outcomes, mindfulness can also help people adapt to the challenges of living with a condition by increasing self-efficacy and reducing depressive and anxious moods. The evidence for mindfulness-based interventions in these areas is promising, but further research is needed.

This scoping review describes how mindfulness is being used in physical rehabilitation, identifies implications for occupational therapy, and illuminates gaps in current research. The results provide preliminary support that mindfulness can improve urinary incontinence, chronic pain, and vestibular disorders. In addition, the benefits of mindfulness can extend to other functional outcomes, such as quality of life and work-related functioning.

Physio Maiden Gully is uniquely positioned to incorporate mindfulness into their therapeutic approach. Unlike some physical therapies, mindfulness training is highly accessible. It can be done lying down or sitting, does not require a large space or equipment, and is easily modified for individuals of all fitness levels. It is an important part of a comprehensive treatment plan that may also include modalities, education, and counseling.

See also  Physiotherapists: What They Treat and How They Help

Mindfulness can also be used to enhance interpersonal relationships by promoting communication and emotional regulation, particularly in families. For example, when a child is in distress, a parent can encourage the child to describe their internal experience and emotions, which decreases physiological arousal and reduces behavioral reactivity. In turn, this allows for the child to more effectively engage in problem-solving with the parent and increase family cohesiveness. It also helps them understand the impact of their actions on themselves and others. Consequently, the child’s motivation to change their behavior is strengthened.

News

Bunion Treatment – The Best Treatment For Bunions in Australia

 

The best treatment for bunions in Australia is a non-surgical treatment that combines the use of orthotics to provide a ‘bunion-shield’, padding to relieve friction, and an ice pack to reduce inflammation. This type of treatment is available in Adelaide Bunion Clinic and is highly effective at reducing pain and improving the quality of life for people with hallux valgus or bunion deformity.

A bunion is a painful, swollen bump caused by a malformation of the big toe joint, called the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint. A bunion develops when the big toe becomes excessively bent or deviated from its normal position, causing the MTP joint to become enlarged and prominent in the front of the foot. It is a result of abnormal biomechanics and/or poor-fitting shoes that compress the toes and force them into an unnaturally bent position. It can be extremely difficult to walk comfortably and to find footwear that fits well.

Non-surgical treatment options for bunions include changing to shoes with a wide toe box that does not compress the toes, padding to relieve friction and providing a ‘bunion shield’, the use of orthotics to take pressure off the big toe and prevent it from becoming deviated, icing and using anti-inflammatory medications. However, these treatments do not always provide significant relief and often only offer short-term improvements in the symptoms of a bunion.

See also  Exploring Common Foot Problems: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

In addition, these traditional surgical procedures can be invasive and complicated with lengthy recovery periods. Research has found that many patients who undergo bunion surgery are dissatisfied with their results and experience postoperative pain. Furthermore, the surgery can lead to complications such as infection and a recurrence of the bunion.

Fortunately, the field of surgery is evolving to offer less-invasive options for bunion correction that deliver superior outcomes and faster recoveries than the traditional approach. Minimally invasive bunion techniques have become more popular among surgeons, with new devices such as procedure guides and specialized instrumentation offering enhanced reproducibility and patient satisfaction.

The latest advancements in minimally invasive bunion correction allow surgeons to make poke-hole incisions and achieve clinical outcomes that are equivalent to, or better than, open procedures and Lapidus fusions. Stryker’s PROstep MIS platform includes an all-in-one procedure guide that enables the surgeon to perform joint preparation, triplanar reduction, and a three-screw construct that’s engineered to create a tension band effect for biomechanical stability.

The system allows the surgeon to make a single, fixed incision for all components of the operation, enabling precise and reliable screw placement without needing a separate assistant to help with each step. Its intuitive guide also simplifies the procedure, allowing the surgeon to customize adjustment settings easily and with confidence. In addition, the PROstep MIS Business Screw comes pre-packaged and sterilized for immediate surgical use, eliminating the need for additional sterile preparation. This allows the orthopedic device manufacturer to streamline the product and increase the speed of surgery for increased efficiency in the operating room.

News

Understanding the Interplay of Physiotherapy Techniques for Foot and Ankle Pain

The foot and ankle are responsible for supporting and balancing the weight of your body when standing and moving. This makes them vulnerable to injury and pain.

