The Pedaler Nundah opens next week! Initial patient No Gap screening offer until the end of February!*

After a few months of planning and some last minute weather induced hiccups, we are stoked to announce that the Nundah practice opens next week. It’s been a huge effort by the team at North West Physio to finish off all the fittings after a nasty storm wreaked a little havoc.

Everything is now ready to roll and we will be seeing Podiatry patients every Monday and Wednesday at the new location. You can book online or call (07) 31021322.

Sam Foster the physiotherapist is running a no gap initial screening promotion for the next month as an introductory offer and we feel we need to match it!! So until the end of February we will run a no gap initial patient screening session promotion as well*. This is a great opportunity to bring in your kids before the school year kicks off and have them assessed. Its also a great option to have your persistent aches and pains scrutinised from a podiatry perspective. When you call or book online, just ask for this promotional offer and we will take care of the rest.

We are genuinely excited to get the ball rolling out in the North!! Drop by and check it out.

*(Must have applicable Private Health Insurance to qualify - please check with your insurer prior to booking if you are unsure.)

Huge News - The Pedaler returns to Nundah!!

We are very excited to announce that we will soon have a new health location up and running in Nundah, the very suburb we started out in 8 years ago!

We kicked off The Pedaler (previously termed Tuileries Podiatry) in a sleepy street in Nundah in 2012 whilst Nathan was still commuting to Hobart for work every week. Initially ‘Dangerous’ Dave Gruhl looked after clients whilst Nathan was away (and also helped himself to the fridge mercilessly). After Nathan stopped flying to Hobart in 2015, we moved the business to Milton to be close to the cycling centre of Brisbane.

It comes with great joy then to return to our roots. Our partnership with Northwest Physiotherapy has expanded our footprint enormously and seamlessly. The Nundah location with serve as a base for Podiatry for all of our inner north clients who find the drive to Milton inconvenient. The location is also close the Nundah criterium track, the north Brisbane bike path and a whole bunch of riding groups and Tri clubs.

All bookings can be organised directly via the Nundah NorthWest Physio page.

The Pedaler Podiatry is now available at

• Milton (Headquarters) including cafe, workshop, massage, physiotherapy and dietician.

• Everton Park

• Keperra

• Eatons Hill

• Nundah (opening Jan)

Contact us for more details. We are sure to be offering a few sneaky promotional offers for Nundah in the coming weeks.

It is time to get those 'NO GAP' orthotics ordered!!

It's that time of the year again! 

For most health insurers, December 31st marks the point where your benefits reset. It means, if you want a 2nd set of orthotics to use in your cycling or walking shoes, now is the time to use your benefits prior to the reset period.

All our valued clients at The Pedaler are entitled to 2nd set of orthotics with no 'out of pocket' costs with the use of their Private Health Fund*. If you haven't seen our podiatrist and need to upgrade your orthotics, now is a good time to get the process started prior to the end of the year to ensure you can make use of this unique benefit next year as well.

Make sure you book a time soon, or give us a call to avoid missing the December 31st deadline as we get quite busy in December.

We are fortunate to be one of the few remaining Podiatry Practices that still has its own lab. This allows us to create unique solutions for all your shoe and foot issues.

If you’ve been putting off seeing a Podiatrist to organise orthotics to alleviate pain, improve comfort or prevent potential problems, then get in now and we can prescribe your custom set of orthotics now, then issue you with a 2nd set in the new year at NO GAP.

The benefits of being a Pedaler Patient!!

(*must have had previous orthotics from The Pedaler for a No Gap set - please check your health fund for details)

I'm too busy to Stretch - Ana Downey-Smith

Your physiotherapist or podiatrist might prescribe you stretching and/or strengthening exercises as part of your treatment and it seems simple enough to do right? Then you blink and 3 weeks later you realize you only did it once and you are still having the same problems. Generally speaking, people don’t go to the effort of seeking and paying for professional treatments, only to not continue the treatments at home. But life gets busy and sometimes we just forget about our exercises. Here are several key points to help you keep on track of your ‘at home stretches’ and speed up the road to recovery. 

1)   Routine: an obvious one, but by far the most crucial to achieve success. Pick your time and be realistic; if you aren’t a morning person, don’t try and put your stretching program in before work. Chances are you won’t do it and you’re back to square one. Many stretching and strengthening exercises are between 25-40 seconds long and include 4-6 repetitions, so you’re adding 2-3 minutes to your day, for a potential lifetime of change. 

2)   Triggers: Forgetting to do the stretches or exercises is one of the most common reasons for delaying the road to recovery. It’s a reason many healthcare professionals hear regularly. A ‘trigger’ is a visual cue to remind you to do your exercises. Reminders on your phone, sticky notes, towels or exercise equipment in front of the couch and pictures on the bedside table or fridge will help to remind you. 

3)   Keep it manageable: Don’t over commit or pressure yourself into doing the exercises. Generally speaking, 2-4 different exercises is advised, any more and it becomes too consuming and overwhelming. If you have more than 4 exercises, regardless of who prescribed them, talk to your health professionals about prioritising which exercises are more critical than others. 

