MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS TREATED

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Pain is a natural response to damage or abnormal stress placed on the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves) or bony structures in the body. Swelling and inflammation is often present along with pain.

When inflammation and swelling occurs, chemicals are released as part of the normal healing process. Some of chemicals can cause irritation and increase the activation of the nerves involved with producing pain.  This serves as a warning system to try and prevent any further damage to the area. It does this by causing you to try and avoid straining or stressing the area any further (e.g. if the knee has been injured, pain causes you to take weight off the knee by limping or resting more). This then helps to  reduce the load passing through the damaged area, allowing for healing.  

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Examples of situations that can trigger pain are:

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• Injuries.

  • Acute injuries - causes immediate damage to the local area. e.g.  a ligament sprain.

  • Chronic injuries  develop over a prolonged period of time as abnormal loads/stress are applied to an area  that results in inflammatory reactions and pain ( e.g.Overuse injuries).

• Increased tension within muscles can lead to adhesions/trigger points within  the muscles. These can cause both localised and/or referred pain as well as other symptoms such as pins and needles and changes to sensation.

• Nerve root compressions  such as a disc bulge can cause pain either directly from the disc squashing the nerve,  or after the build up of inflammation that can occur after the spinal disc, ligaments or tendons etc have been damaged.  

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Pain is an essential part of healing and sometimes it is better to allow pain to be present rather than to mask it with medication. As pain is a warning sign to avoid damaging the area further, if pain is masked by medications, you may end up overloading the area and causing more damage. As the stages of healing progress we will then want to reduce the pain and encourage movement to promote normal healing. 

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Swelling is also an important part of healing. It brings nutrients and removes any damaged waste material, so it is important to initially allow swelling. Reducing the swelling too much too soon may in fact delay healing. 

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Although pain and swelling are important for the initial stages of healing there can be occasions when they may linger. At times an area may also become over sensitive in which there is more  pain than what you would expect for the amount of damage. In these situations we want to encourage a reduction in pain and swelling to promote healing.

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Experiencing pain during exercise is also something that we need to consider. We all know the saying 'No pain, no gain'. This is generally meant for the burning pain felt from lactic acid in the muscles. A certain level of pain is acceptable, but It is  not always appropriate to continue with an exercise.

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SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE AND TRY TO AVOID AGGRAVATING PAIN IF IT IS:

• Present after an Injury

• Deeper joint pain (spine and limbs)

• Sharp & shooting pain

• Severe pain

• Pain that progressively gets worse during an activity (exercise, walking, cleaning etc)

• Pain that lingers for a prolonged time after finishing an activity

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Although rare, there will be times when pain can be something more serious that would require urgent or even emergency treatments. Questions during the initial assessment will ask about  red flags which will help to rule these out.

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If you are experiencing pain seek advice from a medical health professional before attempting any exercises or self treatment techniques that you may have come across. It is essential that certain things are ruled out first and that a diagnosis can be made in order to provide the most suitable treatment plan. 

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I have had patients who though they had strained their calf muscles but it was in fact  deep vein thrombosis. This is an emergency situation that requires immediate referral to A&E. I have had many patients over the years who I sent to A&E or for urgent assessment by their GP. Most turned out to be ok, but their have been  a some who ended up having Cancer, a DVT, Cauda Equina Syndrome (a serious lower back problem that requires emergency surgery).

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When serious pathology has been ruled out I will guide you through the appropriate treatment plan specific or your needs. 

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