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

Shin Splints

Shin splints (also called medial tibial stress syndrome) is the name given to a complaint of pain and disability in the calf area, especially the anterior and lateral area, during sport or other heavy activity. Runners commonly exhibit this problem and the diagnosis of a stress fracture in the area needs to be excluded. This appears to be a chronic exertional syndrome related to compartment syndromes, where the relatively inextensible anatomical compartments in the leg suffer increased pressure due to increased vascular input. The exact reasons why this process leads to pain on activity have not been discovered.

Patients with shin splints complain of pain or tightness in the calf during exercise, with the pain being aching, burning or cramping. The affected part of the leg may feel full and this feeling gradually increase as the activity continues, being related to the degree of exertion or the length of time it is maintained for. Pain typically settles with rest and the person thinks the problem may then go away, but then it reoccurs when the activity is returned to. The leg may feel weak and under less obvious control, with pins and needles or other abnormal feelings possible in the region supplied by an involved nerve.

Lumbar Posture and Muscles

The abdominal and back muscles are affected in three main ways by changes in the posture of the spine: how long the muscles are; what angle they pull against the spine; how powerful they can be due to their changing leverage. Muscle length is important is the application of power and they develop most tension when they are stretches to about 10% above their normal resting length. If the muscle is shortened by contraction then the available strength of contraction is reduced. The fibrous elements in a muscle have their tension increased a lot by stretching, storing energy which can be released as part of enhanced contraction.

In normal standing the back muscles are shortened slightly so they develop more power when the spine is flexed, i.e. bent over to some degree. This means it may be best to bend the back somewhat to lift a heavy weight as this allows increased muscle power to be generated. Stretching of the passive fibrous structures and back muscles whilst lifting can be coupled with a lack of high tension forces on the ligaments and discs by flexing the spine at the time to most of its range.