Resolve Pain. Move Well. Live Life.

Between Simon, Ed and Gaynor, we have the abilities to incorporate both acupuncture and dry needling to ensure treatment is effective and holistic.

So what’s the difference between Acupuncture and Dry Needling?

Keeping it simple, Acupuncture involves needling into acupuncture points along meridian lines, which represent organs of the body and have their origins in ancient Chinese medical history. The underlying treatment philosophy is based on the concept of balance and maintaining free flow of electricity within the body.

Dry needling is newer, having only been developed in the 1980’s and is based on the targeting of ‘Trigger Points’, which are areas of muscle in spasm. These can cause neuromuscular dysfunction, pain, decreased function and increased stress on surrounding structures.

Restoring optimum pain free movement is one of the most important goals when rehabilitating an injury. Which is why we commonly use Rocktape on patients. It does various things such as normalising muscle tone, distributing stress, delaying fatigue and decompressing swelling. But more importantly, we find it extremely beneficial as a training tool, to teach people where their body parts are, versus where they should be. This feedback is called proprioception and is basically how well you brain coordinates with your limbs. ‘Where your body is in space.’

Where necessary we are still also proficient in rigid strapping. But we’re finding this increasingly being superseded by the more dynamic styles of taping.

Times, they are a changing!

We understand that to live pain free means you need to move well. Good movement starts from the feet up, just the way energy is absorbed through the body. The greater the load on the body, the more shock absorption you need.

Did you know you absorb six times your body weight when running downhill?

How you move tells us everything about where your strengths and where your dysfunction lies and therefore where you need work. In order to get you Living Life the way you want, it’s also important we understand what you want (your goals) and what you do (what does your body do every day), so we can build a plan to achieve it, together.

Every school term for the last 12 years, Simon Lentjes (Physiotherapist) has been running Spinal Fitness Classes to provide a tailored program aimed at developing spinal strength and flexibility. The classes utilise the concepts of Pilates, Fitball, and yoga stretching principles to provide a safe and effective way of improving your individual back dysfunction.

People who attend are from all ages and abilities, with both a beginners program and an advanced. This means we can cater for a variety of back problems with different severities.

The key message in the class is that everyone is unique and therefore so is their back problem. The first step to fixing your back is to understand the problem. That comes in the physio rooms initially with education and training, but also during the classes where we discuss different aspects of spine biomechanics each week. The second is to own your problem. This comes in the classes where you learn to feel the boundaries of movement and pain in order to develop strength and flexibility within your comfort zone. Only after understanding these two factors can a patient move forward and truly move well and be pain free.

Our physios develop tailored functional strength programs within either the Margaret River Recreation Centre or Bodyclub gym as part of injury rehabilitation. These programs are designed to specifically target areas of weakness and movement patterns dysfunction.

As clinicians, we understand the importance of functional strength to both rehabilitate an injury and prevent reinjury down the road. Having diagnosed the source of the injury, it means we are able to design a tailored program with appropriate movement patterns to target effected muscle zones accurately.

Margaret River Manual Handling Training has been conducted by Physiotherapist Simon Lentjes for over 12 years. Voyager Estate, Leeuwin Estate, Vasse Felix, Cape Mentelle, Devils Lair and Stella Bella Wineries have all been utilising these training sessions for years and appreciate the ‘hands on’ style of training.

Our Manual Handling training combines very practical education combined with the necessary theoretical information. The theory itself is based on an understanding of how the body moves optimally (biomechanics), and therefore learning how best to move and load it.

The practical component is always very hands on and tailored to the needs of the participants. For example, at wineries, participants are all required to rack barrels, move hoses, push/pull mono pumps and lift bags of chemicals. The sessions also run through various ‘testing’ of strength and flexibility to provide all participants with an understanding of how strong and flexible their bodies should be.

Our physios look after all types of musculoskeletal conditions, but we have a special interest in the management of sport injuries. That’s why we are members of Sports Medicine Australia. We take great pride in being involved with various sporting professionals, and helping them to achieve their goals and their dreams. We understand what it takes to get them performing at their peak and we work closely to get them ready for race day. We’ve treated world champion surfers to the weekend warrior.

We are also proud to support various local sporting teams and sporting events.

So it doesn’t matter if you’re a high level professional or a recreational athlete, if you’re serious about keeping active, we can get you ‘back in the game!

