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As the Dubai summer heat finally begins to ease, many of us are eager to unbox our new running shoes and head to the track at Kite Beach. After months of either cutting back or stopping entirely (depending on your affinity for treadmills or running in a shopping mall), the cooler mornings and evenings offer the perfect opportunity to return to running. But as a physiotherapist, I often see runners rush straight back into their old plans, only to pick up niggles or injuries within weeks. The key to avoiding this? A graded, structured return.

Before even thinking about distance or pace, your preparation matters. A proper warm-up primes your body for running. The fact that you get up at 5 or 6am to beat the sun doesn’t give your body a free pass – I can testify. Dynamic stretches, mobility drills, and a few short activation exercises for the glutes, calves and quads can help increase blood flow and reduce injury risk. 5-10 minutes can go a long way here. The common runner will treat the first kilometer as their “warm-up” – but in the Dubai climate, that first kilometer can put early strain on unprepared tissues.

A good way to approach your return is by adopting a “couch to 5K” style program. These step-by-step progressions combine intervals of walking and jogging, gradually increasing running time over several weeks. This is exactly what your body needs after a summer break. Don’t worry if you used to run half-marathons – your tissues, tendons, and muscles still need time to readapt after a significant break. A sudden jump in volume or intensity is the number one reason I see runners come into clinic with shin splints, Achilles pain, or knee issues.

The data and science are pretty clear on this one; if tissues aren’t conditioned for load, they become vulnerable. Running is a repetitive, high-impact activity. Without gradual progression, the stress accumulates faster than your muscles, tendons and joints can adapt. These imbalances can lead to overuse injuries – and once you’re injured, your progress is set back weeks and sometimes months. A slow build at the start actually saves you time in the ‘long run’ – forgive me. 

Ideally, to prepare your body for a return to running is to match each run with a targeted strength session. This doesn’t have to be in the gym – home-based exercises such as calf raises, single-leg bridges, squats, lunges, and step-ups can be highly effective. By strengthening the muscles around your hips, knees and ankles, you build resilience in the tissues that take the most impact when running. Think of it training your body to be more resilient, to cope with the increased frequency, time, and intensity of running through the winter.

With the weather becoming more runner-friendly over the next 4 weeks, now is the perfect window to start laying the foundations. Use this time to focus on strength training and short, structured runs. By the time the cooler season arrives in full swing, your body will be conditioned and ready to enjoy longer distances without the worry of breaking down.

A return to running after the Dubai summer is exciting, but it’s also a time to be cautious. Treat your body with patience, follow a structured program and combine running with strength work. It goes without saying the importance of proper hydration and fuelling plays a big role too. This approach will not only reduce your risk of injury but also set you up for a successful, enjoyable season ahead. If you have any queries or questions, the feel free to email me on dkennedy@physiocentre.ae or contact The Physio Centre to book an appointment to maximise your training in the gym in prep for the race season approaching!

Where do we start? When I started writing this I wasn’t sure what the actual number would be of types of physiotherapy, and even now, there’s still probably more than what I’ve thought of. We often think of physiotherapists as one group who cover all aspects of their profession. However this isn’t strictly true, and the same goes for a lot of other medical professionals e.g. doctors, nurses, occupational therapists. 

Let’s first talk a bit about training to become a physiotherapist. As Australian and Uk trained physiotherapists, we have been lucky to learn and work in a multitude of physiotherapy settings. We generally learn all aspects of physio, then complete a few years of work across the different sectors. Then, once you’ve found your true calling, you start to specialise.

If you go to a hospital, there will be physiotherapists in many of the departments. From the trauma and orthopaedic wards to A&E/ED to intensive care and high dependence. There will be a physio covering most departments of the hospital. Before we list the roles a physio can have, we also need to differentiate between adult and children’s physiotherapy. Many physios will choose to specialise in either adults or children. There can be a large cross over in some settings such as orthopaedics; however, neurology is a whole different ball game!

1. Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy

The one that we all know. Treating things like neck pain, lower back pain sprained ankles, shoulder ‘impingement’, and post orthopaedic surgery

2. Sports Physiotherapy

Can be related to MSK physiotherapy but with more of a sports focus. These physios specialise in sports injuries and return to play after injury. They treat things like ACL tears, dislocated shoulders, hamstring tears.

3. Orthopaedic Physiotherapy

Crossed over with both Musculoskeletal and sports but focused more on the inpatient setting. Treated post-op patients after trauma or elective surgeries such as total knee replacements.

4. First Contact Practitioner/ Primary Care Physiotherapy

Specialist physio’s working in GP clinics and the emergency department. They cover a broad range of conditions and are specialised in ordering imaging, blood tests and in some cases performing injections.

5. Women’s & Men’s Health Physiotherapy

This specialist area of physiotherapy includes all things gynaecological, urological and obstetric! Back pain in pregnancy, incontinence, prolapse.

