Soft Tissue Injuries Archives • Peak Physio

Importance of Prehabilitation Before a Knee or Hip Replacement

Ariane McCormack 25 Feb 2025

Undergoing a total knee replacement (TKR) or total hip replacement (THR) is a major surgical procedure often recommended to alleviate pain, restore mobility, and improve quality of life. While much attention is given to post-operative rehabilitation, pre-operative rehabilitation (often called “prehab”) plays a vital role in enhancing surgical outcomes. Engaging in a structured rehabilitation program before surgery can significantly impact recovery time, reduce post-surgical complications, and improve long-term joint function.

Swimmers Shoulder

Olivia Hadfield 17 Jun 2024

Swimmers Shoulder is an umbrella term for shoulder pain incurred from greater training demand, inappropriate load or impaired joint biomechanics during the swim stroke. Pain will typically present in the anterolateral shoulder as a result of impingement, rotator cuff tendinopathy or tear, labral injuries or neurological impingement. Each stroke varies in the musculoskeletal demands which can be refined to ensure performance optimisation.

Dance physiotherapy assessment at Peak Physio

Common Dancing Injuries: Foot & Ankle

Peak Physio Staff 20 Mar 2023

This article will discuss some of the most common pathologies presenting in dancers that involve the foot and ankle joint. Injuries to the lower extremity in dancers are more common than upper limb injuries due to the amount of range and force required to perform particular movements.

Common Dance-Related Injuries

Posterior ankle impingement
Base of 5th metatarsal fractures
Flexor hallucis longus tendinopathy

The Ageing Shoulder

Ariane McCormack 21 Dec 2022

A healthy shoulder is an integral part of normal daily activities and overall independence. A functional shoulder allows you to wash your hair, put on a shirt, swing a golf club, lift groceries into your boot to name a few. Maintaining a healthy shoulder is an important part of having optimal quality of life.

Discogenic Low Back Pain

Olivia Hadfield 19 Dec 2022

Lets start by breaking down the term ‘discogenic’. The disc is the structure that lies between the vertebrae, discogenic is pain that originates from this structure. Discogenic low back pain presents as pain in the lumbar spine with or without referral that is confirmed via X-ray, CT scan or MRI. Results are commonly reported as ” degenerative disc disease” or “multi-level disc degeneration”. This article aims to explain the role of the disc, what happens when they deteriorate and what it means for you if you have been diagnosed with disc disease or a disc herniation.

Posterior Tibialis Tendon Dysfunction

Peak Physio Staff 13 Dec 2022

Posterior Tibialis Tendon Dysfunction (PTTD) is a common cause of medial ankle and foot pain affecting the tibialis posterior tendon, which – if not effectively treated – can have a detrimental impact on ankle/foot joint integrity and overall function. The severity of this condition can vary, as the tibialis posterior tendon can become inflamed and painful, or it can continue to deteriorate causing splits/tears within the tendon itself, leading to further complications within the ankle/foot complex. Therefore, identifying and treating this condition early can significantly improve patient outcomes and reduce the need for more radical interventions such as surgery.

Warm Up: Is It Really Beneficial?

Peak Physio Staff 13 Dec 2022

Have you ever been instructed or advised to complete a quick warm up? Or get ready for the game and not sure exactly what to do? Warming up is widely appreciated as a fundamental aspect of physical activity, exercise, and sport. This article aims to explain what, why and how we complete an effective warm up. It will also explore the current literature and evidence surrounding the effectiveness of warmups for performance enhancement and injury prevention.

Achilles Tendinopathy Recovery: Expert Physiotherapy Tips & Treatment Guide

Ariane McCormack 31 Mar 2022

The Achilles is the largest and thickest tendon in the body. It is made up of Type 1 collagen fibres, tenocytes, and proteoglycans which are responsible for the tendon’s tensile strength. These complex interwoven fibres merge from the calf muscles, gastrocnemius and soleus to form the tendon that inserts into the heel bone, the calcaneus. The Achilles is involved in 93% of the plantar force in flexion of the foot. When healthy, this tendon can handle up to nine times the body weight and has a pivotal function in transmitting forces, such as explosive power and control of movements.

Adductor Strains in the Sporting Population

Olivia Hadfield 17 Mar 2022

Groin strains are commonly seen in sports with multi-directional and high velocity demands such as hockey and soccer. As a result, large sporting bodies have published preventative rehabilitation guidelines which are incorporated in pre-game warmups around the world to mitigate strain risk and reduce recurrence rates.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rehabilitation

Olivia Hadfield 17 Mar 2022

Where Are We Now?

