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

Tiredness and Fatigue - Normal and Abnormal

Patients easily distinguish between normal tiredness and the tiredness they suffer as a consequence of their musculoskeletal conditions. Healthy adults report fatigue after stressful activity or physical work which is relieved by rest or sleep completely. Fatigue in sufferers from long term musculoskeletal conditions is very common, more intense, not predictable and does not resolve with rest. Fibromyalgia consists mainly of widespread muscular pain with fatigue whilst chronic fatigue syndrome is primarily fatigue with degrees of pain. Chronic fatigue syndrome is diagnosed by the presence of unexplained fatigue for more than six months which is not connected to activity and not eased by resting. Severe reduction in activity levels is common.

Fatigue is common also in musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, with patients often rating the fatigue as or more severe than the pain itself. Research work has found that the levels of fatigue have strong effects on the quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis and if severe it is connected with a deterioration of the ability to live life normally. As tiredness is as or more difficult to cope with than the pain of these arthritic diseases it is understandable that patients consider fatigue to be an important aspect of their presentation.

Physiotherapy Ultrasound

Ultrasound therapy is one of the large number of treatment techniques available to physiotherapists in treating the variety of conditions their patients present with. The frequencies used are in the range of 0.8 to 3.0 Megahertz, with a metal head used to generate the ultrasonic waves and ultrasound gel used between the skin and the head to facilitate transmission. A crystal in the head generates the waves by high frequency vibration and the waves pass through the gel and into the patient.s tissues to cause their effects. A local deep heating effect can be generated but this is typically not desirable so the machine head is kept moving and the settings may be set to pulsed mode so the beam of ultrasound is not continuous. This allows cooling and prevents heat build-up.

The effects of ultrasound can be many, including increasing the local blood flow, breaking down scar tissue or inhibiting its formation, a reduction in local swelling and inflammation. The physiotherapist will determine the size of the area to be treated and its tissue depth, choosing the size of machine head and the frequency and pulsed mode as appropriate. Higher doses and longer times are used for more chronic cases with the reverse for acute inflammatory conditions.