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Tag: Ottawa physiotherapy

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Person feeling neck and shoulder strain at a home office desk
By ADM Ottawa Physiotherapy Physio, Work Injury , , , , , , , , ,

Back to Routine: Why Your Desk Job Might Be Behind Your Fall Aches and Pains

September has a way of resetting everyone’s schedule at once. Kids are back in school, calendars fill back up with meetings, and for a lot of us, the summer’s looser routine — walking to the dock, working in the yard, biking somewhere instead of driving — gets swapped for long stretches back at a desk. It doesn’t take long for the body to notice.

Every fall, we see the same pattern at the clinic: neck stiffness that sets in by mid-afternoon, a dull ache between the shoulder blades that wasn’t there over the summer, a low back that feels locked up by the time the workday ends. The instinct is to blame stress, or just being busier — but the real cause is usually simpler, and a lot more fixable, than that.

If this is a desk you’ve been sitting at for years without a problem, it’s easy to assume you just need more breaks — and sometimes that’s exactly it. But when an area that never used to bother you suddenly does, that can also be a sign that something underlying — a stiff joint, a weak muscle group, a habit that’s crept in — has been building for a while and is only now showing up.

Here’s what’s actually going on when a desk job starts showing up in your neck, shoulders, and back — and what genuinely helps.

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Golfer preparing to swing on a golf course
By ADM Ottawa Physiotherapy Exercises, Physio , , , , , , , , , ,

Golfer’s Back: Why Your Swing Could Be the Problem

Late summer is peak season on Ottawa’s courses — tee times at Loch March, Eagle Creek, and The Marshes are booked solid, weeknight leagues are in full swing, and everyone’s trying to squeeze in a few more rounds before the weather turns. It’s also the point in the season when our clinic starts hearing the same complaint, over and over: a tight, achy low back that shows up somewhere around the back nine, or the next morning, and doesn’t seem to want to leave.

The instinct is to blame the game itself — or just chalk it up to getting older. But in the clinic, that’s rarely the real story. The golf swing is one of the fastest rotational movements in sport, and when the body can’t rotate well somewhere else, the low back ends up doing work it was never built to do, swing after swing, round after round.

Here’s what’s actually happening in a golf swing, why it tends to catch up with people exactly this time of year, and what helps — beyond just “swinging easier.”

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By ADM Ottawa Physiotherapy Exercises, Physio , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stay Steady This Summer: Balance and Fall Prevention for Ottawa’s Busiest Season

Gatineau Park’s trails are packed again, the Rideau Canal pathway is thick with cyclists and runners, cottage traffic is backed up on the 417 every Friday, and half the city seems to be standing on a dock somewhere. After a long winter of staying close to home, Ottawa moves in the summer — and moves fast.

Which is exactly why this is the season we see the most trips, stumbles, and the occasional real fall. Not usually from anything dramatic — a foot catching a root on a shaded trail, a slick patch on a dock ramp, a missed step off a curb while looking at a patio menu instead of the ground. One bad landing can turn into a sprained ankle that sidelines the rest of your summer.

Here’s the part people don’t always expect: balance isn’t just something that declines with age. It’s a trainable skill, like strength or flexibility, and it quietly gets rusty in anyone — hiker, cottage-goer, weekend athlete, frequent flyer — who spends most of the year on flat, predictable ground. Let’s look at what actually keeps you upright, why summer is when it gets tested hardest, and a few things you can do about it.

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