Hints and Tips during Study Time

Helpful Hints and Tips during Study Time

The annual ‘Exam Season’ has officially kicked off with almost 60,000 Leaving Cert students tackling the Oral Examinations in the last few weeks. In this blog our Chartered Physiotherapist in New Bridge, Co. Kildare, Ronan Buckley, gives us his tips on how to avoid exams becoming more of a pain than they need to!

Whether you are studying for the Leaving, college exams or getting stuck into your Thesis, the coming weeks will probably involve spending long nights hunched over books and computers, surrounded in sheets of A4 paper and cups of tea.

The tips below are designed to insure you’re not physically as well as mentally drained by the time summer holidays come around.

Organize Your Environment:

 Sitting on your bed or floor surrounded in papers encourages poor posture. Sitting hunched over encourages rounded shoulders and a forward head posture which can lead to muscles getting tight or weak. Neck or low back pains are bound to follow. So set yourself up with a good chair and desk and organize your space so that you have sufficient room to work.

Chair:

Get yourself a chair that is comfortable but not too comfortable!! Recent studies have shown that slight amounts of muscular tension increase efficiency and accuracy in mental work. A chair which promotes good posture is a better choice than a recliner or waterbed!!

A good posture when sitting would involves:

Feet flat on the ground. Hips level or slightly above knees. Back supported by back rest – if it isn’t roll up a towel to fill the gap Forearms should be supported by either the arm rests or the desk, but your shoulders should not be forced up towards your ears.

Desk:

The height of your desk should be such that your elbow is just below the desk top when writing. If using a computer, the middle row of the keyboard should be in line with your elbow, meaning your forearms are parallel to the floor. If writing, try and use a writing slope. This keeps your head upright and encourages spinal balance. If taking notes keep the book within your field of vision.

Breaks:

Make sure to take regular breaks (at least every hour). Get up, walk around, do a few stretches, get the blood circulating. At the end of the day humans are built to move. No matter how much attention we pay to sitting posture, sustained static positions cause muscular imbalances, pain and stiffness. So when your mum is giving you grief that you’re on yet another break – tell her you’re following physio advice!

Listen To Your Body:

Before you develop problematic posture related pains, there will of course be some alarm bells– so listen to them!! That ache in your back isn’t going to go away unless you change something. Make adjustments to your environment, take more breaks or come and see your local physiotherapist because preventing injuries is a lot easier then healing them.

OK thanks for reading, but it’s time to stop surfing the net and go back to the books now…..or maybe you should check facebook again, just for five more minutes…..!?!

Below is a posture-check that you should try to adhere to. Good luck in your exams, the finish line is in sight!!

Neck Pain Treated

How Is Neck Pain Treated?

The key principles in treating neck pain involve

·         Selectivity and specificity of exercise

·         Early rehabilitation

·         Pain-free rehabilitation

·         Rehabilitation for prevention of reoccurrence

How Can Exercises Help? 

Exercise has been shown to improve neuromuscular impairments in people with neck pain however the type of exercise selected should be based on careful and precise physiotherapy assessment of these neuromuscular changes and therefore be specific to the impairments of the presenting patient.

This type of exercise usually commences early in the rehabilitation process and is used in combination with ‘hands on’/manual therapy if required; these exercises do not provoke pain and are designed to address the specific changes that have been identified via assessment in the muscle and neuromuscular system.

Exercises Used:

The types of exercises used:

·         target and activate the deep cervical muscles

·         retraining the endurance capacity of deep neck muscles

·         retrain the patterns of activation of the deep and superficial neck muscles

·         re-educate the use of muscles in posture and in functional tasks

·         address the strength and endurance  for functional requirements

Education and explanation regarding the rationale behind the treatment approach are a large component of this physiotherapy treatment as the patient’s compliance and contribution to the exercise program is critical.

Neck Pain

 Neck Pain?

We have all experienced neck pain to some degree- it may be brought on from sitting at a computer the whole day, from playing sports or possibly from an accident. Neck pain is a relatively common complaint, affecting up to 70% of individuals at some point during their life. Approximately 40-50% of the population suffers neck pain in any one year. Our Chartered Physiotherapist Niamh Connolly discusses the problem and some measures by which to reduce the chance of the problem occurring.

It tends to be a persistent and recurrent disorder where approximately 60% of individuals can expect to get some degree of on-going pain following their first episode.

The aim of physiotherapy rehabilitation of neck pain is to prevent a first episode from turning into chronic (>3 months) or recurrent pain.

The Neuromuscular system is one of the main reasons why people get a re-occurrence of their neck pain. The neuromuscular system is composed of nerves and muscles, these allow for innervations and movement of the muscles in the body. When a person undergoes pain and injury the strategies to control movement, posture and stability are compromised.

If neuromuscular function is altered this can cause:

·         Delayed activation of neck muscle

·         Changes in muscle size

·         Changes in muscle composition

·         Impaired postural endurance

·         Altered muscle activation movement

All of which can lead to neck pain

Some examples of this type of altered function would be:

A reduced ability to maintain upright posture during a computer task, this reflects a low level of endurance in the muscles required to control the postural function of the spine, and over time if this is a repetitive position eg office / desk related job this may lead to neck/ shoulder pain.

