Crouch & Kirwan Chartered Physiotherapists

16/07/2023

Try out Julie’s 5 minute core routine to strengthen your body, creating stability when running 🏋️‍♀️🏃‍♀️Check out more from Julie on Instagram ...

06/01/2022

Check out ISCP’s askthephysio.ie website for info about what we do as Chartered Physiotherapists

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31/12/2021

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2022!

28/12/2021

23/12/2021

5 minute strength routine for runners

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8TkWrjH/

17/12/2021

Change it up

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Change it up! #

16/12/2021

Knee pain & movement patterns
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Knee pain when running

15/12/2021

Check out our marathon journey on Tik Tok
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Running cool down #

09/12/2021

Simple ideas for self treatment of neck and shoulder pain/discomfort after a long day at your desk!

Muscular tension increases when we place our spine in a vulnerable position for extended periods, such as slouched over a computer for several hours. By the end of our work day, the muscles involved in supporting the spine are fatigued and overused.

So what can we do to help this.

Improve our postural awareness. Draw shoulder blades down and back as if placing them in your back pockets intermittently throughout the day. This will help engage the mid back muscles, taking some of the work of the neck and shoulder muscles and will instantly make you more aware of what it is to be truly upright.

Standing desk. Place your computer or laptop on a box or several books so you can work in a standing posture for part of the day. This will allow for improved blood flow throughout the body. In addition, simply changing posture frequently throughout the day will mizine chronic tissue changes that occur from too many hours of sitting.

Yoga mat stretch at night
When the time is right and you finally get to unwind after your day, place the body in an optimal position to rest and recover. Don't sit on the couch after already sitting for the majority of the day! Lie on your yoga mat (Flat pillow under head, shoulder blades in contact with the mat and a folded pillow under knees). The spine is aligned, fully supported and the neck and shoulder muscles finally get to switch off and rest. This is an ideal sleeping position also.

Self mobilization with ball

Finally for that nagging pain, place a golf or tennis ball at the tender spot, apply pressure for several minutes and allow the tissue to relax around the ball. This can be helpful to manage chronic muscular tension that builds up from sitting the majority of your day.

03/12/2021

The common theory regarding icing and cold thermogenesis (bodily exposure to cold temperatures) is that it can reduce pain and soreness of an injured area allowing a runner to return to running, faster. However, more recently it is thought icing and cold water exposure may also prevent the body's natural inflammatory response to stress, inhibiting necessary tissue adaptations for long term performance. Research is divided. If short term performance is the goal, ice/cold is best. It will give a runner the best chance to keep training by minimizing pain and soreness to the region. In addition there may be a psychological benefit to cold exposure.Athletes tend to perceive less soreness after cold water exposure. However, if it is early in the season with no racing on the calendar there is another theory to suggest skipping the ice or cold thermogenesis to allow the full inflammatory responses to take place along with the associated pain and soreness.
If the long term goal is for true tissue adaptation, an upcoming run can be skipped and this to allow soreness (inflammation) to subside naturally (no need to ice for pain modulation). In a nutshell, cold thermogenesis decreases the level of inflammation throughout the body (making a runner feel better) but this delays muscle healing. Training cycle and race date should help guide an athlete whether to ice an injury or take an ice bath. It is important to note that although ice minimizes swelling and speeds the removal of extracellular fluid it does not interfere with the post-injury cellular process.
This is unlike nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs or NSAIDS. NSAIDS act on the body at the cellular level. This blunts the natural healing response and can lead to inadequate healing of an injury. Injured cells signal chemicals that are critical to initiate the inflammatory/healing process. Swelling is a result. This swelling protects the site of injury physically by applying increased pressure to the injured region. In addition, this causes increased sensitivity of the region which forces the runner to unload the injured tissue. NSAIDS suppress this swelling at the cellular level allowing little to occur. Popping NSAIDS to alter the perception of pain to allow a runner to run through injury is an unhealthy and unsustainable approach to training and running.
As for acute muscle aches and pains obtained during activities of daily living (gardening/cleaning) we continue to recommend the use of ice to decrease pain and return to daily function as quickly as possible.

15/11/2021

Glad to be back!

