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Category: ligaments

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By Physio Team Appointments & Fees, body parts, elbow pain, ergonomics, Exercises, golfers elbow, good posture, hand and wrist pain, Home exercises, Injury, ligaments, Lockdown, medial elbow pain, online consultations, pain management, physical health, Physio, posture, rehabilitation , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Medial Elbow Pain Explained

Medial elbow pain is also known as medial epicondylitis or golfer’s elbow. It is typically associated with pain on the inside (medial side) of your elbow and can spread into your forearm and wrist. This pain is the result of overloading and damage to the tendons that flex your wrist towards your palm.

 

Causes

This condition is triggered by damage to tendons and muscles which control your fingers and wrist. This damage is associated with excessive or repeated stresses- particularly repetitive and forceful finger and wrist movements, incorrect lifting, hitting and throwing techniques, lack of warmups and/or poor muscle conditioning.

Key risk factors for developing medial elbow pain may include smoking, obesity, being of in age bracket of 40 years old and over and undertaking repetitive activity with your arms for at least two hours daily. High risk occupations may include chefs, office desk workers, plumbers, construction workers, painters, butchers and assembly line workers. Those who partake in sports such as golf, racket sports, rowing, weight lifting and baseball are also at a higher risk.

 

Symptoms

Symptoms may be triggered suddenly due to a traumatic incident or may gradually develop over time and include but are not limited to:

  • Tenderness and pain is typically felt on the inner side of your elbow (particularly on the bony knob), and may refer along the inner side of your forearm and down to your wrist and fingers. It often worsens with certain movements. For example, bending your wrist towards your palm against resistance, or when squeezing a rubber ball.
  • You may feel stiffness in your elbow, and making a fist may hurt
  • You may experience weakness in your forearm, wrist and hand
  • You may experience tingling and numbness that can radiate into one or more fingers — typically to your ring and little fingers.

Diagnosis

This condition is typically diagnosed based on your medical and occupation history and a physical exam by your doctor or physiotherapist. To evaluate stiffness, strength and pain, your clinician may apply pressure to the impacted region and get you to move your elbow, wrist and fingers in various ways. You may also be referred on for imaging such as X-rays and Ultrasounds to aid diagnosis.

Management

A mix of non-surgical treatment options are effective for the majority of medial elbow pain cases, and self-resolves over time. You should rest your elbow and painful activities should be avoided. But it is very vital to maintain gentle movements of the forearm, elbow, and wrist through its range of motion.

Potential treatment options include:

  • Ice
  • Rest
  • Physiotherapy and acupuncture
  • Anti-inflammatory medications as recommended by your doctor or pharmacist
  • The use of a wrist and forearm brace or splint to support and rest your forearm

As your initial elbow pain lessens, your muscles around the elbow, forearm and wrist should be safely strengthened and stretched under guidance of a physiotherapist. Your physiotherapist will advise you on particular exercises, give you appropriate symptom management advice and take you through a personalised graduated rehabilitation program. If you continue to experience pain after 6-8 weeks of treatment, your physiotherapist can refer you back to your doctors, to consider administration of a cortisone injection into the elbow to help reduce pain and inflammation, and further referral onto see a specialist to seek guidance on other treatment options.

Prevention

Having a good comprehension of risk of injury and being conscious of your everyday activities may aid in the prevention of medial elbow pain. You should:

  • Adopt appropriate technique and form when undertaking repetitive activities or sporting motions
  • Keep up with adequate wrist, forearm, and shoulder muscle strength
  • Undertake gentle wrist and forearm stretches pre and post activities
  • Adopt appropriate posture and body mechanics when lifting heavy objects to reduce joint strain- especially if doing so repetitively
By Physio Team acute pain, Appointments & Fees, body parts, bones, chronic pain, Home exercises, Injury, ligaments, muscles, pain, pain management, physical health, Physio, rehabilitation, Sporting, Sprain , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fix the grinding in your knees when you squat

There can be multiple reasons why your knees sound like popping popcorns or grating stones when you squat.

