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

Physiotherapy Shoulder Exercises after Breast Cancer Operation

Breast cancer is the commonest cancer in women and in England there are over 36,000 people diagnosed yearly. Treatment is complex but surgery is common to remove the tumour and to remove four or more lymph nodes in the axilla or armpit. This is to work out what stage the cancer is at and prevent it recurring in the axilla. A side effect of this treatment is the development of swelling in the affected arm, known as lymphoedema, which can remain over time and cause physical and psychological problems. Physiotherapists routinely assess and treat patients with cancer, pre or post operatively, to manage the mobility and joint problems which develop after diagnosis and treatment.

Removal of the axillary nodes impacts upon movement of the shoulder as the tissues in the axilla are stretched by raising the arm above the head. A paper in Physiotherapy (December 2008) by Todd and co-workers compared two groups of post operative patients, with one group having unrestricted shoulder movement after 48 hours and the other with this delayed for seven days. The results showed that delaying the movement for seven days avoided the incidence of increased arm lymphoedema, an important consideration as the level of swelling can remain long term.

Dangers of Alternative Medicines

A recent case at the Old Bailey has highlighted the fact that there is no such thing as a safe and natural medicine, as all such treatments come with potential risks. A Chinese Medicine practitioner has recently pleaded guilty to selling a banned substance to a person who has subsequently developed cancer and kidney failure. The medication was promoted as .safe and natural. and taken over a period of five years, exposing the patient to concentrations of aristolochic acid which is now a banned substance and should have only been provided under prescription anyhow at the time.

Chinese medicines have been routinely shown to contain significant levels of unwanted substances such as heavy metals and this case highlights the lack of regulation of this part of alternative medicine. Other areas of health practice with lower risks than some alternative treatments are heavily regulated in the UK but alternative practitioners are still able to prescribe drug treatments without the necessary knowledge and protocols to ensure their practice is safe. The actions of this particular drug in the body are not well understood, making its use with the uncertainty and unknown risks not matched by the more trivial reasons for using it.