Pre-operative readiness and preparation as well as post operative rehabilitation management of orthopaedic, cancer and gynaecological related surgeries.

Assessment and management of pregnancy related musculoskeletal conditions like:

• pelvic girdle, low back and hip pain,
• thoracic and neck pain,
• neuralgia including carpal and tarsal tunnel syndrome,
• diastasis rectus abdominus muscle – DRAM (abdominal separation),
• pelvic floor conditions such as urinary incontinence and constipation.

Advice, management and individualised programming for pregnancy specific exercise.

• Assessment and management advice of abdominal separation.
• Early recovery advice post caesarean birth and obstetric trauma related injury from vaginal birth.
• Assessment and management advice of bladder and bowel dysfunction.
• Scar management therapy post caesarean birth.
• Postnatal return to activity assessment.
• Individual conditioning programming for return to sport or activity, based on your goals.

Personalised ongoing care throughout the 4 phases of cancer rehabilitation:

Prehabilitation aims to provide personalised care between the time of diagnosis and the beginning of treatment. This can help improve understanding of what is happening, boost confidence to manage your own health, increase awareness of options available and maintain independence. Assessment typically includes establishing a baseline of functional level.

Post-operative phase is the timeframe from after surgery to before chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or other treatments. It’s designed to facilitate recovery from any cancer to restore range of motion and strength, prevention of post operative complications, education for lymphoedema prevention and provide reassurance and help women in maximising their recovery.

Where indicated treatment may include manual therapy, scar management, joint mobilisation, breathing techniques and training, lymphoedema education, functional and activities of daily living education and exercise prescription.

Treatment phase the aim during active treatment is to improve energy levels and maintain health during cancer treatment, reduce the impact on physical functioning and overall conditioning, minimise loss of function, provide strategies to help manage fatigue and anxiety, education and reassurance, restore post operative range of motion and prevention of soft tissue fibrosis, myofascial pain and lymphoedema.

Survivorship phase is the timeframe after active cancer treatment has been completed. The aim is to promote overall wellbeing, facilitate conditioning and increase physical stamina, motivate and encourage good exercise habits for life and help you reach your goals.

More Info:

Urinary incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine. There are a few types of urinary incontinence and women’s health physiotherapists can assess to determine your type of incontinence and provide appropriate treatment or onward referral. Not all bladder concerns are associated with leakage, there can be urgency, frequency or voiding dysfunctions.

We can also assist in treating the symptoms of bowel dysfunction including defecation and incontinence.

Scar tissue can adhere to fascia, underlying muscle, organs, blood vessels and nerves, limiting normal movement and flexibility of these structures as well as that of the skin. These restrictions can impact our whole body movement leading to distorted biomechanics and potentially chronic pain in the long term.

We can provide scar management in the form of:

• Manual therapy, fascial release and scar massage.
• Advice on exercises, self scar massage, application of creams, gel or silicone dressings.

Women’s health physiotherapists can assist women who are dealing with whole body health related changes and symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause.

We have an active role in the education, advice and facilitation of the life changes occurring, potential lifestyle modifications required including changes and adaptations to exercise training loads and sleep hygiene.

Adolescence is a time of complex change and development. A women’s health physiotherapist can have an active role in the education, advice and facilitation of injury management, exercise prescription and healthy lifestyle choices associated with changes occurring in adolescent females.

Individualised programming to enhance women’s biomechanics, factoring stage of life changes and sport specific requirements. Appropriate for injury prevention, return to sport goals and performance maintenance.