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

Fatigue or Tiredness - Managing the Condition

Fatigue is difficult to manage as the underlying cause is not clear and the pattern of the condition can be unpredictable. Patients are taught to manage their tiredness via behavioural techniques such resting, planning activity carefully and pacing to avoid overdoing at any one time. They may often do nothing for a day before they know they have to accomplish some physical task such as a visit to hospital or a social outing. Patients may also prioritise their activity strictly and work at concentrating on the normal aspects of life to keep things as natural as possible.

Patients may also solicit the help and support of those closest to them to cooperate in getting as much done as normally as they can, but despite all these things patients typically report that they cannot manage well and that the tiredness remains as bad as ever. Fatigue is not well recognised as important by many health workers and patients may feel that insufficient notice is paid to this very disabling part of their musculoskeletal condition. As the condition is difficult to manage there may be few helpful suggestions even if the health professional does recognise the importance of the symptom.

Hammer toes

Hammer toes are a common deformity of the foot and often associated with more profound changes in the foot such as pes cavus where the inside foot arch is exaggerated. The small intrinsic foot muscles, which allow the toes to be kept straight as they grip the ground, weaken and the extensor muscles then pull the near part of the toe upwards. This makes the near joints of the toes bend up leading to a clawing of the toes. The extensor tendons can then shorten, leading to a permanent deformity where the person cannot get the toes flat down onto the ground any more.

There are a series of consequences from this deformity. The toes curl up and thereby take up much more room at the end of the shoe, causing the tops of the joints to suffer pressure against the shoe and develop sore areas or calluses. A more spacious toe box in the shoes can relieve this. The metatarsal heads suffer increased pressure from weight bearing and also develop calluses under the ball of the foot where the loading is greatest. In time these changes can lead to foot pain and require stretches or surgical correction.