Like a proud mama bear, I am so pleased to congratulate Duke on his graduation from RMIT with his Advanced Diploma of Myotherapy!

If you've already had a treatment with Duke, you'll know that he is pretty top notch! His knowledge of body mechanics and movement are exceptional, and he's wasted no time in putting new advanced skills into practice while he's been studying his Advanced Diploma over the last year or so.
He is also our go-to recommendation for anyone who loves a firm deep tissue massage - Duke is strong, and knows how to get the best angles to apply that intense level of firm pressure for those who need it.

So what will change now that he's graduated and earned his Myotherapist title? To be honest, not a lot, because he has been integrating his knowledge as he goes. What we do hope will change is his availability!! Now that he's no longer spending time studying, we hope to be able to offer more appointments with him in the near future!

He is now qualified and insured to offer Dry Needling treatments - however, we know there is a bit of a misconception where a lot of peoples understanding of Myotherapy is that its simply "a massage with added needles", but this is not the case! Not all Myotherapists choose dry needling as a go-to treatment option, and in our clinic we often try for less invasive techniques before using needles. For people who already know their body responds well to needles, it can be a fantastic tool to get quick changes in the muscles, but don't be put off from booking with a Myotherapist if you are scared of needles. Needles are just one tool in our very broad tool kit!

Congratulations again, Duke, on persevering with your studies throughout the pandemic. We know that its been hard for students to maintain their focus and commitment especially to very hands on courses like Myotherapy when there have been so many campus closures and restrictions around being able to complete classes and student clinics.

Hey! 
I'm Jacqui the newest member of the Simple Wellness family! I'm so excited to be able to offer you my unique blend of my 18+ years of experience in the natural therapies industry.
When people ask me what do I do for a living, I will often simply say, I am a Remedial Massage Therapist. I have been doing it so long, it is a natural response for me. However there is so much more to what I do now compared to when I started my journey as a massage therapist. 


I have always had an interest in mind/body connection and how mental/emotional & spiritual health can all have an impact on our physiology. In my early years of practicing, I began to realise that I could be helpful in treating & managing people's pain and discomfort physically, but I felt that I was only treating one aspect of the person, not their whole being. 

I wanted to know more about the mind/body connection and how I may be able to be of service in my own unique way with a truly holistic approach to the individual's wellbeing.

Being an avid yoga enthusiast for many years, I could clearly see the correlation between movement and health/wellbeing. I could also feel it! And it wasn't just about less pain and better movement, I felt fantastic! On so many levels. Levels I had forgot even existed! 

It seemed to balance me in a way that was so satisfying and sustainable. I was curious to know more about the mind, the energetic life force flowing through all of us, and how to harness the power of my breath. So naturally I felt drawn to meditation and mindful movement practices.

I have studied a range of other modalities including Meditation & Yin Yoga teacher training, Reiki & Qi Gong. I am now also a meditation coach for new meditation teachers in training with Australian Centre for Meditation & Mindfulness. 

My passion for wellness extends far beyond the physical. Clients often see me for stress & mental/emotional-related conditions that can lead to imbalance and physical pain. These include headaches, migraines, tension, aches, poor sleep quality, fatigue, malaise. As well as all manner of muscular pain conditions. 

I believe in the power and need for human touch. The clinical applications of my treatments may be similar for certain symptoms and conditions, however I have a unique and tailored approach to each individuals wellbeing needs which includes  an intuitive and holistic treatment style.

I look forward to working with you to begin your wellbeing journey with me. 
Book your appointment with me during school hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, or in the afternoon on Thursdays.

Our appointment fees are changing, and we want to be transparent about why.

We know we don’t need to explain the reasons, but we also know that a lot of people are feeling like businesses are trying to “play catch up” financially by charging more for products and services due to COVID and lockdown.

We want to reassure you, our change in fees is not to try to make up for lost income throughout the lockdowns.

Our linen supplier has nearly doubled their rates for the new year.

We registered for GST in 2019, but didn't increase our fees to include the 10% GST.

We are growing our team by offering stable employment contracts that let your practitioner enjoy the benefits of a guaranteed salary, a paid lunch break, paid leave and entitlements (many clinics only pay their practitioners if they have a booking!)

Our new fees are attached below and displayed in the clinic at our reception desk, and on the inside of each treatment room.

Appointments for the rest of 2021 are filling up fast. Book a time online, or contact us via Facebook or email to join our waitlist.

