True North Physiotherapy

Continuing with the seated position, here are some simple and easy shoulder and neck exercises to try! Exercise 1: Towel shoulder raises: Start by holding a towel overhead with arms straight. Next, keeping the arms straight, reach up towards the ceiling by pressing up though the shoulders. Relax back to the start position. Repeat 8 times, perform 2 sets. Exercise 2: Bilateral shoulder external rotation: Start with elbows at your side, holding a resistance band in your hands. ...Next, keeping your elbows at your sides, pull the band outward with both hands. This exercise can also be performed in standing. Repeat 8 times, perform 2 sets. Exercise 3: Chin tucks: Start by sitting up in your chair in a relaxed position. Next, sit up straight in your chair and bring your head straight back, tucking your chin in - make sure that you are bringing your head straight back, not tilting it upwards or downwards. Repeat 10 times, perform 5 sets throughout the day. Lower back stretches coming up next!

Next up: seated upper back and lower back stretches! Stretch 1: Upper back extension stretch: Start by clasping your hands together and placing them behind your head. Next, lean back over the back of your seat until you feel a stretch in your upper back. Hold for 15 seconds, repeat 4 times. Stretch 2: Upper back flexion stretch: Start by crossing your arms and holding onto the lower leg, just above the ankles. Next, relax your head and reach your upper back towards the ceilin...g until you feel a stretch in the upper back. Hold for 15 seconds, repeat 4 times. Stretch 3: Lateral lower back stretch: Start by crossing one arm across your body and holding onto the seat of your chair. Next, bring the other arm overhead and reach towards the opposite side. You should feel a stretch in your side/lower back. Hold for 10 seconds, repeat 5 times. Stretch 4: Glute stretch: Start by placing one ankle on the opposite knee and hold with hands. Next, lean forward over your leg until you feel a stretch in your glute and/or lower back. Hold for 30 seconds, repeat 2 times. These can be repeated often throughout the day!

To follow our post about setting up a home office, we are going to share some exercises that you can easily do at home to help get you moving! Starting with some neck stretches! Stretch 1: Levator scap stretch: Start by placing one hand under your hip. Next, bring your nose towards your opposite arm pit until you feel a stretch. You can use your other hand to gently deepen the stretch. Hold for 30 seconds for 2 sets.... Stretch 2: Upper trap stretch: Start by placing one hand under your hip. Next, bring your opposite ear towards your shoulder until you feel a stretch in the side of the neck. You can use your other hand to gently deepen the stretch. Hold for 30 seconds for 2 sets. Stretch 3: Neck extension stretch: Start by placing a rolled up towel around your neck, holding onto either end with your hands. Next, look up towards the ceiling while gently pulling down on the towel. Try to relax your neck in this position. Hold for 15 seconds for 4 sets. Stretch 4: Neck rotation stretch: Start by placing a rolled up towel around your neck and cross the ends of the towel in front of your face, holding onto each end with your hands. Hold the top end of the towel straight and gently pull on the bottom end of the towel across your body and slightly towards the side, letting it pull your head into rotation until you feel a gentle stretch. Hold for 15 seconds and then relax to the start position and repeat on the other side. Remember for neck stretches more is not always better. A gentle stretch is sufficient to relieve tension!

Here are some things to consider when setting yourself up to work from home! First, even if you don't have a home office, setting up a work space at home can help you be in a more ideal position by helping you to avoid sitting on a couch or lazy boy to do your work. Second, if you are working on a laptop, and are able, use a wireless keyboard or stack books underneath the base of the computer so you can have the screen at eye level and have the arms at a good height for typ...ing where they can remain relaxed. Third, find a chair where your feet can touch the ground and knees and hips are about at 90 degrees. Also try to set up a standing option by standing at a counter top or placing a chair on your desk so you can stand comfortably. Try raising one foot up onto a box or stool to keep your feet from getting sore. Fourth, arm rests or desk height should be in a position that allows your arms, shoulders and neck to stay relaxed. Even if you do not have somewhere to rest your arms, try to make sure they are in a position where you feel you are able to relax them. Fifth, use rolled up towels in the area of your low back and under your wrists for increased support and to maintain neutral positions. You can also place a binder under your laptop to modify the angle of the keyboard and have a more relaxed wrist position. MOST IMPORTANTLY, if you feel yourself start to stiffen up, change positions! This is your body telling you it is ready to move! @ True North CrossFit

Is there such thing as good or bad posture? In reality, the only 'bad posture' is any posture or position that is sustained for a long period of time. The most important thing is to not stay in any one posture or position for too long. Constantly changing up your posture is the most ideal thing you can do. That being said, it is often easier said than done! Since there are a lot more people having to work from home right now, we have some tips for setting up a home office to improve overall positions and decrease muscle stiffness and shoulder/neck/back pain as well as exercises to help alleviate these over the next couple of days!

