Dioni De Guzman, PT - Physiotherapist

23/10/2025

A 10-week study of people 65 or older found that doing rigorous mental exercises for 30 minutes a day increased levels of the chemical messenger acetylcholine by 2.3% in a brain area involved in attention and memory.

Even healthy brains decline with age. Here's what you can do
The increase "is not huge," says Étienne de Villers-Sidani, a neurologist at McGill University in Montreal. "But it's significant, considering that you get a 2.5% decrease per decade normally just with aging."

Scientists have found the first compelling evidence that cognitive training can boost levels of a brain chemical that typically declines as people age.

04/10/2025

👉 People with rotator cuff–related shoulder pain show predictable pain patterns, weakness, and motion loss.

💪🏻 Strength at 90° abduction is the key driver of movement: assessing and training this can guide smarter rehab and faster recovery.

Credit to: Physiotutors

14/09/2025

On neuropathic, nociceptive, and nociplastic pain.

Two pain researchers wrote an editorial in JOSPT in 2025 that meaningful distinctions among all three pain descriptors “remain unclear,” and their impact on treatment decisions is uncertain—particularly the term “nociplastic.”

They highlighted five problems with these terminologies when clinicians try to apply these concepts into practice:

1. Translating animal research to human conditions
2. Pain mechanisms overlap and there’s no clear distinction
3. Pain descriptors may only reflect a portion of a person’s pain experience
4. There are no clinical tests to measure nociception and sensitization
5. Using “nociplastic pain” as a placeholder

“But more importantly, no matter what you end up doing, there are no documented, evidence-based treatments that are superior—meaning that even if you didn’t [use the treatment], you would still be treating the person in front of you, which is the gold standard,” Dr. Morten Hoegh said, who is one of the co-authors.

“And there’s also no assessment that would help you differentiate [the pain]. In the end, however long you spend wondering about whether there’s nociceptive pain or nociplastic pain, you could have spent that time listening to the patient and trying to understand the problem from the patient’s perspective instead.”

The International Association of Pain Society (IASP) have introduced the term “nociplastic pain” in 2017 to describe chronic pain that does not fit into the other two existing pain descriptors: Neuropathic and nociceptive. However, putting the new term into practice can be challenging since noci...

04/09/2025

The statistics regarding disability, morbidity, and mortality around osteoporosis-related fractures are too hard to ignore.

And an exercise guide to help you build bone

31/08/2025

While I don't live and practice in the US, this a good reminder that the "find it & fix it" model of healthcare is not going to solve the problem of pain.

The prevalence of chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain increased significantly from 2019 to 2023, with long COVID partly accounting for both, new research shows.

03/08/2025

Did you know physiotherapy can help manage headaches?

Headaches can have many causes.

From tension-type to cervicogenic headaches, physiotherapists are trained to assess and treat musculoskeletal conditions that may contribute to head pain.

Working alongside medical practitioners, physiotherapists can develop personalised treatment plans, particularly for headaches linked to neck pain.

Physiotherapy can help with some types of headaches, alongside medical management. If you get frequent headaches or have a new or unusual headache, see a doctor.

27/07/2025

🧠 Exercise and brain health: new insights on cognitive benefits 🏃‍♀️

NEW summarising a recently study and highlighting the unexpected winners - children, AHDH and gentle movement ✅

Read ➡️ https://bit.ly/4lZACYN

22/07/2025

What gait deviations do you notice?

16/07/2025

When looking to rehab the adductor musculature, we must consider the multiple functions they have upon the movement and stability of the hip and include this in our exercise programme.

Groin pain is a common clinical entity faced by clinicians, particularly those who treat athletes. To complicate matters, distinguishing adductor related

14/07/2025

Bedtime dosing of antihypertensive medication provides superior nocturnal blood pressure control and improved circadian rhythm compared to morning dosing, without increasing adverse effects. These results highlight the potential benefits of adjusting medication timing for better hypertension management.

Research led by Sichuan University in China has revealed that bedtime antihypertensive medication dosing improves nocturnal blood pressure control over morning dosing in patients with hypertension.

06/07/2025

Almost a decade ago, but still very relevant. Many are still stuck in this old tale of manual therapy.

Have you ever struggled to explain what exactly your hands-on manual therapy is doing? It’s time to shift from outdated tissue-fix narratives to empowering, brain-focused education.

Manual therapy doesn’t “break adhesions” or “put things back in place” — it modulates the nervous system, reduces threat, and changes pain perception. The words you choose matter, they can help or harm. Use your explanation as a bridge to teach patients about pain, neuroplasticity, and how movement creates real, lasting change.

Let’s keep building more resilient, confident patients, now and in the future.

You put your hands on a patient and begin to press, guess, mob, thrust, manipulate, needle, scrape, and “release” their tissues, ...

01/07/2025

Blood flow restricted resistance training has demonstrated potential to improve strength, movement, and pain levels in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. This method allows effective exercise with lighter weights, offering a practical alternative for those who find traditional resistance training challenging due to pain or fatigue.

It's a debilitating disease that affects more than 500,000 Australians, but new research from the University of South Australia is offering fresh hope to people living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).