Generally popping in the knees is attributed to stiffness of the quadriceps muscle and the fascia that surrounds the knee joint. Overtime, stiffness causes pressure to build up under knee cap, which on movement can cause a sudden release causing a ‘popping’ sound. As worrying as it may be, most of the time popping noises in the knee without pain is NORMAL. However, for others the noise can be accompanied with a grinding sensation under the knee cap which is painful. This suggests there is an underlying pathology that needs to be addressed.

This is something we would clinically consider to be Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome aka Runner’s knee – an umbrella term that encompasses the idea of dysfunctional knee cap tracking.

When you straighten and bend your knee, naturally your knee cap tracks up and down between its groove (trochlea groove) – like a train moving up and down a train track.

When the quadricep muscles on the outside (vastus lateralis) and inside (vastus medialis oblique) part of the leg are working in synchronization as they should, your knee cap is able to track up and down properly. However, if the quadriceps muscle (Vastus lateralis) is overly activated and the fascia (Iliotibial band & lateral retinaculum) on the outer part of you knee cap is excessively stiff, the knee cap gets pulled to the outside.

Essentially the train is being pulled and tilted more to the outside. Eventually overtime, repetitive or violent lateral pull of the knee cap increases friction in the knee grating the smooth underside of the knee cap called, chondromalacia. Additionally, the constant pulling and stiffness of the lateral side will cause stretching on the inside of muscles. On top of that, pain and swelling will cause the muscles in the inside of the leg to shut down.

Here are two steps to managing your symptoms.

STEP ONE

  1. Foam roller or tennis ball

Instructions:

  • Lie on your front and place the foam roller underneath your leg.
  • Bend the opposite leg and bring it out to the side to help you move back and forth.
  • Roll the entire length of the thigh muscle, staying off the knee joint.

Make sure you move through the length of the muscle close to the knee cap as you can. You should be looking for stiff spots in the muscles and any sore spots you feel concentrate on it for couple of seconds and work deeper in to the tissue. You should also move in the inside and outside of the quadriceps muscles. Do this with you knee straight and then move into knee flexed position to optimize the release.

For a more concentrated release, use a tennis ball or a lacrosse ball especially at the quadriceps tendon where much of the stiffness is likely present. The reduced surface area of the ball allows you to work on specific spots a lot better to break down deeper areas of stiffness and create more mobility.

Do this mobility routine for 1-2 minutes

  1. Quadricep stretches

  • Start in a standing position. Use support if required for balance.
  • Raise one leg behind you grabbing hold of your ankle, or your lower leg.
  • Lift and hold for 20-30 second, and then repeat for the other leg.
  • Get into a lunge position with back leg flat on floor
  • Bend your knee and slowly pull your leg into a stretch
  • Hold this stretch for 20-30 seconds
  • For comfort place a rolled face towel under the knee cap

Modified quadricep stretch

For some people if kneeling down is irritating for the knee you can modify the stretch.

  • Rest your leg on the chair with your foot against the back rest
  • Make sure your stance leg is far enough in front of the chair
  • Lunge forward until stretch is felt
  • Do this for 20-30 seconds.

NOTE: Long duration stretches of over a minute and more can decrease the potential for you to create strength and power in those muscles during your workout. So, prior to your workout focus on short duration stretches.

  1. Functional mobility stretch

Deep squat sits are great to expand the stretch. If your symptoms are not aggravated, try deep squat sits for 30 seconds up to a minute.

  • Stand with feet shoulder width apart
  • Point your feet out to about 45 degrees
  • Sit in to a deep squat keeping the pressure evenly distributed across feet

STEP TWO

Now that you’ve resolved the stiffness in the lateral portion of your knee, next step is to address the muscles imbalances caused by pain and swelling. That is, turning back the firing of the quadriceps muscles.

An effective way to address this, is by doing what we call close chain exercises – these are exercises done where your feet are on the ground, such as squats. Initially you want start slow and high. Mini squats are great because they allow you to strengthen your quadriceps without putting too much compressive forces into your knee. As you get comfortable, advance to a deeper squat and slowly begin to work towards building you strength by adding on weight.