Constipation

Constipation:

What causes Constipation?

1.Inadequate water intake
2.Inadequate fiver in the diet
3.A disruption of regular diet or routine
4.Traveling
5.Inadequate activity of exercise
6.Eating large amount of dairy products
7.Overuse of laxatives

Rx,
1.Syp. Lactulose 1/2 spun 2/3 daily
2.Tab. Seclo 20mg 1+o+1 /1 month

Back Pain

What Is Back Pain?

The spine is made up of 4 regions, the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid back), lumbar (low back) and sacral (base of spine). The bones that make up the spinal column are called vertebrae, with discs in between. Ligaments, muscles and tendons surround the spine to provide support and stability, and to control movement. So back pain problems can be complex.

Through our comprehensive back pain diagnosis, our Physiotherapists are specifically trained to accurately diagnose the cause of back pain and then put in place the most effective treatment plan.

How We Can Help?

We assess and treat large number of back pain patients every day and use the latest treatment techniques to help our patents, including:

• Joint Mobilizations
• Manipulative Physiotherapy
• Traction
• McKenzie Therapy
• Mainland Techniques
• Specific Core Stabilization Exercises
• Electrical Modalities 
• Thermal Modalities
• Postural Advice

• Acupuncture
• Dry Needling
• Massage
• Exercise Techniques & Stretches
• Ergonomic Advice
• Lifting Techniques
• Self-Management
• Preventive Advice 

Ultrasound therapy::

                            Ultrasound therapy::

     

Ultrasound therapy is an electrotherapy which has been used in physiotherapy practices for many years. It is mainly used for its non-thermal effect where high frequency sound waves cause vibrations and movement of cellular fluids.

Proposed benefits of ultrasound therapy include improving the healing rate of certain soft tissues.

Common Injuries Treated With Ultrasound::

• Bursitis
• Tendinitis
• Muscle Strain and tears
• Osteoarthritis
• Ligament and tendon injuries

How it works?

A small amount of gel will be applied to the body part to be treated. A transducer (sound head) which is attached to the ultrasound machine will be placed onto the gel and moved in small circles by the physiotherapist. The physiotherapist will set the machine to deliver the appropriate depth and intensity of sound wave required.

You will most likely not feel anything happening throughout the ultrasound treatment. If you do experience discomfort or pain let your physiotherapist know immediately.

How safe is it?

Ultrasound therapy is a safe and innocuous treatment technique. However there are situations when ultrasound therapy is not appropriate. Your qualified physiotherapist will ensure that it is an appropriate technique for you and discuss it with you.

Contraindication:

Certain examples where it would definitely not be used are; over body parts with cancer, in pregnant women and in children.

Indication::

Studies have shown that ultrasound therapy can improve symptoms and healing in various soft tissue conditions.

TENS

                              TENS:

TENS is widely used around the world for a variety of painful conditions such as;

·         Arthritis

·         Low back pain

·         Labor pain

·         Nerve related pain such as phantom pain

How does TENS work?

A small electrical device (think back to the days of the Walkman!)

delivers electrical impulses across the skin.  Lightweight versions

not much bigger than a credit card are available these days. This

can be clipped to your jeans or placed in your pocket.

·  The device is connected by wires to sticky pad electrodes, which are placed on the skin in the area of the pain. This allows a small, low-intensity electric charge to be passed across the area.

Electrotherapy in Physiotherapy Treatment:

   Electrotherapy in Physiotherapy Treatment:

Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment in medicine; the term electrotherapy can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain simulators for neurological disease. The term has also been applied specifically to the use of electric current to speed wound healing. Additionally, the term "electrotherapy" or "electromagnetic therapy" has also been applied to a range of alternative medical devices and treatments.

TENS::

TENS users should experiment with various electrode placements. Electrodes can be placed over the painful area, surrounding the painful area, over the nerve supplying the painful area, or even on the opposite side of the body. TENS users need to try the unit for several days with several electrode placements prior to deciding if it will be useful. A home trial for several days to weeks is preferable.

Hydrotherapy

                                                            Hydrotherapy: 

Aquatic therapy is a type of physiotherapy that's carried out in water – usually a warm, shallow swimming pool or special hydrotherapy pool. It's often used with children and adults who have physical and learning disabilities.

Aquatic therapy can help improve blood circulation, relieve pain and relax muscles. It can also help with mobility because activities that aren't possible to do on dry land can be performed in the water.

Exercises against the resistance of water and dynamic exercises within the water can also improve muscle strength, balance and co-ordination.

Achievement of Movement and exercise

               Achievement of Movement and exercise :

For example,

Studies have shown that circuit class therapy is an effective method of rehabilitation after a stroke. Compared with other types of exercise, it can help improve a person's ability to walk further, longer and faster, as well as help with their balance.

There's also strong evidence to show that physical activity can help manage and prevent more than 20 different health conditions. For example, physically active adults have been shown to have a significantly lower risk (up to 50%) of developing major health conditions such as coronary heart disease. stroke , diabetes , and cancer.