The menisci are pads of fibrocartilage that sit in the knee joint between the joint surfaces of the femur and the tibia. They are semicircular and each knee has two menisci, medial and lateral (inner and outer), which face each other. They are vulnerable to injury like most soft tissues and don’t have very good blood supply. In fact, the inner parts of the menisci are avascular, which means they don’t have any blood supply at all. Read more
The muscles that surround the hips have a lot of work to do. They have to keep the pelvis level and control one of the most flexible joints of the body. They are organised in layers , and the deeper muscles are separated from the outer muscles by sheets of connective tissue, to allow easy gliding, as they interact with each other. Read more
It’s common knowledge that ice and heat are quick and easy solutions to reduce pain and help heal an injury. However knowing when to use the two can be confusing. Both ice and heat have pain relieving properties, which means that just using them on a painful area will mask pain temporarily. Furthermore using heat at t he wrong time can actually make an injury worse. Read more
Muscle tears, ankle sprains, back pain, headaches and shoulder pain. These are all commonly treated physiotherapy problems and chances are if you suffer from one of them you’re either seeing a physiotherapist or putting it off. Read more
The Acromioclavicular (AC) Joint is the joint between the collarbone and the shoulder blade. It is the only bony joint attaching the upper arm to the body and is essential in transferring forces from the arm to the trunk. To keep the joint stable it is reinforced by three thick ligaments: the Acromioclavicular, Coracoclavicular and Coracoacromial ligaments. Read more
WHAT IS IT?
Wry Neck refers to a condition where one side of the neck suddenly becomes extremely painful and the patient is unable to turn their head in the direction of pain. It is typical to wake up with the pain and clinically it is classified as either Facet Joint Wry Neck or Discogenic Wry Neck. Read more
Have you ever visited your physiotherapist for shoulder pain and they started to treat your neck? or have you had pain down the back of your leg and been told that it was actually coming from your lower back? Perhaps you have even heard of the strange phenomenon where amputees continue to feel pain in the place where their limbs used to be. If you have ever experienced something like this it can make you wonder if your mind is playing tricks on you. Read more
WHAT IS IT?
The knee function as hinges, allowing your legs to swing smoothly as you walk, kick and run. The kneecap, also known as the patella, sits at the front of the knee and has a variety of functions, including guiding the muscles that straighten the knee, protecting the knee joint and absorbing forces when then knee is bent. When something goes wrong and the kneecap doesn’t move up and down smoothly, the soft tissue between the kneecap and the knee can become irritated, causing pain in a predictable fashion. This is called patella-femoral pain syndrome (PFPS), sometimes also referred to as PFJ syndrome. Read more
The hamstrings are a large muscle group, located at the back of the thigh, that crosses both the hip and the knee. Their job is to bend the knee, extend the hip backwards and slow the leg down when striding forwards. The muscles can be torn at any point but are most vulnerable where the tendon and muscle fibres join together. This is a common injury for players of all sports that involve running, but particularly those that involve quick turns, stops, starts and kicking. Read more
