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

Ice Treatment and Physiotherapy

Ice and other cold treatments are important techniques in the armoury of physiotherapists and useful for a wide range of conditions. The major use of cold therapy or cryotherapy is to reduce and control inflammation and swelling in recent or acute injuries to the musculoskeletal system. In the first few days after injury heat will increase the metabolic rate and may aggravate the injury while cold will do the opposite and also provide some pain relief. Pain relief is important as a reduction in pain is not only pleasant for the patient but allows them to move the part and contract the muscles more effectively, beginning rehabilitation of the area.

Ice should not be directly applied to the skin, especially if packs from a freezer are used, as this may cause an ice burn which is a form of skin damage. Patients are assessed by the physiotherapist for safety and a layer of wet material is placed inbetween the skin and the ice pack. The skin is checked at intervals to make sure it is not reacting badly to the cold and the treatment time may be up to twenty minutes. Compression may be more important than cold and often they are combined.

Diagnosing Discogenic Back Pain

Low back pain is very common and a significant cause of pain, disability and work loss in western societies. Diagnosing low back pain is difficult and relating examination and investigation findings to treatments or successful intervention has proved to be elusive. MRI scanning is the investigation of choice for back pain syndromes and can indicate disc narrowing, disc dehydration, annular tears and joint abnormalities. If the disc level identified on the scan fits with the examination and x-ray findings, the surgeon may have some confidence that the painful segment has been identified. However this may not be accurate and treatment based on this can be unreliable.

Discography is an investigative technique where a needle is introduced into the suspect disc and a small amount of contrast material is injected. If the test is to be positive then the individual must complain of their typical pain on this stimulation and not just general discomfort. The injected material may also give some idea of the internal structure of the disc and any disruption which may be present. Injection of local anaesthetic can also be performed, a so called discoblock, may be performed, allowing for the patient to report a reduction in their typical pain for a positive response to the test.