Physiotherapy Blog

When it comes to treating musculoskeletal issues, particularly knee pain, the Joint-by-Joint Approach offers a valuable framework for our team of physiotherapists. Developed by physical therapist Gray Cook and Strength Coach Mike Boyle, this model suggests that the human body functions optimally when each joint is healthy and moves well in its specific range of motion. This post will explore [...]

Recovery is an often-hyped aspect of running performance, focusing on repairing, rebuilding, and strengthening the body after physical exertion – but are the current recovery trends actually useful? In this webinar for the Royal Victoria Marathon Virtual Speaker Series, physiotherapist Trevor Millar breaks down what we mean by ‘recovery’, and which of these techniques might be worth devoting some time [...]

Pelvic floor physiotherapy is an often overlooked aspect of men's health. While it's commonly associated with addressing female-related pelvic floor conditions, it's essential to recognize that men have a pelvic floor too, and they can experience various pelvic floor dysfunction issues. Understanding the role of the pelvic floor in male anatomy and the signs of dysfunction is crucial for addressing [...]

In the world of physiotherapy, innovative techniques continually emerge to address musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. Intramuscular Stimulation (IMS), commonly known as dry needling, has gained attention for its usefulness in treating many musculoskeletal conditions. This approach involves the insertion of thin needles into specific trigger points within muscles, aiming to release tension, improve range of motion, and decrease pain. In [...]

Physiotherapy has long been associated with gentle exercises and – let’s be honest – sometimes very cautious approaches to rehabilitation. While these methods may have their merits, there's a growing understanding in the field that challenging the status quo by incorporating heavy lifting into rehab programs can yield remarkable benefits. In this post, we'll explore why it's important to lift [...]

Sleep is an essential part of our daily lives, offering much-needed rest and rejuvenation for our bodies and minds. However, many people don’t realize that sleep also has a significant impact on pain perception and the healing process. In this post, we will explore the connection between sleep, pain, and healing, highlighting the importance of quality sleep for our overall [...]

Do you ever get aches or pains in your jaw and have difficulty pinpointing the cause of the pain? There's a lot going on with your jaw, and the supporting structures can become injured and strained, just like your knees and shoulders. In this article we'll discuss the anatomy of the jaw, and provide some helpful info on why it [...]

Back pain is a common experience for many people, and an expression we hear often at the clinic is "my back is out". In reality,  there is no single joint in the back that can pop out or become dislocated like in the shoulder or hip. Thankfully when you have pain, your back isn't actually "out" -  and persisting with [...]

Women are bombarded with information during pregnancy - this advice can range from helpful to even harmful (I’m looking at you, kegels!). With all the misinformation out there, why not have a health professional dedicated to your physical health and recovery work with you during this special time? With that being said, what can a pelvic health physio help you [...]

By far, the most common thing for us to hear from physio students and recent graduates is that they want to work with athletes. It will be no surprise that some of us at Motus said that too – and have been fortunate enough to be able to do it. Working with high-performance athletes and teams can be a lot [...]

Muscles play a key role during exercise and daily life, but have you ever put a second thought into the muscles that stabilize your pelvic floor? The pelvic floor muscles form the base of what we commonly call the core or inner unit. They work in unison with the deep abdominal muscles, the back muscles and the diaphragm (an important [...]

Rehabilitation is trendy. As opposed to fashion or music though, our trends tend to be based on research. If there is evidence that a particular treatment or modality works, it tends to show up in our practice. Of late, one modality that has drawn lots of attention for its positive effects has been shockwave therapy. Shockwave works by delivering energy [...]

As you may know, we at Motus just celebrated one year since our doors opened. We’ve all been physios for quite a while, but as all small business owners know, the learning curve in the first year is steep. So, in the interest of helping out all our friends who might be in a similar position, we want to share […]

Physiotherapy, like most other fields of study, experiences its fair share of trends. While the word ‘trends’ can often sound negative, in many cases, it isn’t - in fact, trends often serve to draw the attention of a large number of professionals in a field, who must then make their own educated decisions about how to expand on them – [...]

A lot has changed since the ‘jogging’ boom of the 1970’s: footwear, clothing, training methods, nutrition – the list goes on. One unfortunate constant, however, is the repetitive strain injury. The past few decades have seen countless research papers written on runners and their injuries, and while these can be divided into many sub-categories, persistent tendon pain and plantar fascia […]

I don’t like the term ‘chronic pain’. It’s common for patients to visit us for treatment and describe an issue they’ve been experiencing for a long time — sometimes for years, or even decades. When pain sticks around for a while, people often have the term ‘chronic’ assigned to them (or sometimes they even adopt it themselves). With that label [...]

It’s that time of year again in Victoria – days are getting longer, cherry blossoms are everywhere, the lawn needs weekly mowing, and the TC10k is almost here. This Sunday, nearly 10,000 runners and walkers will fill the streets of downtown Victoria for one of the biggest 10k events in the province. Some will have done the race every year […]

Jordan Monks, Wes Maunu, and Trevor Millar are proud to announce the opening of Motus Physiotherapy, the Westshore’s newest physiotherapy clinic. Opening Spring 2017, the clinic will provide expert, one-on-one therapeutic care, in a brand new, 3000 square foot facility. Jordan and Wes met and became friends while in physio school at UBC, in 2007. Trevor was introduced in 2011, […]

Motus Noun mōtus m (genitive mōtūs); fourth declension A movement, motion. (by extension) An advance, progress. When Wes, Jordan, and Trevor came together over a burger and a beer at Bin 4 in Victoria in early 2016, the discussion centred around one question: What kind of clinic do we want to build? That question didn’t refer to the size of […]

Anyone who’s had any experience in sport has probably come across the prototypical old-school coach - the one who claims that something working in the past is evidence enough to keep doing it. Like coaching, the world of therapy has these same ‘old-school’ practitioners. We’re working hard to change that thinking - ask any recent physiotherapy grad, and they’ll tell [...]