2024 Wrap Up
As another year draws to a close, we reflect on what's been happening at PhysioTec and with our team over 2024. Scroll down to see what we've been up to. We'd like to extend a huge thank you to all our patients, who have entrusted us with their healthcare. We take this responsibility very seriously and continue to work to stay at the cutting edge of science and clinical practice, to deliver you the very best care and outcomes possible.
The PhysioTec team would also like to wish you a happy Christmas and all the best in health for 2025. We look forward to working again with current, past and new patients in 2025.
Find our physio clinic in Salisbury, Brisbane
Our Brisbane Physiotherapy Clinic, services areas including: Salisbury, Brisbane, Tarragindi, Mount Gravatt, Holland Park, Rocklea, Yeronga, Annerley, Camp Hill, Carindale, Coorparoo, Salisbury, Sunnybank, Greenslopes, Seven Hills, Acacia Ridge, Indooroopilly, Woolloongabba, etc.
Because of our expertise in hip conditions, hypermobility, sports injuries, and dance injuries and performance, we also have people visiting us from all over Queensland, Australia and even international visitors. We also have a telehealth service for remote patients.
Top 3 Blogs of 2024
The most popular blog of 2024 was: Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments. This blog, written by Sports Physio, Tyler Cultum, sought to examine Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, common signs and symptoms, causes, and common treatments for this neck, arm and hand pain.
Second place of our top 3 blogs of 2024 goes to: Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments. The focus of this blog focussed on identifying what proximal hamstring tendinopathy is, its symptoms, causes, treatments, and how to get help for it.
And the 3rd blog to make our Top 3 list of 2024 is: 5 Top Tips For Hip Replacement Recovery. This blog provided 5 top tips for hip replacement recovery after surgery - tips to help you avoid those annoying hiccups in your post-operative recovery.
The most liked post on social media was this post from one of our blog posts this year: Tennis Elbow.
This post demonstrated that Tennis Elbow primarily impacts the outer part of the elbow and extends into the forearm. Common symptoms include: Pain: Typically felt on the outer elbow and forearm, often worsening with activities that involve gripping or wrist movements. Tenderness: Notable sensitivity in the affected area. Weakened Grip Strength: Difficulty holding or lifting objects. These symptoms can significantly affect daily activities and overall comfort. Recognising these signs early is key to managing the condition effectively. You can read more about the symptoms of tennis elbow, causes, treatments, and how to reduce the risk of developing it, by head to this blog for more!
The second most liked post on our social media was information from one of our old hypermobility blogs.
This post explained that being 'double jointed' just means your connective tissues, like ligaments, are more flexible than usual. While your joints aren’t literally “double,” they stretch more due to these passive structures. Hypermobility affects about 1 in 20 people and is more common in children and teens, with 10-25% of kids showing signs, particularly between ages 13-19. Girls are more likely to experience it than boys. If you find yourself more flexible than average, you might have hypermobility. It’s a condition that’s more common than you think and can impact your joints and overall comfort. It is important to stay informed and take care of those flexible joints, so head to this great blog full of information on hypermobility and injuries!
And the 3rd most liked post on our social media is this one about wearing heels!
This post provided some insights into heels. It uncovered that that wearing heels shifts your weight forward, putting extra strain on the front of your hips? The rotation and tilting of your pelvis while walking in heels can lead to added stress on your hip joints and tendons. Even sitting in high heels pushes your knees up, increasing compressive loads on your hips and potentially causing discomfort for those with hip conditions. It is important to take care of your hips—consider alternating with other footwear! Kick those heels off whenever you can, wear runners till you get to work, have some ballet flats to wear at your desk. You can read a whole lot more about high heels and their impacts in this linked blog! Check it out!
Our Principal Physiotherapist, Dr. Alison Grimaldi, continued sharing her hip knowledge worldwide
Although research and paper writing requires significant effort, Alison remains deeply passionate about staying involved in these activities. For over two decades, she has volunteered her time to help provide those in pain with better options, and clinicians with valuable insights. This year, she published several papers, contributing to the ongoing knowledge in her field.
