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

Osgood-Schlatter Disease

Osgood-Schlatter disease is a condition affecting the tibial tuberosity (bony lump just below the kneecap) in children around eight to thirteen years old. It typically affects around 20 percent of athletic children of these ages as compared to less than 5 percent of nonathletic children. It tends to coincide with spurts of growth and is three times more likely in boys rather than girls. In young children the tibial tuberosity or tibial tubercle is formed of cartilage and only ossifies into bone later and it is postulated that repeated traction applied to this area can cause minor fractures or inflammation. This leads to pain on vigorous activities where the quadriceps are involved.

Pain, tenderness and swelling typically develop over the tubercle, exacerbated by activity, but the condition is self-limiting and as the growth plate areas fuse into bone the condition gradually settles. As the athletic young person perform sport, the stresses cause minor fractures in the tendon insertion area, which then heals with bony repair. When this is repeated many times the tibial tubercle may become very prominent and give long term problems with functional activities such as kneeling. Limitation of the aggravating activity or short-term immobilisation is required until the inflammation settles.

Slipped Disc

Slipped disc is the term used in normal speech to describe a severe back problem, particularly one which involves severe leg pain. However, it is a misnomer in that the disc is unable to slip anywhere so a slipped disc indicates a different kind of pathology. The disc outer covering (annulus fibrosus) is made up of multiple overlapping levels of tough material which encloses a more gel-like interior (nucleus pulposus). With time the layers of the annulus can become fewer or split along certain lines, leading in some cases to the material of the nucleus protruding to the outside of the disc.

This protrusion of part of internal gel through the outer layers of the disc is the so-called slipped disc, known more technically as a disc prolapse or disc protrusion. The protrusion may aggravate the nearby nerve root by compressing it or chemically irritating it, leading to pain in the part of the body supplied by that nerve. The commonest syndrome is sciatica, a severe leg pain usually below the knee which is caused by pressure on the one the lower lumbar nerves. Most attacks of sciatica resolve on their own but if not then discectomy is a highly successful operation.