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

Tiredness and Fatigue - Normal and Abnormal

Patients easily distinguish between normal tiredness and the tiredness they suffer as a consequence of their musculoskeletal conditions. Healthy adults report fatigue after stressful activity or physical work which is relieved by rest or sleep completely. Fatigue in sufferers from long term musculoskeletal conditions is very common, more intense, not predictable and does not resolve with rest. Fibromyalgia consists mainly of widespread muscular pain with fatigue whilst chronic fatigue syndrome is primarily fatigue with degrees of pain. Chronic fatigue syndrome is diagnosed by the presence of unexplained fatigue for more than six months which is not connected to activity and not eased by resting. Severe reduction in activity levels is common.

Fatigue is common also in musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, with patients often rating the fatigue as or more severe than the pain itself. Research work has found that the levels of fatigue have strong effects on the quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis and if severe it is connected with a deterioration of the ability to live life normally. As tiredness is as or more difficult to cope with than the pain of these arthritic diseases it is understandable that patients consider fatigue to be an important aspect of their presentation.

Hand Injuries

Hand injuries are very important as the hand is such a vital functional part of human anatomy, with an injury to the hand causing a significant degree of disability in the short term and potentially over the long term. The hand is exposed to a very large number of risks in normal and work life, from burns to cuts to crushing, which can cause a wide variation in injuries from soft tissue damage, tendon transection or rupture to fractures of any of the bones of the hand. In many cases several types of injury will coexist in the damaged hand.

Because our hands are the medium by which we interact with much of the world they are often placed in situations which render them vulnerable to injury. They are a combination of a large number of small bones and joints with complex ligamentous, tendinous and muscular components optimised to perform the multiple skilled manual functions we require. All the complex functioning of the hand results from the successful interplay of all the anatomical components working in very tight spaces. Any disruption of a part of the hand typically has knock on effects for the whole unit.