Mini bodyweight squats

  • Stand behind a chair or table and place your hands onto the back rest.
  • Keeping your back straight, bend both knees into a semi-squatting position, allowing your hands to slide forwards.
  • Your hips should travel backwards as you counterbalance by leaning your chest forwards.
  • Push through your buttock and thigh muscles as you return to standing, and repeat.

Deep bodyweight squats

  1. Hold on to the dumbbell, keeping it close to your chest.
  2. Step your feet wide apart and turn the toes out slightly.
  3. Drop down into a deep squat position, keeping your feet on the floor.
  4. Control the movement back to the start position.

Caution: Avoid deep squats especially if you have ongoing grinding pain. Do not push in to pain, as this will only increase the forces and worsen your symptoms. At this point, it is highly recommended that you come in to see a physiotherapist to examine a potential underlying pathology.

By Physio Team Appointments & Fees, Exercises, knee pain, ligament damage, ligaments, Lockdown, lockdown wellbeing, MCL knee pain, MCL ligament, medial knee pain, muscles, online consultations, pain management, physical health, Physio, Sprain, surgery, Therapy , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Managing your Medial Knee Pain: MCL injuries

What is it?

Although your knee has free movement going forwards and backwards, its’ sideward movements are restricted by the robust collateral ligaments on either sides of your knee. The medial collateral ligament (MCL) is situated on the inner part of your knee, but on the outside of your joint. The MCL connects the top of your shinbone (tibia) to the bottom of your femur (thighbone). It helps hold your bones together, provides stability and prevents your knee from bending sideways away from your body.

Injuries to the MCL are from the result of a direct blow to the outer part of your knee- and is most commonly seen in contact sports such as football and soccer. These injures may either over-stretch or cause a tear in the ligament. Whilst surgery may be needed in some severe cases, it is not always the go-to form of management.

Read on to know how physiotherapy can help manage your MCL related-knee pain.

 

 

Mechanism of Injury

Injury to the MCL typically occurs when a force drives the lower leg in a sideward direction away from your upper leg and body. Awkwardly landing from a height, twisting of your knee with your foot fixated to the ground, or from a direct blow to the outer part of your knee- most commonly seen in contact sports, are frequent causes of injury to the MCL.

 

 

Grading of MCL Injuries

MCL injuries are often graded using the system below:

Grade 1: Regarded as a minor injury- means that the MCL has been overstretched but not torn

Grade 2: Regarded as a moderate injury- means that there is a partial tear in MCL, and presents with some degree of instability in the knee

Grade 3: Regarded as a severe injury- means that the MCL has completely ruptured/torn, and presents with noticeable joint instability

 

Often 3 MCL injuries are associated with concurrent medial meniscus and ACL ligament damage, which may need surgical intervention. But, the good news is that most MCL injuries may be treated well with conservative physiotherapy management. It usually takes between 2-8 weeks for Grade 1 and 2 MCL injuries to heal, and a graduated rehabilitation programme is highly commended for prevention of future injury.

 

 

Signs and Symptoms

Because injury to the MCL may present with similar symptoms as with other knee injuries such as ACL damage, it is vital to have a medical professional such as your physiotherapist evaluate your injury.

Common symptoms of an MCL injury may include:

  • Tenderness and pain along in the inner part of your knee
  • Swelling in the knee
  • Experience catching and locking sensations in the knee joint
  • A ‘pop’ sound at the time of injury
  • Actual or feeling of giving way of the knee (often indicate grade 2 or 3 injury)

 

 

Diagnosis

Your physiotherapist will discuss your injury and its presenting symptoms, past medical history (including a history of any prior knee injuries) and will also undertake a thorough physical examination. During the physical examination, your physiotherapist will assess the structures of your injured knee and compare them to the non-injured side. The range of motion, strength and stability of your knee will be assessed. You may be referred on for imaging such as X-rays and Ultrasounds to help aid the diagnosis. For more severe MCL injuries, and if your symptoms do not resolve with conservative physiotherapy management, you may be referred onto a specialist who may consider referring you for an MRI to get a deeper look at your knee.