Continence and Women’s Health Physiotherapy is a proven, evidence based, conservative approach to managing incontinence and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, in many cases preventing the need for surgery.

Women’s Health Physiotherapy refers to conditions that are unique to and more prevalent in women throughout the life span. These conditions may be more serious in women due to pregnancy, childbirth and menopause and include:

• Bladder and bowel control problems such as incontinence
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Constipation, difficulty emptying your bowel
• Vaginal or vulval pain (vulvodynia, vestibulodynia)
• Pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia, vaginismus)
• Pregnant or postnatal women with neck, back, pelvic, coccyx or wrist pain
• Postnatal women for
  • Painful episiotomy or perineal tears
  • Weak or separated abdominal muscles
  • Mastitis
  • Bladder dysfunction
  • Advice regarding return to exercise/ pelvic floor friendly exercise
• Women who are having or have undergone gynaecological or urological surgery
• Peri or postmenopausal women with pelvic floor muscle dysfunction

Initial appointments are one hour, to allow time to thoroughly understand and assess your problem. Subsequent appointments are a standardised ½ hour. Assessment and treatment is carried out in a private, sensitive environment as we understand that it can be difficult to talk about these problems.

Missed appointments may incur a fee as we are unable to fill these gaps with no notice and have a waiting list.

If you experience any of the above problems or are unsure if you should seek help please contact Bec at the Health Centre on (08) 9757 9090 or email bec@nullmargaretriverphysio.com.

You do not require a GP/ doctor’s referral to see Bec.

Continence and Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy is a proven, evidence based, conservative approach to managing incontinence and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, in many cases preventing the need for surgery.

Incontinence (bladder and bowel control problems) and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction are very common and affect men, women and children. According to the Continence Foundation of Australia, incontinence affects 4.8 million Australians, this equates to 1 in 4 Australians aged over 15. Incontinence can be embarrassing, socially isolating, reduce quality of life and is a main reason for admission to residential aged care.

Incontinence can be treated, managed and in many cases cured (Continence Foundation of Australia)

What are the pelvic floor muscles?

The pelvic floor is a hammock of muscles that lie at the bottom of the pelvis (see diagram at top of page). It plays an important role in bladder and bowel control, support of pelvic organs, lower back stability and sexual function. If your pelvic floor muscles are not working properly it can result in poor control of the bladder and bowel and prolapse.

What can weaken the pelvic floor muscles?

Risk factors for pelvic floor muscle dysfunction include pregnancy and childbirth, menopause, ageing, obesity, gynaecological and prostate surgery, chronic straining and constipation.

Symptoms of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction

• Urinary or bowel incontinence
• Overactive bladder
• Constantly needing to empty your bladder
• Feeling an urgent need to empty your bladder or bowel
• Constipation
• Difficulty emptying your bladder or bowel
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Pelvic pain
• Men who have undergone prostate surgery

In some people, the pelvic floor muscles have difficultly relaxing, which can cause pelvic floor muscle tightness. A tense pelvic floor may result in difficulty emptying the bladder or bowel, pelvic pain or pain during sexual intercourse.

What can be done to improve incontinence and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction?

Supervised pelvic floor muscle exercises are recommended as the first line of treatment for men and women with urinary incontinence (International Continence Society 2013)

Pelvic floor muscle exercises can improve prolapse symptoms and severity (International Continence Society 2013)

It is not as simple as squeezing and lifting… most people try too hard!

Many people have difficulty isolating the pelvic floor muscles and approximately half of women who learn pelvic floor muscle exercises from a brochure perform the wrong technique (Continence Foundation of Australia). Performing the wrong technique may actually make your problem worse.

Bec will thoroughly assess your problem, explain your condition, customize an individualized pelvic floor exercise program to suit your needs and ensure you are performing the correct technique. She has a real time ultrasound machine which provides an image of the pelvic floor in action, giving you instant feedback to help you learn a correct pelvic floor muscle contraction.

Initial appointments are one hour, to allow time to thoroughly understand and assess your problem. Subsequent appointments are a standardised ½ hour. Assessment and treatment is carried out in a private, sensitive environment as we understand that it can be difficult to talk about these problems.

Missed appointments may incur a fee as we are unable to fill these gaps with no notice and have a waiting list.

If you have any questions or are unsure if you should seek help please contact Bec at the Health Centre on (08) 9757 9090 or email bec@nullmargaretriverphysio.com.

You do not require a GP/ doctor’s referral to see Bec.