Physiotherapists are trained to diagnose and treat the many issues that can cause foot or ankle pain. These include sprained ankles, fractured bones, arthritis, plantar fasciitis and gout.

Stretching

Your feet are some of the hardest working parts of your body. They serve as shock absorbers, supporting up to one million pounds of pressure per day, and are responsible for propelling you forward with every step. And despite this, they are very sensitive. Having 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 tendons, ligaments and muscles, the foot is especially susceptible to injury.

Using the correct stretching technique, such as those recommended by Physio toowoomba, is essential for reducing pain and inflammation in the foot and ankle. It’s important to note that it is not advisable to perform ballistic stretching, where you bounce into and out of a stretch position, as this doesn’t allow the muscles to properly adjust and relax into the stretched position.

Physiotherapy stretching, such as heel-in heel drops and knee to wall achilles stretches, has been shown to improve symptoms for plantar fascia pain. DiGiovanni et al reported that at an eight week follow up, there was a significant reduction in the pain of plantar fascia pain on first steps and on pain when walking up stairs in the group who were carrying out the specific stretching exercises.

Strengthening

With 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 tendons and muscles, it is no wonder the foot and ankle are susceptible to injury. Whether the cause is a sprain, strain or an injury to a muscle or bone spur, pain in the feet and ankle can be debilitating. A physical therapist is trained to create a personalized treatment plan to help reduce your symptoms and increase your ability to move.

Optimise Health will guide you through a progression of exercises to improve your strength, balance and proprioceptive (joint position sense) awareness. These techniques will help you manage your pain and return to the activities you enjoy. Performing these exercises 3 to 5 times per week will maintain the improvements you have made. This will also help prevent the injury from recurring.

Joint Mobilisation

Joint mobilization, also known as motion palpation assessment technique or movement-based manual therapy, involves the therapist applying pressure at the joints of your feet and ankles that are stiff, swollen or misaligned. This can help improve the mobility of those areas and alleviate pain.

There are a few different types of joint mobilizations but the most common include slow oscillations and fast thrust techniques. The therapist will use a scale to determine which type of mobilization is appropriate, depending on the joint, how well the patient tolerates it and the goals of treatment.

There are a few precautions and contraindications to joint mobilization such as tendon/muscle injury, nerve damage and fracture. However, if performed by a skilled physical therapist, these techniques are generally very safe and effective for most people. They can significantly reduce pain and improve mobility in those with joint dysfunction (hypomobile). The rapid, small amplitude movement creates a “click” sound that is called cavitation.

Manual Therapy

If the tendons or muscles are tight, stiff or not moving correctly then a physical therapist may use manual therapy techniques to break down adhesions and scar tissue. This will help to increase tissue extensibility, reduce pain and inflammation.

The physical therapist will also use myofascial release, which is a hands on technique that targets the fascia (the connective tissue that wraps all of our muscles and bones) and feels around for tight or stiff spots to manipulate and massage to restore pliability. This is a great way to relieve foot and ankle pain caused by bunions, flat feet or plantar fasciitis.

Chronic foot or ankle pain can significantly interfere with your normal daily life and prevent you from doing the things you love to do. Your physical therapist is trained to find the root cause of your pain and get you back to doing the things you enjoy as soon as possible. Along with exercise progression, the addition of manual therapy can improve your recovery and return you to the activities you love sooner.

Updated on Health

Chiropractic and Yoga For Stress Relief

There are some things that go together perfectly – peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, chiropractic and yoga. Both chiropractic treatments and yoga work to improve balance, coordination, strength, and flexibility while improving overall nervous system function.

As muscle tension is relieved, positive hormones like oxytocin are released helping to reduce stress levels. When combined with regular chiropractic adjustments, the benefits are even greater.

1. Increased Flexibility

Yoga combines breath techniques, stretches and poses to offer relaxation and peace of mind to those who practice it. Many chiropractors now recommend this exercise as a way to improve flexibility and body awareness.

Yoga can help strengthen muscles and joints as well. This can make you more resilient to stress and pain. However, before you take up this activity, check with Chiropractor Richmond to ensure it is safe for you.

In addition, yoga can help reduce the level of cortisol in your body. Cortisol is a hormone that increases when you are stressed, helping the body prepare for a fight or flight situation. But, long-term exposure to cortisol can decrease the body’s ability to manage pain and increase the likelihood of a flare-up of your condition.

