Author: Prue Eddie

We know medical terminology is confusing and let’s face it, prehabilitation sounds like a made up word, leaving you thinking, don’t you mean rehabilitation? Well Yes and No. Below is clearly explained by Dr. Courtney Maxwell (registered Osteopath).

Prehabilitation (otherwise known as Prehab)

rehabilitation stretching

Prehab, or prehabilitation is essentially beginning the rehabilitation process before the surgery OR injury occurs.

In surgical circles it usually means getting into the best cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular conditioning before a major surgery, in order to optimise surgical outcomes. In the more every-day setting, it means getting into the best shape you can, with no biomechanical imbalances, in order to prevent injury from occurring. It can be likened to preparing for a marathon. You want to be in the best shape possible before you start, both physically and mentally.

Prehab for Surgery

get strong prior to surgery It has been shown that increasing cardio, respiratory and muscular fitness prior to having surgery means better outcomes and less chance of complications from the surgery.

In addition, prehabilitation has the additional benefit of reducing the rehab time after surgery, as your body is more capable of handling the stress of surgery. It can, of course, be tricky, as usually you’re nursing an injury of some kind before having surgery. Prehabilitation prior to surgery is often overlooked, which is such as shame as it is easier than waiting until after the event. It is more commonly recommended for joint surgery, such as hips and knees. However it is beneficial for other types of procedures, including prior to abdominal surgery. Further research is being undertaken to understand if it is beneficial as a part of cancer treatment. We’re here to help you figure out how you can improve your outcomes, as well as guiding you with nutrition and behaviour advice.

Prehabilitation to prevent injury

In non-surgery circumstances, prehab is all about minimising the risk of injury.

This means targeting asymmetries in both range of motion and strength across your body. A targeted exercise plan, focusing on your individual weak areas is the best method to go about this. There is equally good evidence for home exercise as there is for supervised exercise. This is as long as the program is tailored for the individual, and there is regular supportive contact. In other words, we are here to guide you and support you when you need it!

A mental game

A big part of prehab is preparing mentally for what is ahead.

In surgery, it is empowering to have a recovery plan. You know you’re going to be sore afterwards. However you have a strategy in place to manage this and get you back to full functionality. Preparing mentally to have a positive attitude and to be self-motivated improves outcomes following surgery. This also helps with functional goals.

The best time to start is right now

Your prehab plan will be based on your goals.

What functional goals do you have? Perhaps you’d like to be able to get on the floor to play with the kids, or maybe you’d like to be able to carry everything in from the car in one trip! Maybe you’re planning on participating in your first triathlon. Prehab is the best way to prepare for all of these scenarios, while preventing future injuries.

Rehabilitation

This is a specifically designed program to help you recover from a specific injury or surgical procedure.

There are different stages people tend to work thru in the process of a rehab program.

Improve Motion

The aim is to get you moving, usually as quickly and as comfortably as possible to get your range of motion back.

Improve Balance

Many injuries can be prevented and to avoid unnecessary risk of returning of injury, balance exercises are often included.

Improve Strength

Getting your strength back is an important part of the process. Initially this may be focusing on a specific muscle or group, however should progress onto complex and functional movement patterns.

Co-ordinating all of the above

The goal is to get you more mobile and stronger than your pre-injury or surgical state.

This will help prevent issues from occurring in the future, let’s face it, that is what we all want.
The Recap!

Prehabilitiation (or prehab) is either a preventative program or pre-surgical program. Whereas rehabilitation (or rehab) is for when something has gone wrong. If you need any help with your prehab or rehab program, our Osteopaths are here to assist you.

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I got into the health care field because I wanted to make a massive impact and help people. But then realised that it’s only possible to help one person at a time. We wanted to be a clinic for good.

How to do more and be a clinic for good, this is our story.

Yes we are really lucky at Koru to work with people and support them through some of their most difficult days, either in pain, in stress or at times of living out their greatest fears.

And this can be very rewarding. However at any given time, you can only “help” the one person you are working with and maybe indirectly their family members who are worried about them. We wanted to do so much more, inspire change in the world and make a social and global impact. But how could we do this from a small office in a suburban allied health care clinic, with a very small team? We wanted to challenge ourselves to make a bigger impact and live out our core values in a way we could touch more lives. How were we going to do this?

