Massage therapy is the manipulation of the body’s soft tissues. Common massage techniques involve varying levels of force applied with hands, fingers, elbows, etc. Common techniques used by our Massage Therapists are deep tissue massage, cross fibre massage, myofascial/trigger point release, muscle attachment release, stretch massage, and neuromuscular therapy. Typically these techniques are applied to muscles, ligaments, connective tissue, tendons and joints. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. With the goal of increasing circulation and the body’s supply of oxygen, massage may promote the body’s natural healing process. Massage therapy can be applied through clothing or over bare skin using oil or lotion.
Massage is not only great on its own as a wellness strategy — we also recommend it as complementary therapy to your Physiotherapy & Kinesiology treatments.
Our Massage Therapist will discuss your individualized treatment plan with you and explain when you can expect to see results.
Manual therapy describes the hands on care provided by the Physiotherapist. There are several techniques that can be used, with the overall goal of restoring movement and function. Manual therapy includes: joint mobilizations of the spine or limbs, nervous tissue facilitation techniques, soft tissue release techniques or Active Release Technique (ART) of the muscles and tendons.
Exercise and movement are vital to our health. Our Physiotherapists and Kinesiologist will identify which exercises you need in order to increase your strength, mobility, and balance and teach you how to practice them correctly. Exercise therapy is often a key component to your recovery and future injury prevention!
Shockwave is quickly becoming the treatment of choice to heal soft tissue injuries with results that last! The shockwave delivers high energy sound waves into the tissue, which triggers a biological cascade at the cellular level to activate the body’s own healing process. Shockwave stimulates the growth of new blood vessels, so the injured tissue can receive better Oxygen and cellular energy supply. This creates an environment where the tissue can repair and heal properly, even if the injury is chronic. The increased blood flow also helps flush out painful chemicals in the tissue, thus decreasing the pain you feel!
The treatment is non-surgical, non-invasive, and has excellent success rates published in research articles studying the technology. To learn more, check out the Shockwave Canada Website –https://shockwavecanada.com/
Acupuncture can help reduce pain, inflammation, muscle tension, and facilitates proper nervous system function. Many acupuncture points are located on or near peripheral nerves, spinal nerves, muscle motor points, and musculotendinous junctions. Stimulating acupuncture points with a needle can help restore proper muscle tone and function, and it regulates the activity of the nerve that supplies that muscle. Your Physiotherapist can assess whether acupuncture could benefit your recovery. All of our Physiotherapists have advanced training and certification in order to offer Anatomical Acupuncture.
There is no additional charge for receiving acupuncture during your physiotherapy visit. You are able to continue moderate exercise after receiving acupuncture. Small amounts of bruising and soreness are normal after treatment. Acupuncture is not recommended for pregnant women. If you are immunocompromised, or taking blood thinner medication, you might be at higher risk for adverse effects. Your Physiotherapist will discuss what the best treatment options may be for you.
IMS and Functional Dry Needling address the neuropathic origin of the pain that you feel locally in a muscle. Nerves can slightly malfunction after minor irritation. They can become sensitive, or “sensitized” and their signals are exaggerated. The signals can be perceived as painful by the body, and the ongoing signals to the muscle can cause chronic contraction and shortening of the muscle it supplies.
IMS and Functional Dry Needling are needle treatment techniques that release shortened bands of muscle and trigger points that often are the source of pain and dysfunction. This helps relieve pressure on the tendons and joints the affected muscle is involved with, which can help decrease the strain on those structures. This in turn can help reduce the inflammation or degenerative changes that might be occurring in the tendon or joint.
IMS may be used on muscles of the limbs, and/or spinal muscles. Your Physiotherapist can determine if you could benefit from dry needling. All of our Physiotherapists who practice IMS or Functional Dry Needling have completed advanced training and certification to perform the technique.
There is no additional charge for receiving IMS during your physiotherapy visit. You are able to continue moderate exercise after receiving dry needling. Small amounts of bruising and soreness are normal after treatment. IMS is not recommended for pregnant women. If you are immunocompromised, or taking blood thinner medication, you might be at higher risk for adverse effects. Your Physiotherapist will discuss what the best treatment options may be for you.