 

Management

The management options for MCL injuries will be dependent on the severity of the injury. In the initial stages of injury, management is focused on controlling swelling and pain, whilst allowing your body to initiate healing processes via inflammation. This is typically achieved through the P.O.L.I.C.E. principles (Protect, Optimal Loading, Ice, Compression and Elevation).

Over the counter medication such as ibuprofen and paracetamol may be taken to reduce pain. Other stronger painkillers and NSAIDs may be prescribed by your doctor to help reduce swelling and inflammation as well.

After assessing your knee, your physiotherapist will frame a rehabilitation programme with exercises tailored to your needs. The purpose of physiotherapy is to help restore your knee’s range of motion, stability and strength, which in turn will then allow you to safely return to your usual day-to-day and sporting activities as soon as possible.

Management of most MCL injuries usually only involves knee bracing and physiotherapy treatment. However, in some cases, surgery may be recommended. Particularly if there is damage to more than one ligament or structure in your knee or if you continue to experience instability in spite of physiotherapy.

By Physio Team acute pain, body parts, bones, chronic pain, ergonomics, Exercises, good posture, hand and wrist pain, Injury, ligaments, muscles, pain, pain management, physical health, Physio, post-op, rehabilitation, repetitive stress injury, Sprain, surgery, tendon , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – What is it?

Have you been experiencing pain, pins and needles or numbness in your wrist and hands, especially after using the keyboard, chopping up a few veges, reading a book, using your mobile phone or with driving?

If you answered yes – then you are most likely to have Carpal tunnel syndrome.

What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common condition in the arm. It is caused by compression of one of the three major nerves in the forearm – the median nerve, which travels through the wrist into the hand and fingers. Entrapment of the median nerve usually due to inflammation, occurs in the wrist commonly resulting in tingling of the wrist and hand (in some cases forearm), numbness, pain and weakness of the hand.

Signs and Symptoms

Often unrelated to a specific incident or an injury, symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome usually develop gradually overtime. Symptoms may be worse in the morning and night. Many people find that the frequency and duration of symptoms increase as the conditions worsen.

Signs and symptoms may include:

  • Tingling, numbness or burning sensation of the thumb, index, middle and ¾ of ring fingers of the hand
  • Electric shock like radiating pain through the hand into thumb, index, middle and ¾ of ring finger
  • Weakened grip, loss of dexterity and fine movements such as picking up a hair pin, buttoning clothes.
  • Hypersensitivity or in other cases lessened sensation of hand to pressure, heat or cold temperatures
  • Swollen wrist

Let’s take a closer look at the anatomy!

As its name suggests – a group of small bones aka carpal bones form a tunnel like passageway in the wrist (palmar view). This unique architectural design allows for the tendons of the forearm muscles and the all-important median nerve to pass through the narrow tunnel through the wrist and into the hand and fingers, supplying sensation and motor function.

Causes

Common causes and risk factors that increase the likelihood of carpal tunnel syndrome include:

  • Repetitive wrist & hands movements – during work related tasks or leisure activities may irritate the tendons in the wrist, resulting in inflammation that irritates the nerve.
  • Wrist or hand injury – recurring sprains, swelling and reduced wrist movements reduces the space in the carpal tunnel
  • Pregnancy and menopause – hormonal changes can increase fluid retention in body increasing pressure in the carpal tunnel compressing the median nerve
  • Genetic history – petite
  • Medical conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, hyperthyroidism)

Interesting facts about carpal tunnel syndrome

  • Women are 3 times more susceptible to develop carpal tunnel syndrome than men. This can be due to hormonal changes during pregnancy or menopause and also because women tend to have smaller carpal tunnels.
  • Not all fingers are affected. Median nerve supplies movement and sensation in the thumb, all fingers except the little finger.
  • Computers/keyboard are not the only reasons to blame – repetitive nature of any work related or leisure word increases risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome

Diagnosis

Carpal tunnel syndrome is fairly easily diagnosed by your physiotherapy, doctor or a hand therapist.

