Physiotherapy Kwong - Specialty Areas

GLA:D®, Good Life with Osteoarthritis: Denmark, is an education and exercise program developed by researchers in Denmark for people with hip or knee osteoarthritis symptoms.

Research from the GLA:D® program in Australia shows an average pain reduction of 36%, reduced analgesic consumption, reduction in perceived need for surgery, and clinically meaningful improvement in joint confidence.

GLA:D® Education and exercises provided can be applied to everyday activities, ensuring participants develop skills to self-manage their osteoarthritis. By strengthening and improving confidence with exercise, participants develop better capacity to become or stay active, prevent symptom progression and reduce pain.

Kwong is the Physiotherapist with Canberra Raiders’ Juniors and the Head Physiotherapist with Belconnen United (Men) Football Team. He also worked with the Spirit Netball Canberra, WA futsal national teams, Gungahlin Jets AFL, Hong Kong Women Hockey Teams and Canberra United Academy. He was qualified as a level 1 basketball, level 2 in rowing and he has the ASCA level 1.

Kwong is interested in all types of sports injuries, especially in joint and tendon injuries. He can make a clear diagnosis of chronic and acute injuries and work out the treatment to reach individual goals. He always needs to manage players’ injuries during the season and make sure they can play safely. He also works with sports doctors and orthopedic surgeons that he has well knowledge about medical and surgical treatments.

More recent evidence shows that average long-term outcomes are similar following management of ACL rupture with rehabilitation alone or with ACL surgery and rehabilitation (Filbay et al. 2019). In addition, it is recommended that degenerative meniscus tear is managed conservatively instead of surgery now. Kwong has been working along with the sports doctors and orthopedic surgeons over the years and successfully helped numerous patients with ACL rupture and mensical tear’s rehabilitation and return to sports without surgery. And, the surgical decision is always made between the patient, doctor and physiotherapist together.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. 1.9% Australians have RA, affecting 2.3% of females and 1.5% of males between 2017 and 2018. The diagnosis of RA is hard and time consuming. As the rheumatoid factor blood test isn’t the gold standard test for RA (the accuracy is approximately 85%), the diagnosis is made from the combination of family history, joint health, pain, functions, scan and progression by the specialist. However, more evidence shows physiotherapy can help to achieve pain relief, prevent joint further damage and functional loss. Kwong worked in Arthritis ACT before and has experience working with patients with sysmatic arthritis in all ages. He can provide manual therapy, exercises and life modification to help with the pain and maintain the quality of life.

Neck injury symptoms include neck stiffness, shoulder or arm pain, headache, facial pain, jaw pain and dizziness, while lower back injury symptoms include sitting pain, muscle spasm, numbness, pain across the lower back, refer pain to the leg. Both neck and back pain may be caused by disc degeneration, narrowing of the spinal canal, arthritis, muscle inflammation, and nerve impingement. Recently more evidence shows it is related to mental health, stress management, sleeping quality and sitting posture. Kwong can provide education, lifestyle modification, manual therapy (including soft tissue massage and joint mobilisation) and exercise programs. He is also very interested in managing chronic lower back pain from radiculopathy and acute lower back from sports populations.

Hydrotherapy allows patients to exercise under the warm water with less gravity and can facilitate patients’ mobility and regain strength although they can have weight bearing, balance and pain issues. Hydrotherapy is suitable for people with chronic pain, all types of arthritis, post-surgical rehabilitation, mobility/ balance issues, and those people who find it difficult to do some land based exercises. The therapy can maintain people's cardio fitness, joint mobility, muscle strength, and balance. Kwong can access the University of Canberra Hospital and John James Hospital’s hydrotherapy pool to conduct personal exercise programs. These water pools have all the facilities that can assist people to get in and out the water and disability assisted bathroom and car park.

The principle behind Isokinetic testing is that the lever arm moves at a preset fixed speed allowing the dynamometer to measure the torque output by the patient throughout the range of motion (ROM). This is unlike manual muscle testing which is a static test, and isokinetic testing which measures strength at the strongest portion of the ROM and is also affected by speed of movement. This is not a test to measure strength alone but also identify problems of overall muscle performance during the functional activities. Isokinetic resistance will accommodate to pain, fatigue, changes in length tension curve and biomechanical leverage of the muscle allowing for safe efficient testing.

Physio led Strength & Balance Exercises Class

Physio supervised exercise class for people who want to strengthening the muscles and improving the balance

• Increased Muscles Mass and Strength: Improves overall body function and enhanceability to perform daily activities (e.g. lifting & Climbing stairs)
• Improved Bone Density: Reduces risk of osteoporosis and fractures
• Boosted Metabolism: Helps maintain a healthy weight by increasing resting metabolic rate
• Reduced Risk of Falls: Crucial for older adults or those with conditions affecting mobility
• Improved Coordination and Body Awareness: Enhances agility and reaction times
• Better Functional Movements: Improves confidence in doing everyday activities like walking, bending or reaching