Emma Najman Bone Physio

29/09/2025

Balance becomes harder with age due to declines in the musculoskeletal system, including muscle strength and joint flexibility, and age-related changes in the nervous system, such as decreased vision and inner ear function, as well as reduced coordination between the brain and body. Other factors include medication side effects, chronic health conditions, and decreased blood flow to the brain.

Changes in the Musculoskeletal System

Decreased Muscle Strength: Age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) weakens the muscles needed to maintain stability and stop body movements, making it harder to recover from a loss of balance.

Reduced Flexibility and Joint Mobility: A decline in flexibility can restrict the range of motion in your joints, which is crucial for stable movement and balance.

Changes in the Nervous System

Sensory Decline: Vision can become impaired, with reduced depth perception and difficulty differentiating contrasts, making it harder to navigate and identify hazards.

Inner Ear Problems: The vestibular system, located in the inner ear and responsible for detecting movement and maintaining equilibrium, can become less effective.

Brain Function: Aging can affect the brain's ability to integrate sensory information and send proper motor commands, impacting coordination and balance control.

Other Contributing Factors

Medication Side Effects: Many medications commonly used by older adults can cause dizziness, drowsiness, or a drop in blood pressure, all of which increase the risk of falls.

Chronic Conditions: Conditions like arthritis, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and dementia can affect a person's mobility, coordination, and overall stability.

Reduced Blood Flow to the Brain: Decreased blood flow or damage to blood vessels in the brain, particularly in areas like the cerebellum and brainstem that control balance, can lead to instability.

Lifestyle: A sedentary lifestyle with limited physical activity can contribute to reduced muscle strength and flexibility, further impacting balance.

Start practicing with balance exercises today before your balance declines, putting you at risk of falls and fractures.

02/05/2025

May is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD) Awareness Month.

Hypermobility spectrum disorders are heritable connective tissue disorders that typically present with joint hypermobility, instability, pain and an increased risk of injury.

People with HSD or hypermobile EDS (hEDS) may also experience fatigue, anxiety, headaches, gastrointestinal issues and autonomic dysfunction.

Each person with hEDS presents differently, making diagnosis complex and often delayed.

16/02/2025

After Tom Sheppard was diagnosed with autism, a program designed for Australians on the spectrum helped him land a job that plays to his strengths.

04/02/2025

Are you struggling & unsure why?
Hormones 🤔

26/01/2025

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a highly prevalent and clinically relevant adverse effect of chemotherapy, negatively impacting patient quality of life.

Rehabilitation and exercise should be part of the care plan anytime a neurotoxic agent is prescribed.

The evidence for safety, improved sensation, and functional mobility is remarkable.

📚 Learn more: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38949805/

15/01/2025

Experiencing low energy, mood swings, or feeling "blah" lately? Low oestrogen woman in perimenopause, menopause, post natal or post cancer..

23/12/2024

Got my boat license as hubby broke his rib so I’m skipper this year! Managed great once I worked out need to push the gear stick forwards not backwards or in reverse! Opposite to my mini so confusing my old brain!

28/04/2024

We’ve made amazing advances in how we treat cancer. But along the way, we have often forgotten about the non-medical aspects of patient care.

PINC & STEEL Certified Oncology Physios and Occupational Therapists aim to treat the patient - not the cancer.

⭐️True patient-centricity!⭐️

Our services include individual and group sessions.

We would love to help you, just like we have already helped many others.

👉🏽Please get in touch through the website.
https://www.pincandsteel.com/

24/04/2024

04/04/2024

It's important to prioritise good sleep hygiene & address underlying sleep disorders to mitigate these adverse effects & promote well being.

05/03/2024

A beautiful evening on the rooftop 🌈

29/02/2024

I decided I had to share this today!

It sounds weird to gloat about having a good nights sleep, but when you’ve struggled for a long time and you know there are many others struggling right now I’ver decided it’s important to share what I’ve discovered on my mission for the perfect nights sleep.

In my work every day, with my patients I ask them about their sleep and many are suffering through insomnia for many and varied reasons.

Just like the causes, the methods to correct are many and varied. It’s not a one size fits all approach.

I have been studying sleep in depth over the last year and looked at the latest research, read books and listened to podcasts.

I know the principles that research is showing we should be doing, but struggled to make it happen in amongst the craziness of mum life, running my own business and trying to keep some semblance of order in my home and life.

I struggle like many working mums to keep all the balls in the air!

I often feel like I’m at the fair ground bashing the frogs that pop their heads out, with a mallet. Just when one’s down, another is up, then another and another! There is no end to it and there’s always a fire to put out and that ever growing ‘to do’ list you can’t get through and get 8 hours sleep, then start again with the new, bigger list, the next day!

I know the research shows we need 7-9 hours sleep minimum a night, with some variance between each person’s needs, women needing on average, one hour more every 24 hours than men.

Once we shorten our sleep and reply on alarms to wake us, we are increasing our chances of many chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, dementia and mental illnesses.

The odd night of less than optimal sleep is OK, but not repeatedly, as over time, we will pay the price.

My New Years word for 2024 was SLEEP!

I decided enough was enough, I need to practice what I preach and start working on my own sleep and my family’s sleep. I have learned so much from experimenting to find the optimum conditions to score a 100% sleep fitness score.

When I was researching sleep I came across several men in their 50’s who were focused entirely on their sleep and going to great lengths, practicing bizarre behaviours to ensure they scored optimum sleep scores, in the quest for chronic disease prevention and longevity. Some of these are researchers, some wealthy business men investing to learn more, in their quest for immortality.

I have listened to them all, taken on board the parts I can manage, let go of the ones that are too hard to add at the moment, and I have found I have been able to turn around my own sleep fitness.

I thought I was fit as I exercise daily, drink lots of water, eat healthily, have yoga and breathing practices. However when I looked at my stats they were not good. I wasn’t getting enough sleep, even though I was trying to be in bed for 8 hours. When I had a busy day I would often stay up late to try to catch up on work to be less stressed the next day. This was counter productive and made me tired, grumpy, less productive and more stressed the next day.

I also realised my HRV, (heart rate variability, or variation of time between heart beats), was very low, indicating poor recovery and stress. Sufficient recovery time between exercise and stress management techniques improve HRV over time.

I have realised that sleep is the number one priority for health, at the top of the battery check, before exercise, nourishment, rest and connection.

It’s no good doing lots of exercise and eating healthily if your sleep quality and quantity is low.

If your battery is feeling depleted do a check and see whether lack of quality sleep is draining you.

There are many factors to consider in addition to length of sleep, going to bed early certainly helps, but it’s not the whole picture.

For sleep quality consider optimum temperature, darkness, noise, mattress, pillow, hydration, diet, timing of meals, exercise, stress impact, to name a few.

It’s a fine balance and surprisingly takes a lot of effort, understanding, trial and error, prioritisation and consistency to get it right.

Check out in my history my sleep on Saturday night after the Taylor Swift concert!

OK, so I got 100% last night, I need to get off the screen and get my exercise and jobs done so I can stretch and do my breathing exercises to get to bed in time to replicate my results!

Let me know how your sleep is going and any tips you’ve found helpful.

Happy sleeping friends 😴