Your health practitioner will gather information on your general health, history and nature of your symptoms. They will then carefully conduct a thorough clinical assessment to assess the movements of your hand and wrist, strength and use a collection of tests in effort diagnose your symptoms. In some cases, your therapist may examine your neck, shoulders and arms to rule out other potential causes.

You may often hear the physiotherapist or hand therapist mention that they want to conduct a functional assessment – A functional assessment is activity specific, where the therapist will watch you perform the activity that aggravates your symptoms the fastest. For example, if using a keyboard is generally when you feel your symptoms start – the therapist may observe you performing the very task to examine your overall posture.

Referral to scans or nerve conduction tests may be arranged by your doctor or therapist depending on the severity or complexity of your symptoms.

Scans

Referral to scans or nerve conduction tests may be arranged by your doctor or therapist depending on the severity or complexity of your symptoms.

  • Xray – provides key information on bone health, when dealing with a potential injury, or arthritis
  • Ultrasound – can examine potential soft tissue injury or inflammation compressing the median nerve
  • MRI – this advanced imaging provides in depth review of your wrist and hand. Usually arranged by your doctor or a specialist
  • Nerve conduction study – studies the electrical activity of the median nerve. This test will help you doctor examine the severity of your problem.

Treatment

In most cases, carpal tunnel syndrome will progressively worsen overtime. So, the key is early intervention!

Conservative management

Mild symptoms can be easily managed with a conservative approach.

  • Wearing splints or braces – keeps your wrist straight to prevent repetitive use of hands, thus reducing pressure or inflammation in the carpal tunnel.
  • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications – such as celecoxib and ibuprofen as prescribed by your doctor may decompress the median nerve by reducing the inflammation in your body and wrist.
  • Activity modification: your physiotherapist will play an important role in providing you with advice around to modifying your activities to reduce your symptoms. They will also prescribe you with effective stretches and exercises to help manage your symptoms while safely aiding your recovery.
  • Steroid injections: your physiotherapist or doctor may recommend a ‘cortisone’, also known as a ‘corticosteroid’ injection to control your symptoms. It contains an anti-inflammatory substance that is injected into your carpal tunnel. The effects of the steroid injection may be temporary and can vary person to person depending on many factors (cause of symptoms, stage of your condition).

In mild to moderate cases, the effects of injection may last between 3-6months.

Surgical intervention

If non-surgical approaches have failed to relieve your symptoms, surgery may be required.

By this stage you would have consulted an orthopaedic surgeon. Your surgeon will thoroughly examine your overall health, symptoms, results from the scans and the nerve conduction study to help you decide on the best treatment approach.

If you decide to undergo surgery – the surgical procedure your surgeon will perform is called ‘carpal tunnel release’.

Recovery and outcomes

  • After your surgery you may be given a splint or a brace for a period of time specified by your surgeon. While in the splint or brace you will be encouraged to move your fingers to prevent stiffness and swelling.
  • Expect to experience minor pain, stiffness and swelling for a couple of weeks to months after your surgery. Pain medications provided by your surgeon must be taken as prescribed.
  • You may be encouraged to see your physiotherapist, who will work closely with your surgeon to help meet post-operative outcomes.
  • You will have regular 6-8 weekly follow ups with your surgeon as required to assess your healing and discuss gradual return to light activities and return to work.
  • If you have underlying medical conditions such as arthritis, except that your recovery may be slower than otherwise expected. It is important that you follow post-operative protocols your surgeon, doctor and physiotherapist recommend.
By Physio Team body parts, bones, Exercises, Injury, ligaments, muscles, online consultations, Physio, rehabilitation, Sprain, tendon, Therapy , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Meet Your Body Parts!

Here are definitions of common terms for body parts you may hear your doctor or physio use!

 

Ligaments

Ligaments are cordlike extensions that serve to connect ends of two bones to form a joint. They are made up of strong, durable, slightly elastic bandlike structures comprised of collagen fibres. The structural make up of ligaments is advantageous providing joint stability by limiting excessive movement.

What are Ligaments? (with pictures)

Tendons

Similar to ligaments, tendons contain densely packed bundles of tough collagen fibres that hold muscles together to the bone. They are located at the ends of every muscle in the human body. Bound together in tight sheaths they are made to withstand tension and transmit forces exerted by the muscle to the bone to cause movement.

