Category: Uncategorized

Do you have a knee bursitis?

Knee bursitis is inflammation of a small fluid-filled sac (bursa) near your knee joint. Bursae reduce friction and cushion pressure points between your bones and the tendons, muscles, and skin near your joints.

Knee bursitis symptoms vary, depending on which bursa is affected and what’s causing the inflammation.

In general, the affected portion of your knee might feel warm, tender and swollen when you put pressure on it. You might also feel pain when you move or even at rest.

A hit to the knee can cause symptoms to appear rapidly. But most cases of knee bursitis result from friction and irritation so symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time.

Causes

Knee bursitis can be caused by:

* Frequent and sustained pressure, such as from kneeling, especially on hard surfaces

* Overuse or strenuous activity

* A direct hit to your knee

* Bacterial infection of the bursa

* Complications from arthritis or gout in your knee

Therapy

Physiotherapists can help you improve flexibility and strengthen muscles. This therapy might alleviate pain and reduce your risk of recurring episodes of knee bursitis. Protective knee braces might help if you can’t avoid kneeling, and compressive knee sleeves can help reduce swelling.

More-invasive treatments for knee bursitis treatment include:

* Corticosteroid injection. If the bursitis is persistent and not responding to basic treatments, your doctor might inject a corticosteroid drug into an affected bursa to reduce inflammation. The inflammation usually subsides rapidly, but you might have pain and swelling from the injection for a couple of days.

* Aspiration. Your doctor might aspirate a bursa to reduce excess fluid and treat inflammation. He or she will insert a needle into the affected bursa and draw fluid into the syringe. Aspiration might cause short-term pain and swelling, and you might need to wear a knee immobiliser for a short period.

* Surgery. If you have severe chronic or recurrent bursitis and don’t respond to other treatments, your doctor might recommend surgery to remove the bursa.

Call us at Rainham Physiotherapy Centre on 01634 377638 to book in if you feel you may be suffering from this condition or on any issues you have.

Do you have a torn meniscus?

A torn meniscus is damage from a tear in the cartilage that is positioned on top of the tibia (shin bone) to allow the femur to glide when the knee joint moves. The better the blood supply, the better the potential for recovery. The outside rim of cartilage has a better blood supply than the central part of the “C.” Blood supply to knee cartilage also decreases with age, and up to 20% of normal blood supply is lost by age 40.

A forceful twist or sudden stop can cause the end of the femur to grind into the top of the tibia, pinching and potentially tearing the cartilage of the meniscus. This knee injury can also occur with deep squatting or kneeling, especially when lifting a heavyweight. Meniscus tear injuries often occur during athletic activities, especially in contact sports like football and hockey. Motions that require pivoting and sudden stops, in sports like tennis, basketball, and golf, can also cause meniscus damage.

Very often, meniscal tears do not cause symptoms or problems. However, some people with a torn meniscus know exactly when they hurt their knee. Symptoms may develop over time and may include any or all of the following:
* Pain with running or walking longer distances
* Intermittent swelling of the knee joint: Many times, the knee with a torn meniscus feels “tight.”
* Popping, especially when climbing up or downstairs
* Feeling weak and unstable. Less commonly, the knee actually will give way and cause the patient to fall.
* Locking: This occurs when a piece of torn meniscus folds on itself and blocks the full range of motion of the knee joint. The knee gets “stuck,” usually flexed between 15 and 30 degrees and cannot bend or straighten from that position.

Feel free to call us at Rainham Physiotherapy Centre on 01634 377638 to book in for a consultation if you feel you may be suffering from this condition or on any issues you may have.

5 Main pointers to increase your strength.

1. Be Realistic
The world is all about instant gratification these days, but strength does not work that way. Even when things are going perfect, you can only gain strength so fast. Yes, this varies from person to person and situation to situation, but building serious strength can take years to gain. Accepting this will help you stay on track and not constantly change goals as you get frustrated.

