Know What We Treat

As a Sports Therapist we are asked by many of our potential patients if they can still book an appointment with us even though their injury, pain, tightness or tension was not due to sporting activity. Our answer is "of course"; at Know Your Body Injury Clinic we have a variety of experience with our patients outside the world of sport or physical activity. All our patients are assessed in the same way, everyone's why is different and that is what we want to determine in regards to your assessment, treatment and rehabilitation, to ensure that it is always tailored and specific to you and your background. There are a range of injuries and conditions that we treat and below are just a few examples of injuries and conditions we often see in our clinic. Click on the images below to find out more.

Achilles Tendinopathy

The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in the human body, yet it is prone to injury such as tendinopathy. Achilles tendinopathy is a painful overuse injury which is commonly seen in activities such as running and jumping sports. Patients will report a combination of pain, swelling and stiffness of the Achilles tendon. This can be due to a range of reasons such as: tightness in the calf muscles, lack of ankle range of movement (lifting toes up specifically), sudden increase in training intensity and frequency and many more.

Ankle Sprains

Injuries to the ankle ligaments are more often seen in an acute setting. Patients will more than likely remember the exact moment when these injuries occurred and how they occurred. You may have twisted, slipped or landed awkwardly. Within the ankle joint you can get three main types of sprains: lateral (outside), medial (inside) and syndemosis (high) ankle sprains. Patients may experience swelling, bruising, instability and issues walking depending on the severity of the ligament damage.

Hamstring Strains

How many times have you felt that you have "pulled" your hamstring? Hamstring strains are one of the most common muscle injuries in athletic populations. Hamsting strains can occur due to events such as high speed running, when the muscles contract to decelerate the swinging limb to enable the foot to strike the floor. Secondly, hamstring strains can occur due to excessive lengthening. You may see this form of muscle strain occur in activities such as; dancing, slide tackling, high kicking movements.

Neck Pain

There can be a number of reasons and causes of neck pain; physical, psychological and emotional. There are a number of conditions and injuries which can occur at the neck which can be acute or chronic, resulting in pain and restricted range of movement. Common conditions related to neck pain include; Muscle strains, Osteoarthritis, Facet joint injuries, Nerve compression and Disc herniations.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a progressive and degenerative condition of the articular cartilage (smooth white connective tissue) which cover the end of the bones and the subchondral bone. Patients may report of chronic pain, joint instability, stiffness and swelling. Osteoarthritis can affect all joints but it is most commonly seen in the hands, knees, hips and spine.

Patellar Tendinopathy

Patellar tendinopathy is defined as pain and dysfunction to arising from the patellar tendon. Patellar tendinopathy is often referred to as "Jumpers Knee". Patellar tendinopathy is a source of anterior knee pain located around the base of the patella (kneecap). Most commonly seen in patients who complete a lot of jumping activities due to the repetitive loading nature. Pain may be aggravated by decline squat movements.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is a common overuse injury to the thick band of connective tissue (fascia) that passes from the heel bone to the toes along the base (plantar) of the foot. Patients commonly describe pain around the inside of the base of the heel, which is noticeable when taking the first few steps in the morning. This can be often described as having a "stone in the bottom of the foot". Plantar fasciitis can vary in pain with each patient some noticing that pain reduces after a few steps or that pain returns when walking, running or standing for long periods of time.

Rotator Cuff Injuries

The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles commonly known as the: Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis. We can get injuries to all four muscles specifically the Supraspinatus. Within the Rotator cuff inuries which our patients present with can be: Rotator cuff strains and tears, tendinopathy, impingements and tendon ruptures. Rotator cuff injuries as stated above will have different mechanisms of how they occur. You may feel a pop, snap or a pull or your pain/injury can be of gradual nature of pain over time.

Sacroiliac Joint Pain

The Sacroiliac Joints commonly referred to as the SIJ, are located between the ilium (hip bones) and the sacrum (triangular bone at the base of the spine). The function of the SIJ is for effective load transfer between the spine and the limbs, it also plays a role in support and stability. Patients may complain of pain, heaviness or fatigue in the affected side however it can occur in both sides. Pain can be sudden and sharp around the lower back and buttock, patients may also report pain radiating to the lower hip, groin and upper thigh. It is not uncommon to see patients sink their knuckles into their lower back, glute or sacral/SIJ area to alleviate some of the pain/discomfort they are experiencing.

Sciatica

The Sciatic is the longest and widest nerve in the human body. It originates in the lower back (spinal nerves L4-S3). The nerve passes through deep gluteal muscle, the piriformis and then down into the lower limb. The term sciatica can be quite scary to some of our patients due to previous experiences of this type of pain, but we want to make sure you understand your body and know exactly what the term Sciatica means. Sciatica is the irritation of the sciatic nerve. True sciatica symptoms include change in sensation, numbness, weakness and even the sensation of water running down the limb. There are a range of reasons and causes of sciatica which is why a thorough assessment is key to understand exactly what the cause of your pain is.

Shin Splints

"Shin splints" is the non-medical term for medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). MTSS is categorized by diffuse dull aching pain around the front of the shin bone (tibia) predominately around the medial 1/3 of the shin. MTSS is commonly seen in patients who are exposed to repetitive high stress loads and activities such as runners. Early signs of shin splints are: tightening of the calf muscles leading up to the shin pain, pain on lifting toes against resistance and loss of ankle plantarflexion (pointing toes). It is important to address all of the factors that could be contributing to you pain, therefore we will look at the whole body to fully understand your mechanism of injury.

Tennis Elbow

"Tennis elbow" medically
known as Extensor Tendinopathy or Lateral Epicondylitis is a painful condition involving the extensor muscles of the forearm which become overloaded due to repetitive motions. Despite its name atletes are not the only people who can develop this condition. Patients we see with this condition can be: hairdressers, carpenters due to the techniques and positions required for repeated times throughout the day. Patients will report pain over the outside of the elbow, this may be with activity and also then pain with everyday acitivity such as picking up objects.