Physiotherapy for pain and injury in London
Understanding pain mechanisms is the key to effective treatment. The mechanisms that have been studied, written about in science journals and discussed with patients include nociceptive pain, inflammatory pain, neuropathic pain and central sensitisation. Elucidating which are playing a role in the patient’s experience allows the doctor to prescribe the right medication and the modern [...]
As a physiotherapist I frequently use my hands to treat the joints and tissues. It comes with the territory, everyone expects hands-on therapy and it does helps to reduce tension and pain. Most likely, the pain relief from joint mobilisation is due to descending mechanisms that include those that are powered by serotonin and noradrenaline [...]
Chronic pain is a real problem in the sporting world. The effects of not being able to participate are far reaching, especially when sport is your profession. There are a huge numbers of clinics offering treatments to deal with pain and injury and in many cases the problem improves. However, there are those who do [...]
To the skier, the thought of watching friends and family clumping off in their boots towards the lift whilst sitting with a leg up, packed with ice and the daily paper, is intensely frustrating. Injuries happen. In many cases with the right early treatment, perhaps surgery and definitely a thorough rehabilitation programme, the symptoms resolve [...]
Clifford Woolf recently said this about central sensitisation: Nociceptor inputs can trigger a prolonged but reversible increase in the excitability and synaptic efficacy of neurons in central nociceptive pathways, the phenomenon of central sensitization. Central sensitization manifests as pain hypersensitivity, particularly dynamic tactile allodynia, secondary punctate or pressure hyperalgesia, aftersensations, and enhanced temporal summation. It [...]
Careful thinking is required when judging whether to image or not. J Athl Train. 2011 Jan-Feb;46(1):99-102. Is immediate imaging important in managing low back pain? Andersen JC. Source The University of Tampa, 401 West Kennedy Boulevard, Box 104F, Tampa, FL 33606, USA. jcandersen@ut.edu Abstract REFERENCE: Chou R, Fu R, Carrino JA, Deyo RA. Imaging strategies [...]
Recent research has identified biological reasons for joint pain in arthritis: Interleukin-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine released both locally at the joint and in the spinal cord, consequently plays a role in the widespread nature of the pain via its role in central sensitisation. Sprouting of sensory and sympathetic fibres at the joint may well have [...]
Pain is multidimensional. Pain is 100% produced by the brain in response to a perceived threat. The brain allocates a location using the cortical maps, hence why we feel pain in our backs or knees. The brain tries to make sense of the situation, scrutinising what is going on on the basis of past experience [...]
Back pain is an enormous problem that impacts upon individuals and society. Most people will experience back pain at some point in their lifetime and a proportion will suffer continuing and recurring problems. Those who do continue to experience pain require effective treatment and strategies so that the impact and the distress that it can [...]
The simple fact is that our tissues need movement to be healthy. By tissues I am referring to muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, fascia and skin. This does not need to be extreme movement but it must be regular and purposeful. Even without pathology, pain or an injury it is vital that the tissues are moved [...]
