What is on in London?

The best way to keep up to speed on London events is via the web or the TimeOut London which is published weekly with theatre and film listings and reviews, gallery openings and restaurant guides.

If the London Physiotherapy resources provided above are not sufficent, you may wish to consider a London Osteopath or London Chiropractor who will use similar techniques to treat your conditions but each with a differernt philisophical approach.

Physiotherapists in London treat many different conditions including the condition profiled below.

Internal Fixation for Fractures

Many fractures can be managed by immobilisation if not displaced or can be repositioned and maintained in position by a plaster cast. Some fractures cannot be maintained in position, slip out of position once re-positioned or cannot be immobilised because of the length of time required or the awkwardness of the anatomical location. In these cases internal fixation with plates, screws, wires or nails is considered. Internal fixation requires an operation which carries the usual risks including infection so is only performed when required from a clinical standpoint.

Fracture alignment is important to maintain the relative position of the nearby joints so that excessive forces are not thrown onto one part of a joint or another. Wrist fractures which do not remain in a good position can be plated then immobilised until healed. Fractures with many pieces may need re-assembling and maintaining in position by metalwork. Femoral shaft fractures cannot be immobilised except by traction and with the healing period being 12 weeks the decision is usually to place a nail down the femur and get the patient up and out of hospital in a few days. Complex fixation may be used to restore the structure of a badly damaged bone in some cases.

Muscle Fibre Types

Muscle has three main fibre types which are specialised for different functional abilities. Type 1 muscle fibres, also known as slow twitch fibres, have a good capillary supply and use a mostly aerobic energy system. Type 2 fibres use a non-aerobic energy system more typically and in general the proportion of Type 1 to Type 2 fibres is fixed genetically in an individual. Muscle cells don.t turn over like many other body cells, the muscle continues for the life of the person. Muscles get larger and stronger by the individual muscle cells gaining mass and the number of muscle cells does not change.

Muscles are very adaptive tissues and can respond to altered work demands very much more quickly than other tissues, enabling us to build up the ability to do something new in a short time. The way the muscles are exercised has strong effects on the way muscles adapt to the new stresses. If endurance training is performed, with lower weights and higher repetitions, the largest changes are in the Type 1 slow twitch fibres which exhibit increases in their blood supply and in the enzyme systems which deliver energy. This allows these muscle fibres to contract for longer periods without tiring.

Physiotherapists in London have contributed some of the many articles on this site such as the one extracted below.

The skiing season is almost upon us and thousands of British people will go to the mountains and do hard exercise they are not used to. For a few this will be a difficult experience, with injuries and medical care. For many it will be sore muscles and painful joints which dominate the time on the snow.Muscle and joints strains dont have to part of your skiing holiday if you do some simple preparation. Many people forget that skiing is a very physically demanding activity and most of us are just not prepared for the levels of activity we want to perform.The fitter you are the better your performance in a hilly environment and it makes your skiing holiday safer. Its hard to fit in exercise time to a busy schedule but you can do it cheaply and quickly with 45 minutes and just your running gear.If you do any running on soft ground such as grass or parkland it will reduce the wear stress on your joints and its more fun than pavements and roads. Having a friend workout with you is also more ...

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