10/09/2021

Excited to participate in another Hope & Dream 👏👏👏

16/07/2021

Dear Patients,

We have reluctantly made the decision to travel to the East Coast of America to receive an mRNA vaccine. We have patiently waited 5 months (since our initial dose of Astrazeneca) to be offered an alternative mRNA vaccine. This is now standard practice across Europe and Canada. Science has shown a mix and match approach is both extremely safe and effective. We have reached out to the HSE, Minister of Health and various media outlets in an effort to draw attention to the plight of healthcare workers across the nation, the medically vulnerable and the 60-69 year old age cohort. Unfortunately this has been to no avail. The current approach is unethical, unscientific and failing the citizens of Ireland. We hope to return and be free of quarantine and testing the week of July 26th. HSE Ireland
Thank you for your understanding.

Julie & Bryan

18/05/2021

Healthy Habits!!

Western living contributes to faulty movement patterns. Humans are not made to slouch over computers or phones for the majority of the day. Extended periods of sitting and physical inactivity has resulted in decreased postural and movement awareness, muscle imbalance and weakness.
Modern lifestyle is the perfect formula for injury. Humans now fail to activate and fire muscles correctly for healthy movement. Even if you are active, an hour plus of exercise per day will do little to reverse 23 hours of poor habits. It is incumbent upon us all to be aware and consider our movement habits throughout our 24 hour day to ensure healthy movement through our decades. The simple act of lying on a yoga mat with a folded pillow under the knees in the evenings can be the first step towards healthier habits. Instead of choosing to sit after sitting at a desk or in a car all day, this supine position allows the skeleton to align in a fully supported posture. The muscles, constantly engaged supporting our skeleton when sitting and standing, finally get to rest. Muscle and postural tension building from a day of sitting and standing now have the chance to recover.
We like to explain to our patients that the spine is just like a child stacking blocks. When those blocks or perfectly aligned, placed one on top of the other, it is strong from the inherent stability of the position. As soon as these blocks start to build over on one another the structure becomes weaker, more vulnerable and the muscles have to work extra hard to keep us upright. This is an important concept when it comes to posture. When driving, use your head rest. Place an additional pillow long ways up your back when sitting to support the spinal column. Many support supports are to the mid back only and leave the shoulder blades with little support. This causes tension and stress to build in the neck and shoulders. Stand every 20-25 minutes. Standing desks are an excellent idea. These do not need to be fancy or expensive. A shoe box or two on a worktop works great. Draw the shoulder blades down and back as if placing the right shoulder blade in the left back pocket and left shoulder blade in the right back pocket intermittently throughout the day to improve your awareness of upright. Bring the phone to you versus looking down and hunching over your phone. The same goes for books or Kindles. Small changes can really make a big difference!

10/05/2021

Night time is the one time that the body has a chance to power down and recover. Many of us never consider what position we place the body in to sleep at night. Placing the body in an optimal sleeping position is key. A flat pillow placed under the head with the shoulder blades in contact with the bed and a folded pillow under the knees is best. Body weight is evenly distributed and the spine is aligned and supported. The folded pillow under the knees puts the tissue on slack and takes pressure off the low back region. This can take some training to get used to but is worth the positive effects. We recommend a feather pillow as they conform to the head and neck. Firm pillows can be inflexible. They do not accommodate head and neck posture, unique to each individual.

05/05/2021

Our Bodies Traffic Light System!!
In reality, the body does not fail. We fail our bodies. The body teaches us all we need to know we just need to learn to listen. We push, pull, use and abuse them until one day we get a warning sign.
An ache or a twinge to say “hey this is not ok”. It works like a traffic light system. Green are the good days. We can run around, clean, garden, wash, exercise and feel great. The orange light is the first signal or feedback we get. It might be just a slight tightness to let us know that all is not well. We have overdone or used our bodies poorly.
Our biggest fault, we don't listen. We ignore the orange light flashing. It flashes more than once. We get plenty of opportunities to listen. If only we could learn to stop and rest on orange.
The simple act of lying on a yoga mat, folded pillow under the knees for 10 minutes. In this position, the skeleton is aligned and fully supported. The muscles, engaged constantly supporting our skeleton, finally get to rest. Now, given a chance the muscle and postural tension will reset itself and work itself out.
When we don't listen, we end up in the red. The body is now desperate for its inhabitants to listen. That's when and only then do we stop. Ultimately we are forced. All our patients tend to be in the red. In this cycle we are chasing our tails. It is not until a patient understands the body and its sensations as feedback to be acted upon and not ignored does recurrent episodic pain resolve.

04/05/2021

Excited to provide our services once again...roll on summer 2021!

14/01/2021

Happy New Year! We are temporarily closed due to the surge of Covid cases. The ISCP currently is recommending virtual physiotherapy appointments. We will be in touch once circumstances change, thanks and stay well, Julie and Bryan