Yoga can also help with sleep and balance issues that often accompany chronic stress. This may be because the activity encourages you to focus on your breathing and posture, which can reduce anxiety. In addition, the stretching exercises can help your body relax and get better quality sleep. This can be important for your overall health as poor sleep habits can contribute to stress and a low immune system.

2. Better Sleep

Chiropractic is effective for managing stress and anxiety symptoms because it relieves muscle tension, improves spinal function, and promotes overall nervous system function. This helps to reduce the body’s production of cortisol, which is a chemical that increases when we are stressed and can interfere with the brain’s ability to control pain.

In addition to providing physical relief, chiropractic can also teach patients relaxation techniques. Deep breathing and mindfulness practices like meditation can help calm the mind and lower stress levels. These tools are especially useful in reducing neck and back pain associated with stress.

Yoga has long been touted as a healing activity that benefits the mind and body. Research shows that it can help alleviate depression, decrease anxiety and encourages relaxation. Additionally, it can increase flexibility and balance, which reduces stress and strain on the spine and joints.

Similar to chiropractic, yoga helps to align the spine, promotes balance and improves joint function. Regular practice of both activities also helps to strengthen muscles and improve overall strength, which reduces the risk of injuries that can be a result of stress.

3. Increased Strength

There are some things in life that go together perfectly, like peanut butter and jelly or bacon and eggs. Yoga and chiropractic are two such things, they offer complementary benefits when done in tandem. Both help the body to become stronger and more flexible while also relieving tense muscles and encouraging proper alignment.

Many people turn to chiropractic when they are experiencing aches and pains that are the result of chronic stress. When our bodies are under constant stress, it can lead to tight muscles that cause a variety of symptoms, including neck or back pain, headaches, digestive problems, sleep issues and even a sore jaw from clenching teeth.

Chiropractic helps to relieve these symptoms by reducing irritation in the nerves that causes muscles to tighten up. In addition, chiropractors often recommend different lifestyle changes, such as exercising regularly, practicing relaxation techniques and incorporating healthy eating habits, to help patients reduce their stress levels.

Regular yoga sessions can also help to lower the body’s stress levels by reducing the fight or flight response that occurs in the nervous system. When you combine your chiropractic treatments with a daily stretching routine of yoga poses, it can strengthen your muscles and allow the healing process to continue at a faster pace. Chiropractor Carlton can even help you find a suitable yoga instructor in your area.

4. Better Balance

Most people know that reducing stress is good for them, but often struggle to find realistic ways to do so. Chiropractors can provide advice on things that you can do, like improving your posture at work or doing yoga, to lower stress levels. In addition, chiropractors are able to perform spinal manipulations and treatments to reduce pain and improve spinal function.

Yoga also helps to relieve stress by allowing the body to relax and increase flexibility. In addition, it can strengthen muscles to help prevent future injuries from occurring. When chiropractic and yoga are combined, the benefits can be even more extensive.

Atlas Chiropractic Body Clinic is a deeply researched, results-oriented corrective care technique that restores the spine back to health and eliminates pain and nervous and circulatory dysfunction. Atlas Chiropractic Body Clinic is safe, conservative and non-invasive.

Both chiropractic and yoga offer excellent ways to promote balance, ease tight muscles, reduce muscle spasms and improve posture, but they do so from somewhat different approaches. This combination allows each method to complement and reinforce the other, creating a powerful treatment that can bring the mind and body into alignment. Contact us today to learn more about how combining Chiropractic and Yoga can help you Evolve in Balance.

Health

Shock Wave Therapy: Sonic Solutions for Empowering Wellness

Shock waves are mechanical forces that create cavitation bubbles that have a physical impact on the tissue. This increases microcirculation and stimulates healing. It also helps break down scar tissue.

Unlike steroid injections and surgery, shock wave therapy is safe, effective and non-invasive. It has a very good clinical success rate in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain.

What is Shock Wave Therapy?

Developed originally to break up kidney stones (lithotripsy) and later used to treat bone conditions like non-union fractures, extracorporeal shockwave therapy is a noninvasive treatment in which a hand held device emits inaudible high energy sound waves into the body. The resulting mechanical pressure wave damage to the tissue triggers the body’s natural healing response and in many cases relieves pain. Mr Gordon uses the Swiss DolorClast, a state of the art machine with two different settings; radial and focused shockwaves.

