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

Rehabilitation after Hip Replacement

Hip replacement is aimed at restoring the ability of a person with an arthritic hip to walk, rise from chairs, manage stairs and crouch. Pre-assessment starts the process with education of the patient about what they should expect so they can cooperate with the process. Exercises are taught to maintain the ranges of motion and keep up muscle strength around the joint. Gait correction is given and a walking aid provided as appropriate. The day after the operation the physiotherapist and an assistant will get the patient up into standing and walking. Gentle range of movement exercises to encourage hip flexion and the ability to move the leg in the bed is encouraged.

Once the patient is able to get up with assistance they are taught to get out of the bed independently and perform as natural as possible a gait pattern, within the weight bearing instructions of the surgeon and physiotherapist. Patients are encouraged to walk longer distances steadily to build up their stamina and taught to manage a set of stairs safely. If there is evidence of muscle weakness around the hip then exercises may be prescribed, but much of the necessary muscle power around the hip will be restored by normal activity.

Discs and Height

Physical activities change the nature of the intervertebral discs throughout the day and night. The volume and the height of discs can change by up to twenty percent, with a person.s height varying by anything from fifteen to twenty five millimetres. Most of the change in height happens during the first hour after getting up as the body weight loading is applied to the spine. During the night the opposite happens with the disc being unloaded so it sucks in water from the tissue around it until it reaches a balance of pressures on both sides.

This daily cycle of pressure variation changes the water content of the disc regularly and may be part of the explanation as to why back pain sufferers have more pain in the mornings due to the increased tension present in the disc complex. Resting or performing heavy work can cause changes in the hydration of the disc, carrying a twenty kilogram backpack for three hours has been shown to reduce the volume of the discs by 4.5 percent. The amount of water content in the disc does not achieve a specific resting level; it depends on how much loading is going on and for how long.