Physiotherapists in Clevedon treat many different conditions including the issues profiled below.

Pain Management

Pain is a common and unwelcome symptom of many injuries and conditions, although there are some serious conditions and diseases which do not cause pain. Acute pain is typically secondary to injury and tissue damage, short term, easily treatable and very likely to settle with time back to normal. Chronic pain is long term, not well related to tissue abnormalities, not easily treated and does not settle down with time. It is for these more difficult types of pain that the discipline of pain management has become an important part of medical care.

Many types of pain are not directly treatable in terms of the underlying cause being treatable, or in many cases even understood. Pain management consultants concentrate on treating the pain itself as a pathological entity rather than any assumed underlying abnormality. They have a selection of specialised medications and can perform procedures such as nerve blocks and epidurals as well as referring to their therapy teams which typically include physiotherapists and clinical psychologists. Assessment of these patients is complex as physical, social, familial, work and psychological factors may all be important in explaining the levels of pain and disability suffered by the patient.

Knee Ligament Injuries

Knee injuries are extremely common and a routine part of sporting activities of many kinds, especially in younger people. The knee is a large hinge type of joint connected by powerful ligaments but because of the joint.s position in the middle of a long lever (the leg) it is vulnerable to high levels of force during movement. Physiotherapists routinely diagnose and treat ligamentous injuries and rehabilitate patients back to their functional goal. A common injury is a strain of the medial collateral ligament when a force is applied to the outside of the knee when the foot is on the ground, pushing the knee inwards and opening out the joint on the inside.

Typically the knee will swell over the next 12 hours or so and be painful over the inside of the joint, sometimes making it difficult to walk easily. Treatment is to immobilise the knee in a brace or plaster of Paris for a shorter or longer period of time, then get the knee moving so that it does not lose range of movement. The ligament is under tension when the knee is straight so the physio will concentrate on restoring the ability of the muscles to fully extend the knee.