Predicting how long your body will take to recover from injury or pain can be difficult, because each individual person will have many different factors that can influence their pain.
Your recovery time will depend if your pain is from an acute or chronic issue. We use the terms "acute" and "chronic" to describe your injury or pain type - acute being a new, fresh injury, usually where tissue damage has occurred; and chronic being a longer term condition or pain that continues well after expected tissue healing should have occurred.

Acute injuries can include things like ankle sprains, hamstring tears, shoulder dislocations. Usually they happen quickly and are immediately obvious that something is wrong. Maybe you've lifted something too heavy in your gym routine and felt a twinge of pain in your back as a muscle has strained, or you've missed the last step and felt a sharp shock of pain in your hip or knee. High impact blows can also cause acute injuries, like if you have a fall, get in a car accident, or get kicked from a horse.

Chronic pain can stem from an originally acute injury. Its common for people to have ongoing pain or sensitivity after an injury that causes a lot of damage. Chronic pain can also be part of many health conditions, like hypermobility and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, and other conditions that affect your nervous system or connective tissue. Chronic pain also describes pain that comes from repetitive patterns of movement or positioning, usually starting as a mild irritation that can build up to be very painful, like De Quervains or "Mummy Thumb" which a lot of new parents experience as intense wrist and thumb pain from holding and feeding their new baby.

As a very generalised observation, acute injuries tend to follow fairly predictable recovery pattern as long as normal tissue healing occurs. In fact, the pain of an acute injury can often go away even before the tissue healing has completed, like in the case of a mild ankle sprain where you may be able to weight bear and return to normal movement within a week, even if the tissue around the ankle is still in repair mode. The severity of the acute injury will usually give us an indication of your expected healing time - a mild injury takes a shorter time to recover than a severe injury, this follows our common sense understanding even without medical training.

But what about chronic injuries or pain? How can we estimate how long an old injury will take to feel better? And importantly, can we realistically expect long term pain like a very old injury or pain from a lifelong disorder or disease to fully recover? This is where pain starts to become complicated, because in chronic pain patients there are lots of factors involved in the pain outside of damaged muscles, joints or nerves.

Chronic pain in one area of your body can lead to pain developing in other areas when your body tries to find different ways of getting things done. If gripping a heavy object becomes painful in your wrists, you may find yourself balancing it on your forearms and tilting backwards from your pelvis instead. As a short term work around this might be ok, but over time you might find yourself with chronic wrist pain AND chronic lower back and hip pain. Unfortunately, if you have a few "layers" of pain areas, this can mean that its likely to take longer to unravel some of the patterns that have lead your body to being in pain.

Chronic pain tends to be unpredictable in how long it may take to resolve. For people with pain stemming from lifelong conditions like genetic disorders, autoimmune disease or neurological disorders, the pain is likely to come and go in flares, and our aim for these people is to reduce the severity and frequency of the flares that are a part of their condition.

What other factors can contribute to how quickly you recover?
Adaptations to movements and positions:
Firstly, we need to identify movements or positions you currently do that either exaggerate or relieve your pain. Some of these will be easier to adapt than others - if you notice sitting longer than an hour increases your pain, an easy adaptation may be to get up every 30-60 minutes for a brief stretch. If you spend the majority of your day sitting at your computer, we can look at starting and ending your day with a back extension exercise to decompress your lower back. If we find some movements that relieve your pain, we can look at ways of increasing your time spent doing those movements.
We know that we won't be able to change all of the repetitive movements and actions that are needed in your daily life at work and at home, so realistically understanding that some of those things are contributors to your pain means we need to focus on the things we can influence so we can reduce the impact of the things we can't change.
There are lots and lots of options for changing some of the movement and position habits your body has built up, and our therapists can help with some suggestions during your appointment.

Exercise:
Finding a suitable type of exercise for your pain can be very helpful in building strength around the area and in stimulating your body to release its own brand of feel good hormones and neurotransmitters that reduce pain sensations. Exercise might sound very overwhelming to start off, especially if you have a lot of interconnected areas of pain, so our therapists will start you at an appropriate level for where you are at. That might be some mild stretches, a gentle walk or swim, or even a visualisation of doing certain movements.

Diet/Nutrition:
What you eat influences how your body repairs and recovers. If you have food sensitivities or intolerances this can also effect your bodies inflammatory response - the more inflammation, the more sensitive our nervous system is to pain. If you were already eating a good diet prior to your injury, you are likely in a better position to recover quicker than someone who was eating nutrient-poor food or a diet that caused inflammation. A nutritionist may also be able to recommend supplements that can support your bodies natural healing processes.