2. Technique
When you’re stuck in a plateau or your strength gains are stunted, the best place to start is with technique. Over the next few posts, we’ll cover the correct technique for the main big compound lifts which will help you get strong through other activities and hobbies you may have too! Technique is paramount for staying safe whilst training and staying efficient in your movements.

3. The Weakest Link
You’re only as strong as your weakest link. In most cases, lifters tend to see this from a muscle or muscle group standpoint. This is very true because of the weakest muscles used during the lift limit the amount of weight we can lift. Because of this, once we’ve converted the correct technique we will be covering the best accessory movements to finish your workouts off with so you minimize weak areas and skyrocket your results!

4. Consistency
One of, if not the most important point of this post is consistency. If you want to lift a lot, you have to lift a lot! What we mean is, in order to increase your strength you need steady progressive overload, gradually increasing either the weight or volume overtime for a long time.

5. Recovery
We break ourselves down training and we get stronger when we recover from training. Recovery is not a passive thing we have no control over. In fact, we have an enormous amount of control over it. We can do recovery training sessions. We can control what and how much we eat. We can control how much and what activities we do outside the gym. We can control the quality and the amount of sleep we get. We should put just as much intensity into our recovery as we do our training. We will make sure to cover the best ways to recover for maximum performance in the gym!

Do you suffer from De Quervain’s tenosynovitis?

What Is De Quervain’s tenosynovitis?

De Quervain’s tenosynovitis is the inflammation of the sheath, or synovium, that surrounds the two tendons that run between the wrist and the thumb.

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Tendons are strong bands of tissue that attach muscles to bone. In the thumb, they are involved in moving the thumb.

As the synovium swells and thickens, it becomes painful for a person to move their thumb.

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It usually occurs after the thumb or wrist has been overused, particularly during repetitive activities that move the thumb away from the wrist.

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A sprain or overusing the tendons through repetitive movements of the thumb at work or during sport tend to make the swelling and pain worse.

Activities linked to De Quervain’s include:

• golf
• playing the piano
• typing
• carpentry
• carrying a child
• video games

The condition is more common in women than men and often happens after pregnancy.

Other causes include scar tissue formation from an injury or inflammatory arthritis.

Symptoms

The main symptoms are pain and swelling at the base of the thumb.

These lead to:

• pain when moving the thumb or wrist
• pain when making a fist
• swelling and tenderness on the side of the wrist
• feeling or hearing creaking as the tendons slide through the sheath
• reduced grip strength

Movements that involve the thumb and wrist, including pinching, grasping, or wringing will make the pain worse.

Treatment.

Use an elastic band placed around the fingers and thumb, and open your fingers and thumb against the resistance of the band 10 times.

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Resting the affected hand on the table palm up, touch the top of the thumb to your little finger. Hold the stretch for 6 seconds and perform it 10 times.

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use an ice cube to massage the affected painful area to reduce inflammation.

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If you feel you may be suffering from De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, book in with us here at Rainham Physiotherapy Centre by calling 01644 377638 and arrange an initial consultation! 

Do you suffer from a Syrinx?

What Is A Syrinx?! 

A syrinx is a fluid-filled cavity within the spinal cord (syringomyelia) or brain stem (syringobulbia).

A syrinx can also develop in patients who have a spinal cord tumor, scarring due to previous spinal trauma, or no known predisposing factors. About 30% of people with a spinal cord tumor eventually develop a syrinx.

Syrinx’s typically cause neck pain, headaches, weakness, atrophy, and often mild spasms or tingling sensations of the hands and arms; an ache in a cape-like distribution over the shoulders, arms, and back is characteristic also.

General diagnosis is though an MRI to distinguish the location and severity of the syrinx. Once this information is obtained, the fluid can either be extracted with a needle or operated on to cure.

If you have neck pain and any other symptoms listed, and believe you may have a syrinx, please call us at Rainham Physiotherapy Centre on 01634 377638 and we can get you booked in for an assessment on the matter!