2024 has been a remarkable year for Alison, with opportunities to attend and present at 2 international conferences in Basel (IFOMPT: an international musculoskeletal therapist conference) and Washington DC (ISHA - an international conference for hip surgeons and rehabiliation professionals). She finds that connecting with colleagues face-to-face adds a unique value to her professional relationships and her own knowledge acquisition.
Alison also continued to host a variety of online and hands-on workshops in 2024, taking her knowledge of hip health to audiences in Australia, Canada, USA, England, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Latvia and Korea. She is already planning and scheduling her workshops for 2025, both in Australia and abroad.
Additionally, Alison Was invited to share her expertise in hip rehabilitation on two podcasts this year. These podcasts allowed her to provide updates on the latest news and research in the field of hip health.
Continued Physio Professional Development
at PhysioTec
In 2024, our PhysioTec physio’s continued to strive towards clinical excellence and extending their knowledge and skills in a range of areas.
Over February - April, we had Dr Yaheli Bet-Or (shoulder expert) provide 4 x 2 hour intensive problem solving sessions with the team - working through case presentations in different forms of shoulder pain. This was a great follow up to the training we did with Dr Bet-Or in 2023, deepening our knowledge and clinical reasoning around more challenging shoulder conditions, and optimising treatment outcomes.
We also welcomed back Dr Melinda Smith (foot & ankle expert) who helped us fine tune skills with foot intrinsic measures, and foot muscle training. It's just so important to have great foot musculature - these are the things that connect us to the ground! Dr Smith also shared her expertise on the differential diagnosis of heel pain - not all heel pain is 'plantar fasciitis'. Plantar heel pain is one of the most common issues suffered by peri and post menopausal women. Dr Smith will also be back next year to continue our updates around the foot & ankle.
Carl Glyde, our Dance and Hypermobility Physio, has completed a number of additional courses this year in these fields - more detail below.
Two of our PhysioTec Sports Physio's, Dr Molly Connolly and Tyler Cultum, completed 10.5 hours of training on Advanced differential diagnosis and treatment of elbow pain with one of the world's experts in Elbow Conditions - Associate Professor Leanne Bisset. They picked up some great new skills, so if you're having any elbow issues, pop in and see Molly or Tyler.
Molly has also followed up her Level 1 Sports Physiotherapy Course through the Australian Physiotherapy Association, to complete her Level 2 Sports Physiotherapy Qualification in November. Well done Molly!
Our physios also benefit from regular group and individual mentoring from Dr Alison Grimaldi or other senior staff members. Over 2024, PhysioTec staff have received over 100 hours of cumulative individual or group in-house mentoring, reflecting our strong commitment to staying at the cutting edge and providing our patients with the very best of evidence-based practice.
Dance Physiotherapy Wrap Up for 2024
Dance Physio 2024 Updates
In October and November, our dance physio Carl and his team performed their Salsa routine a number of times around Queensland and Sydney, culminating in a competition at the World Salsa Solo held at Sea World. Well done Carl!
Carl has been hard at work furthering his education in all things dance. In July he attended a training course on the foot and ankle in dance held by Sue Mayes, Australian Ballet medical director and expert physiotherapist. One tip he took home from this workshop was the importance of calf strength in dance, and how correlated weakness in this muscle can be to any leg injury.
In August, he then attended a workshop designed to assess and develop readiness to dance on pointe cohosted by Paula Baird-Colt, dance movement specialist and Anita Bruce, titled physiotherapist and body conditioning specialist previously of the Australian Ballet. This helped Carl to develop a very detailed and thorough pre-pointe assessment screen he has put to good use in keeping local dancers injury free.
Thanks Carl for all your extra training and hard-work!
Dance Physio - Christmas Tips!
