Physiotherapy for pain and injury in London
The brain is where it’s at. Or so it seems if you read the press or look at the bookshelves. The notion that brain is everything has been challenged recently and so it should — see here. We need enquiry at every point, challenging the comfort of thinking that we know. Despite this, it seems […]
The popular press is awash with neuroscience, now to the point that some authors are becoming ‘anti’. We need debate, so hats off to those contributors who rightly ask questions. We should never sit back and accept a ‘fact’ but instead, test, test, test. Despite this fresh discussion, we do accept that the brain has […]
It is useful to know where you are. Neil Burgess spends his time studying this important function by looking at the brain, the hippocampus to be specific. It would appear that the same brain cells that create our sense of where we are and recalling that information for practical use are also at play when […]
I see a number of cases of cervical dystonia (spasmodic torticollis) that features awkward posturing and movement of the head and neck. This can be painful and have consequences for normal activities. We rely upon being able to orientate ourselves to our environment by controlling our head and gaze direction and then responding appropriately. Primary dystonia has no […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Dear Readers, Welcome to the July 2014 CRPS Bugle, your research update for complex regional pain syndrome. Immobilization contributes to exaggerated neuropeptide signaling, inflammatory changes, and nociceptive sensitization after fracture in rats – Guo TZ1, Wei T1, Li WW2, Li XQ3, Clark JD3, Kingery WS4. J Pain. 2014 Jul 22. pii: S1526-5900(14)00817-7. Abstract A tibia fracture […]
I recall a time when a consultant told me that chronic pain does not exist in private medicine. I was somewhat dumbfounded that an intelligent person could have such a thought. As a far as I was (and am) concerned, pain is classless. This was some years ago, however I am reminded of this when […]