Exercise 3: SINGLE LEG SQUAT Single leg squat to a box, find a height that is high enough that you can maintain proper knee position throughout!

Exercise 1: GLUTE BRIDGE Lying on your back with knees bent, heels close to buttock. Squeeze your buttock and lift your pelvis towards the ceiling, trying to create a straight line between your shoulders and knees. You can make this more difficult by adding a band around the knees or doing a single leg version. Make sure to keep the pelvis straight throughout.

Exercise 2: MONSTER WALK Standing with a band around the knees or ankles (or no band at all) slightly bend the knee and push out into the band while stepping out to the side. Make sure to keep the knee cap pointing forward throughout. You should feel the hip working during this exercise.

Here is a quick way of self assessing if weakness at the hip could be affecting knee position as well as some exercises that can help with that! Try them out and let us know how it goes!

As the nice weather is starting and a lot of us are having to exercise at home, it is a popular time of year for individuals to start running. This (and various other causes) can sometimes lead to knee pain. Although the majority of the pain can typically be localized to the knee, the cause of the pain often extends beyond the knee and can be the result of decreased strength, stability and flexibility at the hip and/or ankle.... This is why it is so important to assess all of these joints - that way we are not only treating the area of the acute pain (i.e. patellar tendonitis) but the cause of the pain so that it does not continue to reoccur. Stay tuned this week for hip and ankle exercises that you can do at home to help work on strength, stability and flexibility at these joints to help reduce the strain on the knee.

In need of physiotherapy? One of our physiotherapists can help! We offer: Treatment for a wide range of injuries... Appointments on weekends and evenings throughout the week Same week or next week appointments (no waiting list) Bilingual services in french and english Send us a message to find out more or book an appointment online by visiting our website truenorthphysio.com or by calling 705-805-3929!

It's official! Lisa is now accepting new patients for physiotherapy treatment at True North Physiotherapy! Her current hours are: Monday: 8am - 7pm Wednesday: 8am - 7pm... Friday: 8am - 5pm Saturday: 9am - 1pm Lisa currently has same week appointments as well as weekend and evening appointments available! Book now online at sarahtessier.clinicsense.com (choose Lisa as your therapist), by calling 705-805-3929 or sending us a direct message!

Introducing our newest team member! Lisa is a physiotherapist that will be starting to take patients in the clinic as of next week! You can book with her by calling the clinic (number in bio) or online at sarahtessier.clinicsense.com! Here is a little more about Lisa!... Lisa graduated with a Bachelor degree in Physiotherapy from the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 2014. Lisa has experience in working with all types of conditions such as neuromusculoskeletal disorders, orthopaedic injuries, post-surgical patients, TMJ disorders and respiratory disorders but has a special interest in sports physiotherapy. She has worked with various sports team in South Africa including the Super Sport soccer team and the Harlequins Rugby club team. She is very athletic and participates in crossfit, trail running and skiing in her spare time. Lisa wants to see her patients improve and loves to enable them to get back to the activities they enjoy. She has a very hands-on approach and believes that manual therapy and exercise therapy is the key elements to recovering movement and reducing pain. Lisa moved to Canada in September 2018 with her husband and is excited to bring her knowledge and skills to this community, and to be part of the True North Physiotherapy team!

Meet our team members starting with Sarah Tessier PT, MScPT BSc, CrossFit Level 1, Owner True North Physiotherapy Sarah graduated from the University of Ottawa in 2016 with a Master’s degree in physiotherapy. Before pursuing her studies in Ottawa, she obtained her Bachelor of Science with a specialisation in Biomedical Biology from Laurentian University, Sudbury. Sarah is bilingual, fluent in both English and French, being able to offer assessment and treatment in both... languages. Sarah has experience treating a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions (conditions affecting the muscles and joints of the body), neuromusculoskeletal disorders, post-surgical conditions and vestibular rehabilitation. Sarah likes to help empower her patients to take charge of their condition and rehabilitation through the use of manual therapy techniques, education, specific exercise prescription and modalities such as dry needling. Sarah is also a Crossfit Level 1 certified trainer. This course enables her to incorporate functional strength training into the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal conditions. Her experience as a competitive CrossFit athlete also allows her to understand issues that affect both recreational and competitive athletes and help athletes modify their training program to continue to train around injuries. She is happy to be part of the team at True North Physiotherapy and is looking forward to helping you get back to what you love!

Time to get to know True North Physiotherapy starting with who we are and what we do! At True North Physiotherapy we offer evidence-based physiotherapy services with treatment focusing on specialized and specific functional exercise prescription, manual therapy, soft tissue techniques and modalities such as functional dry needling. Our goal is to help reduce pain, increase strength and conditioning and improve mobility to help get you back to your sport, work and everyday lif...e with reduced pain and improved quality of life. Book online today with one of our therapists at sarahtessier.clinicsense.com or at the link in our bio! #physiotherapy #rehab #prehab