We changed where we spent our money.

And focused on 1% changes that meant we could do better.

Drum roll please………… We changed our hand soap.No I am not kidding.It doesn’t sound life changing does it, well it is!

Thankyou

thank you products

If you haven’t heard of Thankyou, a social enterprise company who is focusing their laser focus on ending global poverty, well you should. The logic is that about 1 billion people live in extreme poverty, while 6 billion don’t and that the other 6 billion could work together to do something about it. I (Prue) first heard about their story at a women’s business conference. The founders of Thankyou came and gave an inspiring talk about how they wanted to start a bottled water company that donated half of its’ profits to helping people in third world countries get access to reliable clean water. They went through a lot of challenges and came close to failing many times. Not only did they inspire me to keep failing forward in my business and see challenges as opportunities, from that day we only bought their newly released hand soap. One of the things I love about thank you is that they are pushing boundaries and helping everyday people feel good and do good by giving each product a tracker ID. You can enter this on the website and see exactly where the money is going from the product you purchased. Then we changed our toilet rolls….. Wiping your bum never felt so good!

Who Gives A Crap

who gives a crap toilet paper at our clinic

Who Gives A Crap are on a journey not only to use 50% of profits to donate building toilets in places that need help with sanitation. If that alone wasn’t enough, they are also doing their bit to rid the world of single use plastic. But wait there’s more! They also do good for your bum, as they don’t use any inks, dyes or scents. Really I don’t think anyone needs any of those any how. They really know how to make you feel amazing that you are helping so many people and the world through a single purchase. And it’s a choice we can all make. Not only do we buy their toilet paper, we also use their tissues and if you come to Koru, so will you! There is no risk in buying their products, they have a 100% money back guarantee and they offer a free trial, so get wiping.

We partnered with socially and environmentally conscious businesses.

Good Brew Kombucha

kombucha is good for you and available at the clinic

Good Brew Kombucha is a living probiotic fermented tea and an inspirational business that is great for your gut and great for the planet. Their product uses the highest quality products and is fully organic. Good Brew is committed to using glass not plastic and uses 100% solar energy to power their production. It doesn’t stop there! They use all recycled paper for their labels and special inks and dyes that contain no harmful chemicals to produce their labels. We will add that their kombucha is the real deal and not the same. This means a million x better – note not an actual figure as what you buy in the major supermarkets. What do we mean that it’s real, it is a living drink. The ones that are sold in major retailers are heated and kill most of the healthy bacteria that are living in them. In addition they may contain unnatural flavours and some contain additional sugar and even preservatives. This is not what you want to be putting into your body if you are wanting to support your gut health.

Coconut Greens

coconut greens Just recently we have partnered with coconut greens.

Not only are they the most delicious greens powder you have ever tasted (seriously it doesn’t taste like you are eating the earth). They are another social enterprise business. They donate a portion of every tub to providing nutritional support to children in developing countries. So while you are getting your 8-10 serves of fruit and veg antioxidants per scoop, you are giving to kids going without and supporting their health and nutrition. Not sure if you can have coconut greens, it’s great for nearly everyone. It’s organic, paleo, gluten and dairy free, no GMO’s, no pesticides and as they put it, no cr@p.

We focused on our financial services

OC Partners

Lastly, I’d love to tell you about our accountants, OC Partners. Not only are they great at supporting your business, doing your tax and helping you out with all things money, they like to pay it forward. They donate money from every tax return to support education for Australian Indigenous children in remote communities. (Yay, we do this every year). Seriously, how else can you get excited about tax? Not enough, do xero training and give a months worth of medicine to a child in Kenya. Sign up for a years worth of accounting (yep that’s us). They provide books to at risk and orphaned children. Become a client in any other way, the provide a years worth of clean drinking water to a family in Cambodia.

Feeling inspired?

Just to summarise, let’s review what you can do or where to start to make a bigger impact.