7. Neurology Physiotherapy/ Neurophysiotherapy

Another huge area of physiotherapy. You’ll find physio’s working with patients post-stroke, brain injuries, or neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Motor neuron disease.

8. Amputee Physiotherapy

Working in both inpatient and outpatient settings. They treat people with both upper and lower limb amputation. Their rehabilitation is focused on returning people to a normal, functional lifestyle with specific adaptions and equipment to help people. Respiratory physiotherapy – working on the wards and intensive care unit treating patients with COPD, asthma, chest infections and various other conditions affecting the respiratory system.

9. Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy

Working both in inpatients and Outpatients for people with heart problems. Working to restore or improve cardiac function, including post-op.

10. Paediatric Physiotherapy

Covering babies from a few minutes old to 18-year-olds. This speciality covers most of this list but in children. It’s an enormous area of physiotherapy with practitioners further specialising in pediatric neuro physiotherapy or respiratory. They can specialise in scoliosis treatment, complex neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, global development delay.

11. Community Physiotherapy

What it says on the tin. These physiotherapists treat patients in their own homes. They aim to avoid patients being admitted to the hospital or work with patients to complete functional rehabilitation at home.

12. Care of the Elderly/ Geriatric Physiotherapy

Covering patients over 60/65 with conditions relating to ageing. This includes falls, decreased mobility or medically unwell patients who need rehabilitation to return home.

13. Hand therapy 

specialist physio’s working with everything below the elbow. This can encompass broken bones, burns, deep cuts and tendon injuries.

14. Vestibular/ Vertigo Physiotherapy

treating patients with dizziness, balance disorders and vertigo. These physiotherapists combine a mix of manual therapy and specialist technique with exercise-based rehabilitation to allow patients to return to normal function.

15. Occupational Health Physiotherapy

Often employed by companies to look after their employees’ wellbeing. They treat a wide variety of conditions that are also treated by MSK physiotherapists but there is a focus on workplace-related issues such as posture, ergonomics, equipment and lifting. And there we have it, a whistle-stop tour of the types of physiotherapy available – a total of 15! Next time you need physiotherapy, make sure you find someone specialising in the area you need.

Here at The Physio Centre, we specialise in musculoskeletal, sports injuries and orthopaedic physiotherapy.

The World’s loudest fun run is coming to Dubai. The Dubai Music Run is happening at Meydan Racecourse on Saturday November 16 – Saturday is a fitting day for a party!

The 5km course (which can be walked or run) is fully lined with speakers playing local and international music to motivate you to get moving. It’s being promoted as a social run for all to enjoy, adults and children alike. It also helps kick start the fun run series in Dubai through the winter, getting people out in the community, connecting and being active, before, during and after the race at the Music Village Stage.

There will be plenty of fun runs in Dubai over the Winter so here are 10 quick tips if you’re going to get involved:

1. Do a little preparation! If you’re a regular runner – great. If you’re a regular walker and you plan to walk – great! If this is the beginning of your journey, get in a few walks and perhaps a few walks/runs before the day to remind your legs that they need to move. Don’t expect your body to perform if it hasn’t been performing regularly.
2. Have a little fast walk or jog to warm up and get the blood moving – it’s better than stretching
3. Drink plenty of water to hydrate during the day
4. Try to eat your last meal more than 2 hours before the run.
5. Wear shoes you’ve worn before! Don’t encourage blisters or pain by wearing brand-new fancy trainers!
6. Given the theme – bright colors might be the way to go at this run
7. Bring a light jacket for before and after
8. Bring some foam earplugs for little kids—you don’t need to bring your own headphones for this one!
9. Make sure to sing along the way to enhance the experience.
10. Say ‘Hello’ to all your fellow runners!

Post Event Day

Empowering rehabilitation, recovery and quality of life for people with breast cancer in the UAE

Introduction

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women in the UAE, representing around 20-21 % of all malignancies. In 2021, 1,139 new breast cancer cases were reported in the UAE, making it the leading cancer diagnosis in women. Although treatment advances have improved survival, many survivors face long-term physical, psychological and functional challenges.

Physiotherapy has an important and often under-recognized role throughout the breast cancer journey — from pre-surgery to long-term survivorship and even in the advanced disease stage. Below are 5 facts about how physiotherapy contributes to better outcomes for people with breast cancer.

1. Multidisciplinary care boosts quality of life and outcomes in people with breast cancer

In modern cancer care, physiotherapy is integrated into a multidisciplinary team (MDT) alongside oncologists, surgeons, nurses, dietitians, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers, and more. This coordinated approach ensures timely referrals, holistic treatment plans, and better adherence to guidelines.

In the UAE, advanced cancer centres (e.g., Mediclinic Dubai, King’s College Hospital Dubai) emphasise 360° care via interdisciplinary teams. The MDT model helps achieve faster treatment initiation, improved survival, and improved patient experience.

From a physiotherapy perspective, collaborating with other disciplines means that issues like mobility, pain, lymphoedema risk, and fatigue are addressed early, reducing downstream complications and improving functional well-being.