Fitness & General Health:
You may be more likely to have an easier recovery from injury if you were in fairly good health and physical condition before your injury. Your recovery may be slower if you have pre-existing health concerns, including things like diabetes or autoimmune disease. Its never too late to start working towards a healthier lifestyle!

Sleep:
Good sleep is crucial to good healing. Pain can make sleep very difficult, and this can become a bad cycle of intense pain leading to poor sleep, resulting in feeling fatigued, which causes pain to increase, and so on. Breaking this cycle and getting some proper rest can help with recovery. Using extra pillows to support your body may allow you a longer and deeper sleep. There are also lots of great sleep apps or meditations that some people find useful in falling asleep or getting back to sleep if you wake up in the night. Speak with a nutritionist or pharmacist about night time supplements that can help aid with sleep.

Nervous System Health:
Chronic pain is often just as much about your nervous system as it is about your musculoskeletal system. This means if you are highly anxious, stressed, depressed, or just have a lot on your plate right now, that your pain levels may be higher than normal. The nervous system controls your entire body, so while we're not saying "your pain is in your head, you're making it up!" what we are saying is that if your nervous system is working overtime then its much more likely that your pain will be noticeable even in response to small actions. Think of it like a kettle that has just boiled, it takes much less time to reboil the kettle because its already hot. The nervous system is similar, it will take much less action for your nervous system to turn up the volume on your pain because its already on high alert.
Finding ways of supporting your nervous system is crucial for long term chronic pain conditions. This is also why medications for anxiety and depression are often prescribed for people with ongoing pain. There are lots of natural or herbal supplement options available through Naturopaths and health stores. Setting a nervous system health routine for yourself is also a hugely valuable part of managing stress and overwhelm, and this might include things like mindfulness, meditation, relaxation, affirmations, or anything else that helps you to tone down nervous system activity.

Self Care Tools:
Treatments with your practitioner are great, but having the tools and know-how to apply treatment principles at home goes a long way to helping you take charge of your recovery. We can teach you how to use a range of tools for releasing tight spots in your body so that you have some tricks up your sleeve for between treatments.

Treatment:
Get the type of treatment that your body responds to. Some people respond best to hands on treatments like massage, cupping and dry needling. Some people go better with active exercise based treatments. Our therapists can advise you of the treatment types that have been reported to work best for your type of pain, but ultimately each individual body can react differently, and we'll work towards finding the best combination of treatment techniques for you.
Be aware that trying too many treatment types at once for the same issue can make it very difficult for any of your health practitioners to determine which treatment is effective. This is also why we'll often pick a small number of Myotherapy techniques to use in each treatment, because if we use absolutely everything we know all at once, its very hard to know what worked and what didn't.
Go into your first treatment expecting that it might take your body a little while to start making long term changes, especially if your pain has been there for a long time and if repetitive movements and positions seem to be a big part of your pain hanging around.

Want our help with your pain or injury?
Book an appointment with us now.

A very common cause of heel pain is a condition called Plantar Fasciitis. This is an inflammatory condition of the thick connective tissues of the heel and sole of the foot.

The sensation is usually described as a sharp, stabbing feeling directly under the heel. Its generally most painful first thing in the morning, or after resting for some time. Depending on the severity, this can last anywhere from a few moments, to being felt constantly throughout the day.

It can be caused by an acute injury or strain to the plantar fascia, and can also develop over time. People who are on their feet for long hours can develop this foot pain, especially if they don't have good supportive footwear.

Our bodies are pretty good at finding work arounds to keep us moving, so if you're experiencing plantar fasciitis, you may notice some compensation patterns like limping, reduced ankle mobility, taking smaller steps, or toe walking to avoid pressure to your heel. Short term, these compensation patterns are fine, but if the heel pain becomes chronic then these altered movement patterns can lead to other pains further up the body.

What can be done about Plantar Fasciitis?