  • Make some small 1% changes by changing where you spend your money.
  • Change your hand soap! Thank you now offers more in their range, such as hand sanitiser, nappies, female hygiene products, so you can add any of these you need to your shopping list.
  • You can change your toilet paper and tissues with Who Gives A Crap.
  • Switch products you already use to social enterprise businesses, such as Good Brew Kombucha or Coconut Greens.
  • Get your tax done at OC Partners or if you are a business engage them for your other accounting needs as well.
Loads of people think that one day they can give more, donate time or focus their energy into creating a better world. Giving more can help get you in touch with your bigger purpose, create happiness and spread the love. Start small and think big, make 1% changes and track your impact. We would love to hear about how you make an impact. Or if you have any recommendations for people we may be able to partner with in the future and be a clinic for good, let us know.
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Setting intentions is a powerful, but under-utilised tool to set you up to make changes in your life.And let’s face it, making long term sustainable changes to our habits, behaviours and thought patterns can be hard. But not anymore! It’s like planting a seed that you can attend to from time to time and nurture to help it grow into something bigger and beautiful over time.

WHAT IS SETTING AN INTENTION?

An intention is a clear statement about how you want to live your life. It is not the same as a goal setting, however can assist you to clarify, set and achieve them. They can act as fuel for your goals and visions. There are times that intentions and goals align. Intentions act as a reminder or a commitment as to how you want to live your life. They may include characteristics that you display towards yourself or others, such as kindness, compassion or gratitude. Or they may help support internal motivation, reinforce beliefs or act as inspiration.

STEP 1 – WHERE TO START

Quietly take some time to reflect on the person you are and the person you would like to be. You may use grounding or breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, prayer or any activity that helps you to feel centred, calm and clear. We want to go beyond the noisy internal dialogue of our ego mind into a quieter space where our pure consciousness can unfold. It is from this place that we open ourselves up to our deepest needs or desires and allow a positive focus point to come into our awareness. Recently I reflected on being reliable as an important aspect of my being. Sometimes, as I’m human, I don’t achieve this in the way I would like to. This started to show up in running late. According to my own personal value system, when I am late, this translates to not caring enough about the person I am running late to meet for example. In addition, feeling stressed and flustered due to being late is a feeling I would rather prevent. So my intention was based around reliability and running on time.

STEP 2 – AVOID JUDGMENT

Don’t be tempted to start giving yourself a hard time for not living up to the best version of yourself! This is an opportunity to identify a core value, belief or skill you would like to focus on, pay attention to or nurture. If you find yourself getting caught up into a negative thought pattern or creating a story about being a bad person (this is an example of shame) or doing a bad thing (this is guilt), this is an opportunity to practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of the most powerful self healing tools you can practice. In addition, judgment can act as a sign to come back to our centre or stillness.

STEP 3 – JUST PICK ONE

You may have identified multiple areas of your life you would like to work on and feel a little overwhelmed. This is not an uncommon experience. You are not alone. After all, we all could improve in lots of different ways at any time. Still unsure, take a broader long term view of what you would like the world, your family or your relationships to look like. Allow the first thing to come into your awareness to become an area of focus. There is no need to dwell on it, or think about it too much. There is always the opportunity tomorrow to set a different intention.

STEP 4 – RELEASE YOUR INTENTIONS OR DESIRES

From a place of restful awareness and with an openness to endless possibilities, release your intention to the universe. You can do this by saying it out loud, saying it in your head (maybe more than once) or write it down. After you set your intention, let it go and stop thinking about it. Try and remain in your calm and centred state for a period of time to allow it to settle. This may be just for a few breaths or for longer when you have the opportunity.

STEP 5 – DETACH FROM THE OUTCOME

We live in a world that can at times values results at all costs over process. There is no need to have a rigid attachment to the intention we have set. The process or balance may unfold in unexpected ways. Trust that things will work out the way they should, then let go and allow an openness to new opportunity to come your way.

