Photo: Courtesy of Fisio
Whether from a long week at the office, pushing it too far at the barre, or just from sleeping in a weird position, body pain is common in women, especially as we hit our 30s. Gabriela Alvarez, a DHA certified physiotherapist with more than 12 years experience in the field, says that these aches and pains can be soothed and resolved with a combination of wellness and physical therapy. Based at Fisio, a new Dubai-based body therapy center, her role involves taking care of stress and strain on the body using a modern approach to recovery.
Photo: Courtesy of Fisio
According to Alvarez and the Fisio team, the following issues should be addressed sooner rather than later to prevent further injury:
– Lower back pain, a common symptom with women due to poor posture, pelvic floor dysfunctions, high impact exercises or the active demands of daily life.
– Tightness in the neck and shoulder muscles is also common, from carrying the kids around or simply carrying a heavy purse, leading to numbness in the hands or fingers from compression in the nerves.
– Women also tend to have low core strength, especially in mothers post-birth, from postural cross syndrome or general lack of activation of the core.
– Knee pain with women as well can be caused by many factors, but a common stressor is a weakness in key muscles supporting the knee causing it to be overloaded, like the quads or hamstrings, or hip misalignments.
Photo: Courtesy of Fisio
Your first stop for treatment, Alvarez suggests, is manual therapy sessions to release trigger points causing pain. “We call our wellness treatments ‘supporting recovery’, as they are not only good for muscle recovery but also boost emotional and mental well-being that is all interconnected & supporting our physical recovery journey,” she says. “We don’t believe in waiting for a doctor’s note or injury to visit a physiotherapist, so we recommend to schedule regular assessments and treatments with professional physios so your bodies can do their best work with purposeful self-care and preventative treatments.”
Try Alvarez’s recommendations during the day to help keep your body in order:
– Adjust your laptop screen upright to avoid a natural tendency to lean forward, when tilted back.
– Move a little every 45 mins, getting in a few steps, and switching your position.
– Weekly massages or infrared sauna sessions are great for maintaining physical health, relieving muscle tension and stress, and promoting better sleep that improves our quality of life.
– Cupping therapy and using a lymphatic drainage machine is also great for flushing the body.
