Medical imaging is something many of us are familiar with in Canada. Whether you’ve had an x-ray, ultrasound, MRI, or CT, you may have had to undergo one or the other at some point in time. For many people, they think of it as the gold standard for understanding their pain or injury. In fact, i’s completely natural to want answers, but here’s something us physiotherapists wish more people knew: Medical image findings are poorly connected to pain, and you don’t need imaging to start recovering with physiotherapy treatment! What is the connection between medical imaging and pain? One of…

A motor vehicle accident (MVA) can cause high degrees of neck and back pain, even if the impact seemed minor. Oftentimes, people will feel pain, stiffness, headaches, and/or reduced movement. Additionally, these symptoms may occur immediately, hours after, or even days or weeks after the accident. Thankfully, physiotherapy plays an important role in helping your body heal properly and prevent long-term complications. In Ontario, most people fall into the Minor Injury Guidelines (MIG) after a car accident that entitles them to $3500 of medical treatment, including physiotherapy. This is usually sufficient to treat less severe injuries such as strains, sprains and whiplash…

Ankle mobility, or rather the lack of it, is often overlooked. Many people assume ankle problems only matter if they’ve had a sprain or fracture. In reality, limited ankle mobility can affect your entire body, from your knees and hips to your lower back. At physiotherapy clinics, it is very common to see patients with knee pain, hip pain, or back pain where the root cause is actually poor ankle movement. Understanding ankle mobility and how it ties into the whole body can help you proactively prevent pain and reduce your injury risk. What is ankle mobility? Ankle mobility refers to how well your ankle joint moves. Normally, the ankle joint moves into dorsiflexion (bringing the foot closer to the ankle), plantarflexion (pointing the foot away from the ankle), inversion (sole of the foot towards the middle), eversion (sole of the foot away from the middle), and a combination of…

Why does shoveling cause many low back injuries each year? While shoveling is a simple, everyday chore which Canadians need to endure each winter, it is also one which catches many people off guard. Unfortunately, shoveling can lead to many aches and pains, injuries to the shoulders, slips and falls, and last but not least, low back pain. As physiotherapists, we often see patients with injuries which can be prevented with some tips and improvement to their technique.  Why does such a seemingly easy task cause so many injuries, you ask? Well, for those unfortunate enough to be placed on shoveling duty, they’ll be the first to tell you how physically demanding of a task it really is. Shoveling requires repetitive pushing, lifting, bending and twisting of the back while carrying heavy loads. Not to mention, the freezing temperature causes our muscles to stiffen up, causing them to be more…