INTENTION SETTING EXAMPLE

Most days I sit comfortably for a few moments, either at the start or the end of doing some light exercise in the early morning, such as stretching or going for a walk. After taking attention to the breath, feel for where the body is in space. Feel sensation thru the whole body and a quietening calm move throughout the whole system. It can be a nice thing to do outside, but you don’t have to! When feeling calm and clear, I allow a point of focus to come to my awareness. This may be something physical, such as the feeling of fatigue. From here, an intention around moving with energy or being kind to myself and those around me may be set. “Today I am energised by the universe and those around me” or “I treat myself and those around me with kindness.” For some people, using one word as a focus works best, this may simply just be KINDNESS or ENERGISE. If judgment crept into my intention practice, such as I’m so tired because …. happened yesterday. Then I use a statement such as “I have access to unbound energy, I wholeheartedly love and accept myself and those around me.” As setting intentions becomes a daily practice in your life, it can literally take 30 seconds and completely change the quality and awareness you bring into your day. Sometimes you may have the same set intentions for a week or even longer and at other times it may change daily. Let us know how you incorporate a daily intention setting session into your life by commenting below, or contacting Prue directly.
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Seriously it can feel like everyone puts everything down to stress these days, including poor posture. But the reality is, how you are feeling, not just what you are doing is affecting your body positioning. Poor posture has been scientifically linked to and been described as being due to stress. Think about the situations below and how you use your body during these times. We know how it feels when you’ve been stuck at your desk all day, deadlines are creeping up and the phone won’t stop ringing. We’ve been asked many times how stress affects the body and posture is a key indicator of how stressed you are feeling.

Feel better and reduce stress by improving your posture

Does this sound a little crazy, can you actually feel better by improving your posture? The research is indicating that this is actually the case. Adopting a more upright position can improve self-esteem and assist building confidence.

What happens to your posture when you’re feeling stressed?

Your whole body positioning can be affected as a response to stressful and tiring situations. Different people tend to carry themselves differently. It is worth observing the following within your own body. In addition you may find you do some of these under some stressful circumstances and have another pattern at other times. For example you may tighten your shoulders at work and clench your hands and arms when you feel fearful.

Which of the following are you guilty of?

  • Shoulders tend to creep up around ears
  • Shoulders are rounded forward
  • Chin sticks forward, while tilting head back
  • Not using diaphragm effectively to breathe
  • Back is hunched forward as you are focused on your task
  • Jaw, hand, buttock or toe clenching, you are tightening up your muscles
  • Crossed arms or legs
  • Facial tension, frowning, looking solemn

Common poor postural pattern

poor posture is common in stress We call this “Upper Crossed” posture. It is quite common in people who work at desks or have to do a lot of work with their arms out in front of them. Over a period of time, this results in changes to the muscles. The long, over-stretched ones become a bit weaker, and the tight ones that are working too hard become a bit shortened.

What can we do about our stressed posture?

  • Try to change your posture whenever it comes to mind
  • Stretch the tight muscles (shown below)
  • Strengthen the longer, weaker muscles
  • Do some deep, diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe in slowly, thinking about filling your belly with air. Follow this by breathing out slowly, thinking about squeezing air from the bottom of your chest, like a tube of toothpaste. It may help to place your hands on your belly so you can feel it rise and fall with your breath.
Also check out our blog post Six quick fixes for your desk posture

Stretches for tight neck muscles

stretch tight neck muscles
  • Stand up straight
  • Or alternatively, sit straight while sitting on your left hand
  • Tip your right ear towards your right shoulder
  • If you need to, apply pressure on your head with your right hand
  • Hold for 20-30 seconds
  • Repeat on the other side
stretch the muscles in the neck
  • Sit up straight
  • Sit on your left hand
  • Turn and look towards your right armpit
  • If you need to, apply pressure on your head with your right hand
  • Hold for 20-30 seconds
  • Repeat on the other side
stretch the muscles at the front of your neck
  • Place one hand across the middle of your upper chest, over the ends of your collar bones
  • Anchor the skin on the top edge of your collar bones
  • Tilt your head back.
  • You may need to think about keeping your mouth closed.
  • Hold for 20-30 seconds
stretch the tight muscles at the front of the chest

Stretch for tight chest muscles

  • Stand in a doorway or edge of cubicle
  • Place your left forearm vertically along the doorframe, with your elbow at about 90 degrees
  • Lean your torso forwards until you can feel a stretch in the front of your chest
  • You can change the height of your arm to alter where the stretch is felt
  • Hold for 20-30 seconds
  • Repeat on the other side

In summary

  1. Notice your posture when you are feeling stressed
  2. Have a go at the stretches above
  3. Check out your desk set up
  4. Have an awareness of your breathing
  5. If you are not getting anywhere you can always book in to see one of our Osteopaths to get further support
Know someone who would benefit from this blog post, share it on Facebook. If you would like to learn more about preventing and managing your stress-related poor posture, book in with one of our osteopaths online or call 03 9736 9408.
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