1. Rest and recover
It’s the holidays - enjoy them! Allow yourself time, guilt free, to rest and switch off, to not worry about making your pirouette perfect. I guarantee you will be much better in the long run learning to truly unwind and practising relaxation than you will be by overloading yourself with endless training.
2. Indulge in your creativity
Classes, and especially rehearsals in the lead up to the end of year showcase have to emphasise technical precision and synchronicity. Take some time this break to do the opposite. Dance for fun, and come up with something weird and wonderful no one else ever has to see! This is a great way to engage different parts of your mind and body, and will allow you to reach new heights in your dance journey.
3. Try some cross training
While dance is varied and is a great way to exercise all parts of your body, it doesn’t cover everything the human body can do. Trying another activity like swimming, cycling or horse-riding is a great way to diversify your movements and build strength in areas complementary to those needed in dance. This in turn can develop a more balanced physique and reduce the risk of overuse injury.
Sports Physiotherapy Wrap Up for 2024
Take a Deserved Break!
With the holiday season coming up. If you have been training consistently all year round. It is not a bad idea to just enjoy yourself and have a break from structured training. This does not mean you have to do nothing, but rather take a bit of a mental attitude where you take the guilt out of not exercising whilst indulging in the holidays.
Rest is just as important as the working out. It is when the musculoskeletal system heals and adapts to get stronger. So give it a try this festive season, live a little and enjoy it and let your exercising take second fiddle for a short period. This will help you to refresh and renew your focus into the new year.
Bike Fits and Runnings Assessments
As you know, your bike setup is important and should suit your body and type of training or competition. Poor bike-fit can contribute to cycling-related pain and also impact substantially on performance.
For runners, your running technique may contribute to hip, kneecap, back, calf, shin, ankle and foot problems. Performance can also be impacted by running technique.
That's why this year, we ran some campaigns on our Bike Fit and Running Assessment services. The response to these campaigns was amazing. We had people from all over Brisbane and the Gold Coast come in and see one one of our Sports Physios for a bike fit or a running assessment. It was great meeting you, and we hope to see you again in clinic soon.
Click the links below to book a Bike Fit or Running Assessment.
Career Milestone!
We would like to send a huge congratulations to one of our sports physiotherapists, Eric Huang, who reached a huge career milestone this year - 20 years as a physiotherapist!
We have been privileged to have Eric with us at PhysioTec for 14 of those 20 years. He has made great contributions to our clinic and the health of the community over these years. Well done!
Dr Molly Connolly - Working at the Australian Open
We would also like to say a huge congrats to Dr. Molly Connolly, one of our Sports Physios here at PhysioTec. At the start of this year, Dr. Molly Connolly, travelled to Melbourne to work at the Australian Open, where she has been working for 8 years! This was a great opportunity for Molly to work amongst sporting legends, and meet other physios in the field.
And she's been invited back againt for the 2024-2025 season, working both as a physiotherapist and managing the recovery centre.
A great opportunity. Well done, Molly!
Hypermobility Physiotherapy Wrap Up for 2024
As the year draws to a close and the holiday season arrives, it’s important for those with hypermobility to be mindful of the need of their bodies. The festive season can be a time of overindulgence, long social gatherings, and a change in routine—all of which can overload and irritate the joints of those predisposed to joint instability. Be sure to control what you can:
Start each morning with your normal muscle activation and gentle mobility routines,
pace yourself and take breaks throughout any repetitive activity (especially when its feeling good) and
wear good supportive shoes as much as you can to prevent any undue strain on your joints.
In Queensland, holiday season also means stormy season, and for reasons not yet fully understood, weather changes (specifically barometric pressure fluctuations), can impact joint pain and discomfort in people with hypermobility. This is for three main reasons:
1. Joint instability:
- The inherent instability of hypermobile joints makes them more vulnerable to changes in pressure and temperature
2. Heightened sensitivity:
- Individuals with EDS often have a more sensitive nervous system, which may amplify the effects of weather changes on pain perception
3. Connective tissue differences:
- The unique properties of connective tissue in people with EDS may lead to exaggerated responses to environmental changes
While we can’t control the weather, exercising regularly, checking forecasts and staying prepared for weather changes, and managing stress, all make a significant difference in reducing its impact.