Traction is a form of spinal decompression therapy that can be used on the lumbar or cervical spine. It can help provide relief for conditions such as disc herniations, spinal stenosis, arthritis, degenerative changes to disc tissue, radiating leg/arm pain and numbness including sciatic pain. Traction can be included in your treatment plan in conjunction with traditional physiotherapy treatment techniques and home exercise programs.
We offer a variety of Electrophysical Agents including: Ultrasound therapy, TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), and Interferential Current. Electrophysical agents can be used as an adjunct to your treatment plan to help relieve pain, restore proper nerve function, and promote tissue healing.
A Kinesiologist is a university-trained practitioner with an expertise in human movement. Kinesiology training involves a customized Active Rehabilitation program, which consists of exercises to help regain the movement or strength limitations you may be experiencing. Movement is fundamental to the human body, and it’s an essential part in teaching the body how to recover from an injury. Active Rehab helps improve joint and muscle injuries, sports injuries, pre and post surgical procedures, work injuries and motor vehicle accident injuries. If you don’t have an injury, Kinesiology can still offer benefits. The personalized training sessions and home programs are designed to improve your physical health and achieve your fitness goals.
Physiotherapy treatment before an orthopaedic surgery can help in several areas. It ensure you are going into your procedure with optimized range of motion and strength, it can help with pain relief while you wait for surgery, and it can address surrounding joint and muscle aches that may be compensating for the affected area. “Pre-hab” often makes the rehab post-surgery go more smoothly. Treatment after surgery aims to maximize any movement limitations that are still lacking and gain functional strength to bridge the gap between surgical recovery to living an active healthy life post-procedure.
Common operative conditions that we treat include:
Hip and Knee joint replacements
Arthroscopies of the shoulder, wrist, hip, knee, ankle
We offer virtual Telehealth rehab services to meet your comfort level. Your Physiotherapist or Kinesiologist will assess your movement over video call, educate you on the cause of your mobility issue, create a treatment plan with you, and guide your rehab with exercise prescription. You will need a computer with speakers, microphone and webcam (most modern laptops will have this). If possible, have some resistance bands, free weights, tennis ball, foam roller, and other exercise equipment you may have available and ready to go.
Concussion care is extremely important to ensure safe return to sport, work, and school. Physiotherapists are able to assess your symptoms, cervical spine, balance, cardiovascular system, visual and vestibular systems, and work on a treatment plan to help your body heal. Managing cognitive load is difficult after a concussion; your Physiotherapist can help you plan and pace your day to help you recover successfully.
Post Concussion Syndrome: It’s common to have lingering symptoms of concussion after you may have already returned to regular life. With proper re-training of the visual, vestibular, cognitive, cardiovascular and balance systems, you can still make improvements and return to optimal function.
Vestibular Rehab involves assessment and re-training of the inner ear organ that controls equilibrium. Physiotherapy treatment often helps a variety of vestibular conditions, most notably Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). If you do have BPPV, your Physiotherapist is able to assess which inner ear canal might be the cause of the problem and perform the corresponding treatment protocol. Vestibular rehab with a Physiotherapist is considered the gold-standard for BPPV treatment.
Vestibular rehab therapy can also help conditions causing unilateral or bilateral vestibular hypofunction (reduced function of the inner ear organ), for example an inflammation of the vestibular nerve, that might be causing symptoms of dizziness, vertigo, poor balance, and motion sickness. Vestibular rehab Physio treatment addresses the integration of the vestibular system with the visual system, cervical spine movement, and balance/proprioception.
Sports injuries can happen for a variety of different reasons, and they can be acute or as a result of repetitive strain. Physiotherapists can assess and diagnose your injury, and treatment works to resolve the problem while keeping you as active as possible. Kinesiology or active rehab will also be of benefit to you on the road to recovery. The goal is always to get you back to doing what you love! Common sports injuries include sprains, strains and tendonitis.
