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

Total Hip Replacement

Total hip replacement was the first of the joint replacements to be developed and has not been practiced for over forty years. The results overall have been very impressive with great improvements in the quality of life of patients, placing the intervention near the top of the most effective medical treatments. Osteoarthritis, the most common joint condition throughout the world, is the main reason for hip replacement. As the joint wears it will show increasing stiffness, pain , loss of range of motion and increasing limitation of functional abilities such as walking and getting up from chairs.

Hip replacement is performed by removing the upper part of the thigh bone which bears the ball, drilling a cavity down into the thigh bone, filling this with cement and introducing a metal component which again bears a ball at the top. The socket is enlarged to receive a plastic socket which then articulates with the ball of the other component. Patients are mobilised into standing or walking the day after surgery by the physiotherapist and an assistant, and are taught range of motion exercises for the hip and correct gait. Once independent in mobility patients are discharged home at between three and five days post surgery.

The Upper Neck

The upper neck or cervical spine is specialised in its anatomy and function as it has to bear the weight of the head and allow the head to be moved into any position for our sensory organs to receive the information they need. The two upper vertebrae, the atlas and the axis, have a specialised anatomical structure which is designed to satisfy the needs of head positioning in many functions. The upper vertebra, the atlas, has no body and is a bony ring with large facet joints to articulate with the facet joints of the lowest part of the skull, the occiput.

The second vertebra, the axis, has .captured. the body part of the vertebra above and has a upwardly protruding pin called the dens (latin for tooth) which forms a joint with part of the atlas above and also with a ligament which runs round it. The integrity of this joint is very important and if the dens is fractured or the ligament becomes slack then there can be a risk of damage to the spinal cord with death or quadriplegia. For this reason in any patient who may have suffered head or neck trauma the dens is x-rayed and checked carefully.