 

10 Facts About Tendons | Physio Direct - Rural Physio at Your Doorstep

Muscles

Human body is made up of over 600 muscles categorised into three different types – cardiac, smooth and skeletal muscle.

  • Cardiac muscle – is only found in the walls of the heart. Its contractions help propel blood through the blood vessels to all part of the body.
  • Smooth muscle – is found mainly in the lining of internal organs (except the heart) including digestive and uninary tract organs, blood vessels. Smooth muscle works to transport substances through the organs by alternately contracting and relaxing.
  • Skeletal muscles – Skeletal muscles are the most abundant type of muscles that form the flesh of the body. They are attached to bones of the skeleton by tendons. They are responsible for voluntary movements of body. Facial expression, mobility, postural control and breathing are some of the movements we observe when skeletal muscles are subjected to voluntary control.

 

Muscle types — Science Learning Hub

Bones

Skeletal system of the human body is made up of 206 bones. Bones are most involved in providing an architectural framework by providing body shape, support and protection of vital organs and for locomotion. Besides these functions, bone is a reservoir for mineral and fats as a source of stored energy and formation of blood cells. Bones are classified by their shape as long, short, flat and irregular. They are connected by ligaments to form joints.

Let's learn about bones | Science News for Students

Cartilage

There are three different types of cartilage found in the human body – hyaline, elastic and fibrocartilage. Hyaline cartilage is the most common cartilage in the human body. It covers the ends of most bones at movable joints, connects ribs to the breastbone, forms the voice-box and nasal passages. It  consists of high water content that provides resilience to withstand great compressive forces found predominantly in joints.

 

What Is Cartilage?

By Physio Team Appointments & Fees, bones, Exercises, Home exercises, Injury, ligaments, muscles, online consultations, Physio, Pilates & Exercise Classes, rehabilitation, Sporting, Sprain, surgery, tendon, Therapy , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ankle injuries – Your first step to recovery

Common? Oh Yes!

The ankle is the most commonly injured joint in sport. This does not exclude other people such as active hikers, beach goers and even your average Sunday stroller. Good news though – your ankle injury is highly likely to be uncomplicated.

It is still vital that your ankle is examined, evaluated and treated early. This will ensure a swift return to activity and prevent further complications.

 

The road to recovery

Planning for Resiliency and the Road to Recovery

Your clinician will ask you some questions related to how you injured your ankle, pain, instability and any past episodes of injury. The earlier you get your ankle checked, the sooner your recovery will begin.

Keeping a mental note of things like initial pain, swelling, ability to walk and balance will go a long way in assisting your clinician to making an accurate diagnosis.

 

Investigations

Ankle x-rays

In most cases, initial X – rays are done to rule out broken bones.

Ultrasounds can be used to diagnose some ligament and tendon damage.

MRI is the best form of imaging but this does come at a higher cost and higher exposure to radiation. These are usually done after failed conservative treatment or in instances where pain remains high for longer periods.

A CT scan is helpful with complicated foot and ankle fractures. It will normally be ordered by a specialist surgeon who is planning for an operation.

 

What to look out for

Ankle sprains:

This is normally a twisting injury that causes a stretch or tear of ligaments surrounding the ankle. Your health care professional will provide you with all the information and tools you need for recovery.

These heal relatively quickly when the outside border of the foot is affected and a little slower when the inside border of the ankle is affected.

You will normally feel pain on certain ankle movements, stiffness in the ankle and experience some swelling and bruising.

Ankle - Wikipedia

 

Ankle Fractures:

These normally present with swelling, bruising and pain initially – although not always. In some cases, it is too painful to put weight on the ankle.

They are usually best confirmed with X – ray and specialist referral.

Management may be surgical or non-surgical depending on the severity and site of the fracture.

Fractures generally take longer to recover compared to sprains.

 

What treatment to expect

Foot and Ankle Doctor | EmergeOrtho—Triangle Region

Acute phase:

Your healthcare professional will normally initiate techniques to minimise your pain and swelling with rest, ice, compression and elevation.