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) rupture has occupied a large portion of elite and amateur sporting injuries for decades. Discourse amongst the general population continues to support immediate surgical reconstruction followed by a lengthy return to sport timeframe. Thus, management of either surgical or conservative ACL ruptures necessitates robust rehabilitation protocols and a barrage of objective measures to meet the low return to sport levels and high recurrence rates.

Dry Needling: Everything You Need to Know

Peak Physio Staff 18 Jun 2019

Physiotherapists have a reputation for brutally digging into trigger points (or ‘muscle knots’, as they are colloquially known) with their hands, thumbs, fingers and even sometimes elbows, leaving their patients feeling battered and bruised (temporarily, of course!).

If only there was a technique that could treat trigger points without inflicting the same amount of pain, and without causing grown men to weep. There is, in fact, such a technique and an increasing number of physiotherapists are becoming trained in it, sparing their precious hands and their patients’ pain thresholds at the same time.

It’s known as dry needling.

Ankle sprain physio treatment physiotherapy recovery

Treating Ankle Sprains: Why Physio is Critical

Peak Physio Staff 23 Jan 2019

Ankle sprains are undoubtedly one of the most common injuries we see as physiotherapists. The vast majority of active people will have experienced an ankle sprain during their lifetime and, unfortunately, sprains have a nasty habit of recurring if not managed well in the first instance.

patellofemoral pain knee cap physiotherapy newcastle nsw

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Physio Assessment & Treatment

Peak Physio Staff 20 Jan 2019

The patellofemoral joint refers to the junction between the knee cap (patella) and the thigh bone (femur) and, unfortunately, pain in this region is a common problem seen by physiotherapists.

Pain? What is Pain?

Peak Physio Staff 15 Mar 2018

You have just rolled your ankle, you heard a ‘crack’, now your ankle is starting to swell and go red, and the pain is building up. Maybe you first noticed your pain after a hard gym session, or a day in the garden. Or maybe you don’t know how your pain started, it just did. All you know is that you feel pain and want it to go away. But what is pain? Why does it start? And what can we do to fix it?

Physiotherapy and Neck Pain

Peak Physio Staff 7 Aug 2017

Physiotherapy is a healthcare profession that is aimed at helping people feel better, move better and stay pain-free by means of assessment, diagnosis and treatment of simple, and/or complex conditions. Read more

Benefits of Exercise in the Older Population

Peak Physio Staff 3 Sep 2016

Are you climbing your number of years in age faster than you can climb the stairs?

Do you feel that your body is not what it used to be?

Have you had any recent falls or perhaps a near miss?

Do you feel that your physical capacity and ability is hindering other important aspects of your life?

As we grow older, our bodies grow older. This is not something that you should be ashamed, nor deterred by. There are known physiological changes that occur in our body as a result of the ageing process.

To Brace or Not to Brace – Pros and Cons of Bracing

Peak Physio Staff 3 Sep 2016

If you overstretch, overstress, strain, sprain, tear or rupture an anatomical structure in your body, the rehabilitation process can sometimes seem painful, overwhelming and daunting. Factors such as time off work for both rest and appointments and time away from competitive sport or training can feed into the negative conundrum of injuring oneself. Sometimes, it is challenging to know how to self manage your injury, leading to questions such as; do I use ice or heat?, do I rest it or move it?, should I go and get a scan?, should I use a brace? Rest assured, you are not on your own and this article chooses to answer one of those questions in particular; should I use a brace or not?

PRP Injections

Peak Physio Staff 14 May 2016

Patients commonly ask our physiotherapists about Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections, which have come to prominence recently as a strategy for improve healing for certain conditions.

So, what are PRP Injections? Are they safe? What populations are they used on? What are they used for? What does the current research indicate for dosages, applications, and prognosis?

Healing Timeframes – What to Expect After an Injury

Peak Physio Staff 20 Mar 2012

So you’ve had a sprain, strain, tear, or tweak? No matter what the cause of a soft tissue injury, your healing is certain to follow a specific series of events in order to heal. The timeframe for each of these events will vary a bit depending on factors including your age, genetics, and current health, as well as the tissue or area injured. It will also be very dependent on treatment and management. However, in general you can expect the healing process to occur as follows: