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

Stretching and Tightness

We all have a genetically determined stretchiness or tightness to our connective tissues, the skin, tendons, ligaments and discs which are made up of collagen. It is partly the make up of collagen and partly the length of our tendons and ligaments which determine how bendy or tight we are. Mostly the length of our soft tissues is not very important as we are able to function normally with what we have got, but in some cases such as injury or pain conditions the tightness or laxness of our tissues can become an issue. In low back and neck pain syndromes certain structures can become tight and others slack, leading to imbalances in the muscular and joint systems.

Physiotherapists use stretching routinely to correct these imbalances and teach their patients very specific and controlled programmes. For stretching to be effective the action must be taken to the point of tightness, pushed a little further into the resistance and held for 15 seconds or more steadily. Bouncing should be avoided as this does not stretch well and can cause injury. Stretching should feel uncomfortable in the target tissues but not greatly painful and any discomfort should settle quickly once the stretch is removed.

Activity and Muscle Strength

When a person starts to train for strength or power they start exerting high forces for short periods of time, i.e. they use heavier weights for smaller numbers of repetitions. This causes large changes in the fast twitch type 2 muscles fibres, increasing their size but not changing their number. This process is known as mechanically induced hypertrophy and results from the muscle cells synthesising increased amounts of muscle proteins to build into larger muscle. Muscles can also add new sections to the areas where they join the tendon if they are subjected to stretching forces.

In contrast, if muscles are inactive they reduce the making of muscle proteins within a few hours and the muscle starts to atrophy, to lose size and strength. In injuries if a muscle is immobilised in a shortened position both its size and its length will be reduced, with non-contracting substances becoming more dominant. This leads to a muscle which is shorter, more stiff and less easily lengthened, a significantly negative outcome in that immobilisation for fractures will have unwanted effects on the local muscular structures. Modern methods concentrate on immobilising a joint only if essential and only for the shortest necessary period.