Eyewear Specs has welcomed two new staff members to their team. Lauren Hutcherson has been appointed as the new optometrist and Brodie Dukes will be undergoing her traineeship at the business.

“I am delighted that Eyewear Specs has grown enough to expand the business,” said Fiona Hayward, Owner and Manager of Eyewear Specs. “I am so happy to be working with Brodie and Lauren and look forward to the future of Eyewear Specs.”

Eyewear Specs opened its doors at 95 Rankin Street in Forbes in February 2016 and has been growing from strength to strength. The business has been so successful that they have had to expand by

employing more staff.

“I grew up in Molong and went to Queensland for six years to study. After graduating last year, I decided to come back to the country to work,” said newly appointed optometrist Lauren.

“I was born and bred in Forbes and have just recently finished school,” said Brodie. “Fiona offered me this amazing opportunity for a traineeship here. I’ve really enjoyed it so far!” Brodie’s studies will commence once schools reopen.

To have your eyes tested or to find a pair of glasses to suit your individual financial budget visit Eyewear Specs today!

There is an old saying amongst physios that says: ‘The best exercise is the one that gets done.’

A recent study published in the September issue of the New England Journal of Medicine has put this theory to the test. The authors studied the effect early versus delayed exercise, after an acute muscle strain, has on recovery time for recreational athletes.

Most people by now are aware that early mobilisation/walking within pain limits, after an ankle sprain reduces disability and recovery time. But is this also true for muscle tears?

This study took 50 recreational athletes with an acute injury of the thigh or calf muscles. Participants were divided into two groups. Each group performed the same four-stage exercise programme over a 12-week period. One group started this programme two days after injury and the second group started nine days post injury.

The exercise programme consisted initially of stretches then progressive isometric and dynamic loading followed by functional exercises combined with heavy strength training.

The primary outcome measure was return to full asymptomatic participation in sport after successful completion of a functional screening test.

The interval between severe muscle injury and return to sport was shorter in the early exercise group than in the delayed exercise group. The authors concluded that starting rehabilitation two days after injury rather than waiting for nine days shortened the time from injury to pain-free return to sport by three weeks without any significant increase in the risk of re-injury.

The take home message: Get to your sports physio early after a muscle injury in order to minimise recovery time. For the fitness of you,

Linda Reily

Nine in 10 Australians could reduce their risk of heart disease simply by walking as little as 15 minutes more each day, the Heart Foundation said following a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report looks at the health impact – or ‘burden’ – of a lack of physical activity in terms of years of healthy life lost through living with an illness or injury, or through dying prematurely.

Being inactive has a strong link with heart disease. One-third of the total burden due to physical inactivity in Australia was caused by heart disease.

This figure demonstrates the significance of being active and having a healthy heart.

It is estimated that if the 89 per cent of Australians who fall in the ‘at risk’ (sedentary, low and moderate activity) category did an extra 15 minutes of moderate activity such as brisk walking five days per week, 13 per cent of the potential disease burden due to physical inactivity could be avoided. And by adding 30 minutes of walking or other moderate activity, five days per week, 26 per cent of future disease burden could be avoided, the report stated.

In May, the Federal Government announced that $10 million in funding over two years would be allocated to the Heart Foundation for an initiative to support up to 300,000 Australians to adopt the easy way to better health – regular walking – by 2019.