Octavia Hamilton
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy Alresford
Helping you thrive not just survive after Cancer.
Being diagnosed with Cancer is life changing. I will help you maintain control of the things you can and help you optimise your recovery in the best possible way.
Exercise is truly the best medicine and has been shown to improve energy levels, mood and even reduce the recurrence of Cancer.
Rebuild your love, trust and confidence in your body.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
Prehab:
- Understand plans for surgery and expected recovery times
- Get a baseline fitness test
- Optimise your current mobility and strength before surgery
- Learn scar massage and early rehabilitation techniques before the operation
- Optimise breathing techniques
- Feel prepared and calm
- Options of onward referral for other specialities: Tapping, therapy, nutritional support and more
Rehabilitation following Cancer surgery:
- Baseline assessment
- Regain trust and confidence in your body
- Gentle movement and strength work to optimise healing and rebuild strength
- Learn pacing to work around chemo and other cancer treatment
- Retrain pelvic floor
- Scar therapy
- Acupuncture
- Options of onward referral for other specialities: Tapping, therapy, nutritional support and more
Living with Cancer:
- Baseline assessment
- Gentle movement and strength work to optimise healing and rebuild strength
- Scar therapy
- Acupuncture
- Understand how to load and strengthen with metastasis
- Options of onward referral for other specialities: Tapping, therapy, nutritional support and more
Physiotherapy for Cancer
Exercise therapy is fast becoming an integral part of Cancer rehabilitation. Its never to late or too early to start.
Scar therapy following Cancer
Often the missing link of rehabilitation. Scar therapy helps your scar heal and ensure you can get back doing the things you love quickly.
- Improve healing
- Improve appearance
- Reduce pain
- Improve sensation
- Reduce cording
- Monitor for lymphodema
What to expect
Your physiotherapy session we will start with an in-depth discussion where we will go over the history of your presenting condition, nature of your symptoms and gain an understanding of your past medical history. I will also try to appreciate how your condition is impacting your everyday life, what it’s preventing you from doing and this will help us make a plan together, relevant to you and your life.
Next, we do a postural and functional assessment followed by some specific tests to help formulate a diagnosis and guide treatment. You may be asked to remove some clothing to get a good look at what is happening with your body so please bring appropriate clothing, so you feel comfortable such as shorts and a strappy top. If appropriate some hands-on treatment may carried out in the sessions, such as: soft tissue release, mobilisations, facilitation, correction of form and encouraging good motor control.
As a physiotherapist I strongly believe in movement as a form of rehabilitation and this is where I hand over to you the client to take control of your rehabilitation. Often aches and pains come with muscle imbalances, whether tightness or weakness and therefore this is something only you can do for yourself. Following a discussion, explaining my findings and helping you understand your condition we will plan the best course of action and you will be given a home exercise program to complete.
I am focused on treating the root cause of the problem not just the symptoms and this can take time and effort but you will reap long term benefits. If you feel you need more hands on 1:1 guidance in the early stages it is possible to do one to one Pilates sessions with me to help you gain body awareness, strength, mobility and confidence moving.
Pre and rehabilitation:
Having worked as a trauma orthopaedic and musculoskeletal physiotherapist at St Thomas’ and University Hospital Southampton for 6 years. I am well placed to support you through preparation for surgery and recovery afterwards.
Prehab:
The best thing you can do for your body before surgery is prep it. You need to be sure you have good range, strengthen and balance to help put you in good stead for a successful recovery post operatively.
What to expect:
Understanding what to expect from surgery is also key to helping manage expectations and ensuring good recovery. We will work on building strength, range and balance and ensure all other joints are in good shape. We can also practice techniques to mobilise safely and ensure you have prepared you home and support systems ready to receive you early post op.
Rehab:
Following surgery it often helps to be guided through the early days of rehab and ensure you optimise your recovery.
What to expect:
Helping explain pain management, soft tissue work to help with effleurage and working on other areas of the body to ensure you don’t decondition. Then working within your operation guidelines, we can start to get you moving again.
Osteoporosis (OP)
Loss of bone is a normal part of aging, which can lead to an increased risk of fracture. Women are more at risk following the first few years of the menopause, but OP can affect men and children too.
Following your diagnosis, it can be a scary time, but physiotherapy can help you through showing you how to continue to exercise safely. New evidence from the Royal Society of Osteoporosis supports keeping up exercise. More of a how to, rather than don’t do approach.
What to expect:
Focus will be on education, working within your abilities and showing you how to move safely keeping strong, steady and straight through weightbearing, resistance work and postural and balance exercises.
BOOK SESSION
“I have come to see Octavia for physio on several occasions for various conditions, including a bicep tendon rupture and knee pain. We have found she provides a very friendly and totally professional service giving detailed, clear information on diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care.
She is very knowledgeable, thorough in her management and the treatment and advice received was excellent.
We would highly recommend Octavia to anyone in need of pain management or rehabilitation.”
Rob
