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

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the four major ligaments of the knee joint and controls the forward and backward movement of the tibia on the femur as well as exerting rotatory control. It is a commonly injured structure especially in contact sports such as football or rugby but also in other activities where momentum is involved such as skiing. Injury usually follows an inward pressure on the knee combined with a rotation with the foot planted on the ground, with the sufferer often feeling or hearing a clear pop in the knee accompanied by significant pain.

Cruciate ligament rupture is almost always followed by the knee swelling up significantly in a few minutes as the injury bleeds into the knee. The acutely painful knee is managed by physiotherapists with ice, compression, bracing and gentle range of movement as soon as practical. Once the knee has settled from its acute stage it can be assessed for competence of the ligament. A cruciate deficient knee is usually unstable on rapid movement and turning and is often listed for reconstructive surgery. Physiotherapists rehabilitate the knee before the surgery to give the patient the best chance of coping with the long period of rehabilitation required post-operatively.

Hypermobility

We are all born with a genetically determined type of fibrous tissue, the collagen material that makes us all or most of our ligaments, tendons, skin and discs. Our collagen varies greatly in the amount of extensibility it allows due partly due to the amount of elastic material included and the length of our tissues. Normal mobility varies from stiff jointed to very mobile and individuals who show very high degrees of flexibility of their joints are termed hypermobile. Hypermobility may be asymptomatic or can cause significant pain problems in other cases. Benign hypermobility syndrome BHS is diagnosed clinically by testing the patient's joint mobility.

The diagnostic tests are: the little finger can be pulled back to 90 degrees to the hand; with the wrist bent the thumb can be pulled back to touch the forearm; the elbows extend back beyond neutral; the knees extend back beyond neutral and the person can bend over with the knees straight and place their palms on the floor. Each joint gets a score of one if positive and this gives a score out of nine. The score indicates the degree of hypermobility the patient is exhibiting and helps decide whether the joint condition is relevant.