These pressure waves are similar to the acoustic waves caused by lightning strikes or the sonic booms generated by airplanes. These acoustic pressure waves stimulate the metabolism, build new blood vessels and promote tissue regeneration. They also induce pain relief by hyperstimulation of the nerve transmission system and disintegrate calcified deposits in the case of tendinopathy.

Shockwave therapy is a great option for patients who have not had any success with more conservative treatments such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), rest, physical therapy or chiropractic care. In addition, it is a quick and cost-effective treatment that can be done without the need for sedation or anesthesia. Patients often experience pain reduction within a week of receiving treatment and have the added benefit of returning to their normal life activities sooner. Patients receive weekly treatment sessions of about 15 minutes each for a total of three to five treatments.

How Does Shock Wave Therapy Work?

A podiatrist Carlingford will use a device that converts compressed air into sound waves. They will then apply a gel to the area being treated and deliver the shock waves over the skin. The shock waves stimulate the healing process and cause a small amount of local inflammation, but this is part of your body’s natural response to heal itself.

The sound waves will also break down calcific deposits. They will create small bursts of pressure that penetrate the tissue and break apart calcifications that are causing pain, stiffness and mobility issues. The treatment will also help to stimulate the production of new blood vessels to improve the circulation to the area and promote healing.

You will likely need a few shockwave therapy sessions to get the maximum benefit. Each session lasts only a few minutes and is relatively comfortable. You may experience a little discomfort at the time of your appointment, but this should go away after the treatment.

Shock wave therapy is a great option for patients who want to avoid surgery and are looking for alternatives to conservative treatments like rest, NSAIDs and physical therapy. It is an excellent choice for those with chronic musculoskeletal problems like plantar fasciitis, lateral tennis elbow and other tendonopathies. It is also a good option for those with spinal or joint calcification who are not candidates for surgical intervention.

What are the Benefits of Shock Wave Therapy?

The shockwaves desensitise nerve endings which can lead to an immediate decrease in pain. They also cause controlled micro-trauma to the tissue which stimulates the body’s own healing response. This is done by forming new blood vessels which increase circulation in the affected area. It also breaks down disorganised calcifications and degenerate tissue which then promotes healing.

Shockwave therapy is a simple treatment which has been shown to be effective in treating chronic tendon injuries such as plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, chronic back pain and chronic shoulder pain due to calcific tendonitis (frozen shoulder). It can often provide a solution for patients who are not responding to NSAIDS or other conventional treatments like injections.

The shockwaves are delivered from a specialist machine through the skin into the affected area. This can be uncomfortable for some people but it is not painful. The shockwaves do not destroy or damage the tissue but instead have a number of therapeutic effects including stimulating the formation of neovascularisation in the affected area, enhancing tenocyte activity, decreasing Substance P which is a neurotransmitter that relays pain signals, and positively regulating inflammation. This stimulates the natural healing process in damaged tissue which is often stalled in chronic and degenerative conditions like calcific tendonitis. In some cases the results can be quite dramatic reducing or eliminating the symptoms of the condition.

What are the Side Effects of Shock Wave Therapy?

Unlike electroconvulsive therapy (ECT or “shock therapy”) you may have seen depicted in movies, shock wave treatment does not cause pain, discomfort, or any physical trauma to the patient. In fact, patients often find it relaxing.

This advanced treatment can be used to treat a variety of painful musculoskeletal conditions in bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. It helps break up soft tissue calcifications, enhances collagen synthesis, and releases growth factors to improve blood circulation and accelerate the healing process. It can help patients avoid invasive treatments such as steroid injections or surgery.

In one randomized controlled trial, researchers evaluated the effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave therapy in shoulders with chronic calcific tendinitis. Using the University of Peloponnese Self-Administered Pain, Functionality and Quality of Life Questionnaire, they measured pain, functionality, and quality of life before, immediately after shock wave treatment, and at four weeks after. The shock wave treatment group experienced significantly more improvement in all three measures than the control group.

The treatment is safe for most healthy adults, but it is not recommended if you have bone tumors, metabolic bone diseases or have poor blood circulation in the area where you would like to receive the shockwave therapy. You should also be aware that shockwave therapy is not a first-line treatment option and you will typically need to undergo at least one course of conservative therapy, such as physiotherapy, before your Castle Hill podiatrist can recommend this advanced treatment.