I’m really excited to be heading to India next month! After speaking at a conference earlier this year I was approached to go and do a short work/teaching placement at an elite Sports Medicine Hospital in Mumbai. I’ll be doing 10 days working in the clinic, which will involve a combination of treating patients (apparently it’s where the Indian Cricketers and Bollywood Starlets hang out), and running daily lectures/seminars on sports injury management.
I’ve never been to India so I’m really looking forward to being able to go someplace new and …

Pictured is the Astronaut Position, which is a great way to relieve back pain. In this post I’m going to discuss the results of a study which has found that when you suffer a back injury you are better off staying active than resting.
Now, it may not seem terribly important, I mean, how bad could a couple of days on the couch be? Well, here are the stats: “more than three quarters of individuals will have a recurrence of their symptoms within a year from the initial onset, and up …

Don’t mean to brag (I actually love bragging), but having been consulted by a lot of World and Olympic champion athletes I can tell you that one of the biggest issues they face is how to prevent recurrence of injuries. When it comes to hamstring tears, there is very strong evidence that we can reduce the risk of suffering one by performing a simple (but incredibly challenging) exercise.
The New York Times recently posted an article outlining how this exercise works. Here’s a great excerpt and a link to the full article. I …

For those of you who aren’t already aware, GP’s can refer you to see an Osteopath under a Medicare scheme covering allied health practitioners. It’s called the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) Scheme and it covers up to 5 treatments per year and refunds you approximately $45-50 of the treatment cost. If you have a “chronic” condition, meaning you have had an injury for a couple of months or more, your GP can refer you under this scheme.
That’s your tax dollars hard at work people – take advantage of it!
If you …

Being a massive nerd, I found this article incredibly interesting. If you’re a sufferer of chronic pain you will find it interesting too. Chronic pain is a very complex situation. It’s a lot more involved than just the same pain you had for a minor injury hanging around for a long time. For example, there can be changes in the nervous system that involve types of nerve receptors that normally report on things like pressure morphing to become pain receptors. What this means is that when you feel pressure in …

I just found a great video on the New York Times website (so highbrow) that demonstrates a number of exercises for improving your ankle stability. This is particularly important for anyone who has ever sprained or injured their ankle ligaments, but I recommend these exercises for anyone participating in sports. Having good stability will help in a number of sports such as running, touch football, soccer, netball, aussie rules (go the mighty Swans!) etc etc etc. It may even come in handy when you’re wearing the wobbly boot after three …

My ongoing quest to become a professional sports star took me to the Dunc Gray Velodrome on Saturday. A few old mates of mine hired the Olympic Velodrome (wasn’t even that expensive) and we did a 1 hour session learning to ride around a cycling track. I could not believe how steep that banked curve is – 42degrees!
I was looking good to become a pro when the coach motioned to me to slow down. I assumed it was because he was worried that my bike was going to disintegrate due …

As you would all no doubt be aware (seeing as I have’t stopped talking about it for the last month or two) I spoke at a seminar in Tasmania last week. After a lot of hard work it went really well. It was a great experience and I learnt a lot, and really enjoyed teaming up with one of my oldest friends, Physiotherapist Toby Watson from North Curl Curl Physiotherapy (previously Brisbane Lions and Tour De France). We had fantastic feedback and have been asked to do a few more …

I just read an article in the New York Times Health section answering a reader query about knee pain when walking down stairs. This is a really common occurrence and I thought the information in the article was pretty good so I’ve posted the link to it here.
Basically, you want to have good strength and flexibility in your knee joint. If your knee is stiff then the joint becomes compressed, so do plenty of stretching. And if your knee is weak or unstable (which can be a sign there is …

After unsuccessfully attempting to become a professional golfer recently, I thought I’d continue to explore what professional sporting options I still have before I’m past it, and so on the weekend I took to Eastern Creek raceway to do a session in the Formula Ford’s. For those who don’t know (like myself before last weekend) these are the cars Mark Webber drove before he got into Formula 1.
The Aim: I figured I’d just nail a few hot laps and sign on the dotted line with, well, whoever would offer me …