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

Back Pain - Red Flags for Serious Conditions

Most people with back pain have just that, back pain secondary to injury, time and the mechanical stresses of holding a posture or performing an activity. However, a small proportion of people present with back pain when the underlying reason is a serious pathology of some sort. The signs that indicate that mechanical back pain may not be the reason for the patient's pain are called red flags. Physiotherapists routinely ask the red flag questions to try to exclude the likelihood of a patient having a serious underlying condition which might also be worsened by physio treatment. Examples of red flags for back pain are: age over 55 or under 20 when back pain first presents and significant trauma involved (like a fall).

Other red flags include: significant weight loss; significant night pain; use of steroids; a history of cancer; bladder or bowel disturbance and loss of sensation in the saddle area around the genitals and anus. A degree of judgement is required as the outcome of the questions is rarely clear cut and most red flag situations turn out not to be serious conditions but physios routinely evaluate these to ensure safe treatment and refer questionable cases on for medical evaluation.

Back Pain - Yellow Flags for Disability and Work Loss

Low back pain is one of the most common and disabling musculoskeletal conditions prevalent in the population, causing high degrees of work loss, suffering and expense. Back pain sufferers are affected by a variety of physical and psychological issues which affect the severity, duration and outcome of the back pain episode. The ideas of yellow flags, to add to red flags which are an indication of serious spinal pathology, has been formalised by work in New Zealand under the title of .Yellow Flags . Indicators for Work Loss and Disability.. These psychosocial factors are important and they are much stronger predictors of how well the person is going to turn out with their back pain than any of the physical factors.

Physiotherapists ask yellow flag questions to find out what their patients are thinking and thereby to be able to target their interventions more closely to the presenting problems. Typical yellow flag positive indications might be the belief that activity is harmful, the belief that pain means there is damage going on in the back and the idea that work is harmful. These beliefs are important in holding some people back from going back to doing normal activities.