Physiotherapy for pain and injury in London
Back pain is very common and most people will experience it. Many reasons are given for back pain, usually blaming the discs (they are not discs but rather amazing structures that work with the vertebrae to allow movement and force transduction — they are also very robust), joints, muscles and posture. The simple fact is […]
Chronic pelvic pain is a troubling condition for many women. The reason for pelvic pain varies but certainly includes endometriosis where the lesions impact upon nerve health and function (see here) with consequential sensitisation. The purported mechanisms of pain include inflammatory pain and neuropathic pain with subsequent central sensitisation that underpins the persistance and variance […]
With the Chelsea Flower Show in full bloom the world of gardening is full of excitement and wonder as the designers exhibit their creations. Gardeners can relate to this sense of cultivation and creativity as they work hard to illustrate their vision through their plants, flowers, grasses and other garden features. Gardening is often physically […]
‘As many as 50 million American women live with one or more neglected and poorly understood chronic pain conditions’ Generally I see more female patients than male. This observation supports the view that chronic pain is more prevalent in women than in men for some conditions – see the International Association for the Study of Pain fact sheet here. […]
Back pain is a common experience across society. Millions are spent each year on treatment yet we do not seem to be making any significant progress in tackling this vast problem. Undoubtedly footballers are also subject to spinal aches and pains, either from a direct injury or insidiously. Most people whom I see fall into […]
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 […]
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. [email protected] Abstract REFERENCE: Chou R, Fu R, Carrino JA, Deyo RA. Imaging strategies […]
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 […]
I love neuroscience. It makes my job much easier despite being a hugely complex subject. Neuroscience research has cast light over some of the vast workings of our brains and helped to explain how we experience ourselves and the richness of life. An enormous topic, in this blog I am briefly going to outline the way in […]
You may wonder why I am writing about dysmenorrhoea. It is because in a number of cases that I see, there is co-existing dysmenorrhea and other functional pain syndromes. These include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), migraine, chronic low back pain, pelvic pain, bladder pain and fibromyalgia. Traditionally all of these problems are managed by different […]
We are familiar with the notion that the World is always changing. In fact, change is one of the few certainties in life that we can rely upon. However, change is only possible if there is someone present to experience how things are evolving, and that person is also changing. No two moments are the […]
This old joke springs to mind when I think about back pain. We can think simply about a door and create an image of how it appears but in fact a door consists of at least some of the following: a piece of wood (or another material), a handle, some hinges, a lock and a […]
Many chronic problems evolve slowly. The aches and pains become increasingly bothersome without any obvious injury as our biology gradually changes. Our bodies are surviving rather than flourishing, and this is because of both physical and mental strain. Recovery time is minimised as the protective systems remain ‘on’, disrupting our ability to think clearly, sleep, laugh, […]