Many with hypermobility also experience increased fatigue around the holidays due to disrupted sleep, stress, or the simple strain of participating in activities that may push their physical limits. For these reasons, it’s vital to be proactive in managing hypermobility symptoms, as overexertion can lead to pain flare-ups or injury. In particular, activities that require repetitive motions, such as lifting, bending, or twisting, can be particularly taxing. Keeping these factors in mind and making adjustments to prevent overuse can go a long way in ensuring a comfortable and enjoyable holiday season.
This year, Carl, our lead hypermobility physiotherapist at PhysioTec, has continued to expand his expertise to better support his patients. He recently completed the EDS ECHO Multi-disciplinary Team Practice training, a comprehensive program designed to deepen knowledge of hypermobility and related conditions. Over the course of five two-hour training sessions, Carl gained valuable insights into managing hypermobility at key sites in the body, including the hip, knee, ankle, shoulder, wrist, and hand. This specialized training enhances his ability to offer tailored advice and physiotherapy interventions, ensuring that every client receives the most up-to-date and effective care possible.
PhysioTec Pilates and Group Classes
Well done to all those who committed to supervised group training at PhysioTec over 2024! This is a wonderful way to rehabilitate or stay engaged in your maintenance program and keep those aches and pains under control. The social connections and support also add to the benefits of group exercise.
COACHING BRINGS HIGH REWARDS - Supervised exercise under the care of a physio or experienced Pilates Instructor helps you keep motivated and confident, ensuring your technique is ideal and you get the progress and stimulus to need to keep progressing.
Class Schedule 
Last classes for 2024
Tues 19th Dec - 11:30am, 12:45pm & 1:45pm
Fri 22nd Dec - 12:30pm & 1:30pm
First classes for 2025
Tues 9th Jan – 11:30am, 12:45pm & 1:45pm
Fri 12th Jan – 12:30pm & 1:30pm
NB: Please let us know if you are around and wanting to come in for class in January as the classes will run dependent on participation basis.
Also, if you plan to be away for any of these classes or earlier in Dec – please let us know so I can see where I have space for others.
Wishing you & your loved ones a safe & rejuvenating holiday season. We look forward to seeing you again in 2025!
Festive cheers,
Pilates Team
The Pentimento Project Wrap Up for 2024
Convalesce
1. Breathe
- ACBT: Take 5 progressively larger breaths with the first being the smallest through to the last being the biggest breath you can take. Hold each for 5 seconds and exhale fully between breaths.
- Diaphragmatic Breathing: Relax and place a hand over your abdomen, as you inhale through your nose direct your air deep into your lungs and notice your abdomen raise into your hand. Hold the breath for 5 seconds and then exhale and repeat.
- Humming: Breathe in through your nose , hold the breath and then with closed mouth, hum the air fully out of your lungs
- Alternate nostril breathing: Start by relaxing and focusing on your natural breath. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. After a minute or two place you thumb against your right nostril and breathe in through your left nostril and then close the left nostril to breathe out through your right. Follow this with a breath in through your right nostril, then block the right nostril to breathe out through your left nostril. Continue this cycle for 5-10 minutes.
2. Plan, Prioritise, and Pace
3. Escape
4. Move
Julie, Principal and Director of The Pentimento Project
Physiotherapy based Cancer Rehabilitation, Moving beyond Diagnosis.
Catch Up On Our Blogs From 2024
AWESOME BLOGS THAT OUR PHYSIOS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO PROUDLY!
Do you you need help recovering from an injury? Improving your performance? Or just getting back to doing the things that you love? Visit us at PhysioTec, and let one of our physios assess you and provide you with a personalised program to help you get on-top of your condition, and feel at your best.
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Top 3 Social Media Posts of 2024