UAE evidence spotlight:

A randomized trial in the UAE studied a 2-month supervised physical rehabilitation program in breast cancer survivors. The intervention group showed significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and multiple quality-of-life domains versus controls. These gains were sustained at 3 months post-intervention. This local evidence supports integrating physiotherapy into standard post-cancer care.

2. Prehabilitation & postoperative physiotherapy support faster recovery from surgery

From the moment surgery is planned, physiotherapy has a role.

• Prehabilitation: Before breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy, patients can benefit from tailored exercise and mobility training to enhance strength, endurance, and shoulder/arm mobility. This may reduce postoperative complications and facilitate faster recovery.
• Postoperative challenges: Many women experience pain, restricted shoulder motion, axillary web syndrome (cording), altered posture, scar tightness, and risk of lymphoedema. Studies estimate that ~60 % of patients may report upper limb functional impairments after breast surgery.
• Physiotherapy after surgery focuses on:
  • Pain and swelling control
  • Wound and seroma management
  • Gentle range-of-motion and stretching
  • Strengthening and posture correction
  • Scar mobilization
  • Education on safe movement, posture, and lymphoedema prevention

Long-term data show that 30–50 % of survivors may retain movement limitations or pain for 3–5 years post-surgery. Physiotherapy plays a key part in reducing this burden and helping patients regain independence.

3. Physiotherapy during breast cancer treatments can mitigate side effects

Breast cancer treatment often includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy or targeted therapy. These treatments can cause several impairments – many of which physiotherapy can help lessen or manage.

Fatigue: One of the most common and debilitating side effects. Physiotherapists guide graded, individualized exercise plans to counteract deconditioning – reduced cardiovascular capacity, and muscle loss and weakness

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: Occurs in up to one-third of patients, affecting sensation, coordination, balance, and functional mobility. Physiotherapy offers balance, proprioceptive training, strength programs, and gait strategies to mitigate impact.

Radiation effects: Tissue fibrosis, reduced elasticity, nerve stiffness, and impaired lymphatic drainage may develop. Gentle mobilization, stretching, soft tissue work and lymphatic techniques (when appropriate) can preserve function.

Endocrine/hormonal therapy effects: Long-term therapies may induce menopause-related bone density loss, joint pain, arthralgias, and myalgias. Resistance training, weight-bearing exercises, and flexibility work help mitigate bone loss and musculoskeletal symptoms.

In all cases, physiotherapists monitor for contraindications (e.g. during neutropenia, low platelet counts, or when there are surgical wounds), adapting programs accordingly.

4. Long-term support after breast cancer treatment is essential

Even after active cancer treatments conclude, many survivors face persistent or late-emerging symptoms: chronic fatigue, pain, lymphoedema, cardiometabolic changes, weight gain, psychological distress, and musculoskeletal problems.

• Ongoing physiotherapy and supervised exercise can:
• Reduce fatigue
• Improve cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength
• Control lymphedema and swelling
• Manage pain and movement restrictions
• Encourage a healthy body composition
• Enhance emotional wellbeing and quality of life

In the UAE, the rehabilitation trial mentioned above showed significant improvements in functional and symptom outcomes, reinforcing the need for sustained rehab beyond treatment.

Psychosocial support (yoga, mindfulness, gentle movement, breathing exercises) is also vital to address anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, and body image concerns.

5. Physiotherapy matters even in advanced breast cancer

As people live longer with metastatic breast cancer, physiotherapy remains relevant:

With appropriate assessment and precautions, exercise is safe and beneficial—even in presence of bone metastases. It can help maintain mobility, muscle strength, functional capacity, and quality of life.

Some treatments (e.g. anthracyclines, left-sided radiotherapy) carry risk of injury to the heart. Physiotherapists can help monitor cardiovascular signs, provide safe conditioning, and coordinate care with cardiology/oncology.

Physiotherapists should stay vigilant to signs of disease recurrence or metastases (e.g. new unexplained bone pain, night pain, neurological symptoms, weight loss) and liaise immediately with the oncology team.

In palliative or end-of-life care, the focus shifts to symptom relief, maximizing functional independence, and ensuring the person’s comfort and dignity. Physiotherapy contributes meaningfully to holistic supportive care.

Conclusion

Breast cancer care in the UAE is evolving, and physiotherapy is an under-appreciated yet indispensable component of comprehensive, patient-centered care. Whether the goal is faster recovery after surgery, mitigating treatment side effects, improving long-term function, or sustaining quality of life in advanced disease, physiotherapists have a vital role.

If you or someone you care for is navigating breast cancer, early involvement of physiotherapy can make a real difference. At our clinic in Dubai, we offer tailored rehabilitation programs—pre- and post-surgery, during treatment, and in survivorship—to support recovery, strength, mobility, and wellbeing.

Let us support you on the path to recovery. Contact us today to schedule a consultation or learn more about our breast cancer rehabilitation services.