• Treatment - Our team treats plantar fasciitis by working not only on your heel and arch, but also the surrounding and compensating muscle groups. We'll often work on your whole leg, as well as your hip and lower back. Massage and Myofascial Release to your feet and calves can be very helpful. There are Trigger Points within the lower leg muscles that can also refer pain into the heel. Muscle Energy Techniques (MET) can be used to relieve tension and pressure transferring to your heels by helping you activate and release muscles. Some people respond well to using techniques like cupping or dry needling. Taping the foot can provide a lot of support and pain relief.
• Bracing and support - In addition to taping as part of a treatment, there are support braces that can be used overnight or orthotics can be used in your shoes. These can be good options for people who have skin sensitivities to tape.
• Stretching and strengthening - A routine of stretches and strengthening exercises can be helpful. Our team can teach you how to stretch your calves and arches, as well as show you how to use some self care tools like massage balls and foam rollers to aid your recovery.
• Reducing inflammation - There are lots of drug-free ways to help reduce inflammation for plantar fasciitis. Tools like the MyoBall for icing your foot can be great, but a cheap and effective alternative is to freeze a water bottle and use that to roll your heel and arch. Increasing naturally anti-inflammatory foods in your diet can help - our friend and expert Nutritionist, Sam Gemmell, has written this blog about some easy anti-inflammatory food choices. We know that most of our patients chose not to take medications, however in cases where inflammation persists for a long time, a short course of anti-inflammatory medication can help to break the inflammation cycle - speak to your GP or pharmacist to get a recommendation.
  
• Footwear - Your choice of footwear can help your heel recover. Check the soles of your shoes for uneven wear - it might just be time for a new pair of shoes. Slip on shoes like thongs can force your feet to work harder, which might not be a problem most of the time, but can cause extra discomfort if your plantar fascia is already irritated. Our patients have had great relief from the Frankie 4 footwear brand.

Do you need help with heel pain?
Book in with our team so we can help you with a treatment plan.

Yep! We're open on Saturday April 3rd and Sunday April 4th, so if you find yourself in need of a remedial massage or myotherapy appointment we are here to help!

We will be closed on Good Friday (April 2nd) and Easter Monday (April 5th) for the weekday public holidays, but you can still catch us over the weekend.

Appointments are going fast, check our availability and book in soon!

We hope you have a happy and safe Easter!

We get asked quite a lot if a scan like an X-ray, ultrasound or MRI is needed first before a Myotherapy or Remedial Massage appointment.

Generally, the answer is no, you won't need to go for a scan first. Myotherapy and Remedial Massage are very low risk treatments that can help with your pain without needing imaging first.

What can scans show you?
X-rays will show you bony changes. This can include obvious bone injuries like breaks and fractures, as well as things like arthritis and bone spurs.
Ultrasound can pick up changes in soft tissues like muscles, tendons and bursa. There are limits on how much detail an ultrasound can pick up especially if the tissue is deep inside the body, and it can sometimes be unpleasant because the scanning device needs to be pressed against the affected area to complete the image.
MRIs provide a more in depth look at injured tissue. They can be used to observe bone, muscle and nerve changes, as well as identifying other non-musculoskeletal conditions like cancer or abnormal growths.
CT scans are a series of images of the affected area to create a cross section view of bone and soft tissue.

When might you need a scan before an appointment?
There are certainly times that it can be useful to get your GP to refer you for a scan, like:

• If you've recently been in a high impact accident, like a car accident, falling from a height or being thrown from a horse
  
• If you've had a recent crushing injury, like having a car drive over your foot or having your hand crushed under a heavy pallet
  
• If your pain is extremely sensitive to even the lightest touch
  
• If your pain feels less like a muscular pain and more like a deep organ pain
  
• You felt a "pop" or "rip" sensation that started your pain, like footballers feeling a rip in their hamstring when kicking, or runners feeling a pop in the achilles while sprinting
  
• The area is hugely swollen, red and hot
  

Do you already have a scan or imaging report?
Great! Bring along the copy of your report to your appointment. Our practitioners can have a read of the findings and make sure that you understand what it means, and this can help inform our treatment approach to your pain.

Lets get started!
Book your appointment with us and we'll complete an assessment and treatment. If we think you may need some imaging we can write a referral to your GP explaining our assessment and asking them to complete further investigations so that as your health team we get you back to feeling and moving better!

Thats right! We have a new face in the clinic!
Meet Duke Autret, our new Remedial Massage Therapist!

Duke got his Remedial Massage qualifications in 2019 from Australian College of Fitness & Bodywork, which is the same college that Mel studied her Myotherapy qualifications.
He is also close to completing his certification as a Pilates instructor, and interested in leveling up to become a Myotherapist!

He's a body and movement nerd - and you know how much we love nerds here at Simple Wellness Myotherapy! In addition to a feel good remedial massage, he will be able to give you some great take home movements that help which you can use between your treatments to boost your recovery!

Our long term plan is that once Duke has finished his Pilates instructor training, we want to offer combination treatments where you can experience half the appointment as manual therapy, and the other half as a tailored pilates program.

You can book with Duke for remedial massage on Thursdays 3pm-7pm and Sundays 12pm-6pm.