I am a specialist in treating back and neck pain and long standing conditions.

 

Exercise alone is often not enough to get rid of pain or maybe it is just too sore to be able to exercise in the first place. Sometimes we all need specific advice and some hands on therapy to help us get back onto our feet.

 

All Physiotherapists are not the same. We all differ in terms of our post graduate experience and training. I seek not only to diagnose the condition but also to be a detective and find out the root cause to why you may be having the problem in the first place. This may be in a different area to where it hurts.  How that old rib fracture affects your back pain now. How your foot posture on the bike affects your neck pain. How since you had knee surgery your hip has never felt quite right. The approach I use is called ConnectTherapy™ and was created by Dr LJ Lee. The assessment is very detailed analysing the whole body.

 

If this type of assessment is deemed appropriate for you then we will discuss the daily activities or movements that aggravate your pain or affect your sporting performance. I will then analyse you doing simple movements that are related to your aggravating activity. For example, if you get pain in your shoulder when you swim I would want to look at what is happening to all of your neck joints, shoulder joints and spine when you lift your painful arm up. Areas which show poor control or alignment are then corrected.  If this makes the pain go away, improves other areas in your body or makes your whole experience of movement lighter or freer then this area is the starting point for your treatment. In this example it is common that the neck can be the primary cause (driver) to the shoulder pain and the shoulder joint the secondary driver . If you have multiple areas of pain this can be very handy in knowing where to start treating first.

 

Sometimes it may be more appropriate to use a more traditional Physiotherapy assessment. For example, you may have twisted your knee last week and want to find out whether you have torn your ligaments and get some advice and exercises to help decrease the swelling and strengthen your knee.  When you tell me your story I always try to listen to what your needs are and discuss your plan of management with you to get your agreement before treatment. I read widely and attend conferences and courses to keep up to date with current research.