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

Medial Ligament Sprain

The knee is one of the largest joints in the body and is exposed to high levels of force as the large leg muscles move the body around at speed. As it does not having interlocking surfaces to give it stability it must rely on ligaments to perform that job. The medial collateral ligament is a wide band which travels across the inside of the knee from above downwards, preventing the knee joint from opening on the inside and collapsing. If a force is applied strongly to the outside of the knee, in a tackle by someone moving quickly, the knee is pushed hard into a knock knee position and the inside of the joint opens, spraining or rupturing the medial ligament.

Symptoms of a medial ligament sprain are immediate pain, swelling of the knee and if severe a feeling that the knee is unstable. Mild sprains are treated using a knee brace for a week or two and working at regaining joint movement and function as soon as possible. Severe sprains or ruptures may need immobilisation for 4-6 weeks in a plaster of Paris. Careful assessment is important as cartilage injury or anterior cruciate ligament injury can accompany this condition.

Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder is a troublesome and enigmatic condition which affects mostly middle aged people and causes significant pain and disability. As our shoulders age they become more vulnerable to injury or damage and in some cases this develops into the pain condition known as frozen shoulder. A sudden movement or small tweak of the shoulder may result in the area becoming more and more painful until the pain is very severe and interrupting sleep. This is the pain stage of frozen shoulder which is followed by the painful and stiff phase where the pain eases to some extent and the shoulder becomes restricted in movement.

Later in the process the pain recedes and the shoulder remains with just the joint stiffness so the person cannot lift their arm up far. The process may take two years or so to go through and the person may not regain their full shoulder movement. In the painful period physiotherapy is aimed at relieving the pain by gentle mobilisations and exercise and progressed to working at the joint stiffness as the pain recedes. Later physiotherapy involves stronger mobilisation techniques and stretching to ease out the strong soft tissue restrictions which have developed.