4)   Time frame: Between you and your health care practitioner discuss a manageable time frame to complete the exercises. It isn’t always possible to estimate a strict date of completion, however it will help to try. By setting a time frame to have the exercises completed, it will help you manage your goals and expectations about the exercises. 

If you think you might benefit from more regular stretching, make an appointment to see one of our practitioners today. They can help you to make a plan and set some realistic targets.

Ana Downey-Smith

Podiatrist

Should I use my walking orthotics in my cycling shoes?

This is one of the most common questions we get at The Pedaler when cyclists call and ask for an appointment. Orthotic therapy has been used in a walking context for far longer then cycling and we are still catching up. As a consequence, we see a lot of riders stuffing a pair of walking orthoses into their cycling shoes and giving themselves problems.

Generally the conditions we treat when creating cycling orthotic solutions are not the same as when we treat runners. Most pains and problems are largely due to high peak pressures,, volume issues, shoe issues and overuse injuries of the leg knee and hip. Consequently, the treatment and orthotic prescription is very different to walking solutions. Above all, the space occupied by walking orthoses (often made from foam) is prohibitive to making a shoe fit well. We only use Carbon Fibre to create all our cycling orthotics to ensure the fit in the shoe is as perfect as it was for the previous shoe liner albeit now custom for your foot.

By using thin yet stiff carbon fibre it allows us the space to easily add pressure deflection, cushioning and load shift elements without filling up the shoe. The custom arch profile then makes the pedal pressure feel more even and stable, which is certainly an endearing sensation.

If you have questions about cycling orthoses (or standard orthotics for that matter) feel free to contact us for more information.

Remember, it’s not long now till the end of the year so use your health insurance before December 31.

Last week of no gap needling/trigger point therapy with Ana!

If you are prepping for State Titles or the Sunnie Coast Half this weekend, then make sure you get your body ready with a quick tune up from our Podiatrist Ana. This is the last week of our promotion for ‘No Gap’ dry needling and trigger point therapy. After this week, Ana is overseas for a short break.

Go online and book when suits. There are only a few spots left so take advantage of the offer before its gone! Good luck to everyone racing States and Sunnie Coast. Look like it will be a superb weekend!

Welcome Podiatrist Ana Downey-Smith to The Pedaler.

We are very excited to introduce the newest member of our team Ana Downey-Smith. Ana kicks off next week at both our Milton headquarters and at North West Physiotherapy Everton Park. She has been working over the past few years in Bathurst and is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities presented by working at The Pedaler.

Ana grew up in Central West NSW and studied a bachelor of podiatry through Charles Sturt University completing her studies in 2013. Initially she started her career in a public hospital in Sydney working with a prosthetics and orthotics team, then returned back to the country. Ana is currently studying a degree in Sports Medicine through the University of Melbourne, expected to be completed by December 2019.

Ana is qualified in dry needling, trigger point therapy and soft tissue mobilisation. This helps to provide an in-depth treatment with longer lasting results. Ana also has a keen interest in biomechanics and alignment. After several years of experience in private practice, Ana has clinical skills with people of all ages and health types, but particularly enjoys working with children, teenagers and athletes.  

Ana prefers to take a holistic approach to treatment, focusing on more than just the areas of pain. She also has over 6 years experience making and prescribing orthotics, as well as adjusting or modifying and fitting shoes and cleats. Ana and her husband have been long-term members of cycle clubs in Central West NSW and you will often find them around the local cycling crowds. 

During spare time Ana enjoys mountain biking, hiking with her 2 dogs and travelling.

The Pedaler Podiatry now at Keperra and Eatons Hill

After joining forces with North West Physiotherapy Everton Park, we have now added North West Physiotherapy Keperra and North West Physiotherapy Eatons Hill to the network. It’s been an enormous pleasure working alongside the Physiotherapists at North West and we can’t wait to get the ball rolling at the two new locations.

We will be providing the same high quality The Pedaler Podiatry services to these locations with all orthotic manufacturing still running through our own The Pedaler / Cobra9 Lab in Nundah. This allows complete control over the entire orthotic process from start to finish and provides all North West patients with the same ‘2nd set no gap’ policy for repeat clients we offer at The Pedaler.

For clients who want access to our bespoke Cobra9 Custom Cycling Orthotic services, there are now 4 The Pedaler locations spread throughout Brisbane where you can be cast and be fitted for these devices. Our headquarters for Bike Fitting and workshop services will remain at The Pedaler Milton, although basic bike fit assistance can now be obtained in all 4 locations.

For clients who want access to our bespoke Cobra9 Custom Cycling Orthotic services, there are now 4 locations spread throughout Brisbane where you can be cast for these devices.

We are very excited to be looking after more of Brisbane’s community with this expansion.

Big thanks to Roger and Roneill from Everton Park, Tim from Keperra and Ben from Eatons Hill for helping establish this relationship.

Services available at North West Physiotherapy

• Sports Podiatry

• Running Assessment

• Cycling Assessment

• Diabetic Assessment

• Paediatric Podiatry

• Cobra9 Cycling Orthotics

• Prescription Orthotic Therapy

For Bookings, please contact North West Physiotherapy and select your location.