Analgesia and anti – inflammatory medication may also be used.

Strapping may be used for stability at this stage and can be done by your physiotherapist.

You will also be encouraged to increase movement and begin strengthening.

 

Rehabilitation phase:

Balance and proprioceptive exercises will be given to you by your physiotherapist.

Strengthening will continue and running will start soon.

Once running in a linear motion pain free, you will progress to sport specific exercises.

Finally, you will return to sport or previous function such as trekking with a graded program.

Strapping may continue for up to 12 months after your injury in order to prevent re–injury.

 

What can you do on the day of the injury?

Rest by reducing time spent walking or standing. This will help the ankle to heal.

Ice the ankle for up to 20 minutes every couple of hours.

Compress the ankle with a firm bandage during the day and remove the bandage at night.

Elevate the leg.

Attempt circulatory exercises such as ankle circles and foot pumps (About 10 – 30 repetitions every couple of hours).

Contact your health professional or physiotherapist in order to make appointment for assessment.

If you are unable to stand on your leg or have excruciating pain in the ankle, head on to the local emergency department for immediate investigation.

 

Remember, your injury will heal and you will recover!

 

To find your nearest Physio Fusion clinic and book an appointment call 09 6266186 or visit our website https://physiofusion.co.nz

By Physio Team Appointments & Fees, body parts, bones, Exercises, feet, flat feet, foot, Home exercises, Injury, ligaments, muscles, online consultations, orthotics, pain, Physio, rehabilitation, Sprain, tendon, Therapy , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The myth about foot pronation (flat foot)

Myth: Foot pronation(flat foot) is the enemy.

Quest - Article - Surgery Sometimes, Bracing Often, Caution Always | Muscular Dystrophy Association

In the foot, pronation should occur naturally when the foot comes into contact with the ground. Pronation will appear as the foot rolling inward and the arch flattening.

What are the benefits?

  • Dissipates the force that the foot receives from the ground

  • Allows the foot to become a stable and mobile adaptor to enhance movement opportunity

  • Loads the muscles of the extensor chain (calf, quads, glutes) to convert ground reaction forces into forward momentum so we can propel efficiently.

So why have I been told this is bad?

So as you are now aware, pronation is very normal and a critical movement to ensure we move and propel ourselves forward efficiently.

What you may have heard someone say to you is that you ‘overpronate’?

Firstly, overpronation is subjective and not as black and white as it is sometimes made out to be. Overpronation has be defined as: ‘a foot that rolls inward toward the arch excessively’.

Foot Pronation: Underpronation & overpronation explained- The Foot Clinic

What we must understand is that a pronation can only happen when the foot has a stable tripod on the ground. This means that the calcaneus (heel bone), 1st metatarsal (big toe knuckle), 5th metatarsal (little toe knuckle) must all remain in contact when the foot rolls inwards and the arch flattens.

The Foot Tripod - Fix Flat Feet

So, If you have been told you are ‘overpronated’ , it is most likely that your whole foot is ‘everting’ NOT ‘overpronating’.

What is Eversion?

Eversion can be defined as: ‘the process of turning inside-out’.

In pronation your heel must naturally ‘evert’ (sole of the heel will move away from the midline of the body) NOT your whole foot.

If your ‘whole foot’ everts (turns out) you will no longer have a stable foot tripod as the 5th metatarsal (little toe) will lose contact with the ground.

The key to ensuring this does not happen is to provide an environment for the bones of the midfoot (middle of the foot) and forefoot (toes) to experience the opposite motion to that of the heel. This will mean that the foot has an opportunity to truly pronate with a tripod on the ground.

 

 

So how can you help me do that?

  • At Physio fusion we can help you to bring your own body into alignment and create an environment in which the healing can begin

  • Foot strengthening exercises

  • Footwear advice

  • Referral to other healthcare specialists for further assistance (e.g. podiatrists)

To find your nearest Physio Fusion clinic and book an appointment call 09 6266186 or visit our website https://physiofusion.co.nz