WHAT WE TREAT

Neck pain
Neck pain can arise from the muscle, joints or ligaments around the spine. This can be short term (acute) or long term (chronic), and may be mild, moderate or severe. Some cases may have associated nerve irritation which can cause arm symptoms.

Whiplash
Whiplash is a post-traumatic neck condition, in which the muscle, joints or nerves in the neck have been suddenly jolted, leading to aches or pains. Whiplash is Graded 1-4 depending on the extent of damage or irritation.

Headaches/Migraines
There are no ‘normal’ headaches. Many types of headaches or migraines arise from irritation of the nerves, joints or muscles around the neck, cranium (skull) and jaw.

These types of headaches are called tension type headaches, cervicogenic headaches or suboccipital headaches depending on the pattern of headache and structures that are irritated.

Disc concerns
The spinal discs in the neck can become irritated or damaged due to either sudden movements or repetitive strain. This can cause symptoms such as aching or pains in the neck, headaches, or nerve symptoms into the arm such as pain, pins and needles, numbness or weakness.

Trapped Nerves
The nerves in the neck exit past the joints, discs, through muscle and supply the arm some parts of the upper back. Entrapment of these may cause pins and needles, numbness or weakness into the arms.

Torticollis
This is also known as ‘wry neck’ or a ‘cricked neck’. It is the sudden spasm of a joint/muscle in the neck that results in an inability to turn or move the neck. You may often feel the neck is pulled to one side.

General Aches/Stiffness
The shoulder is a complex ball and socket joint with many attachment points into the neck, chest and back which all need to work together for optimal shoulder function. Manual therapy can help restore optimal shoulder function.

Acromioclavicular (AC) instability or sprain
The most common issues of the AC joint include wear and tear/arthritis, instability or sprain. There may also be associated subacromial bursitis.

Frozen Shoulder (Adhesive Capsulitis)
All frozen shoulder present slightly different, but they are usually a sign of poor synovial fluid, whether this is secondary to overuse or poor loading, or they can also be asociated with metabolic conditions (diabetes), hormonal (menopause) or stress.

Rotator cuff tendinopathy/tendinitis/tears
The rotator cuff is the most common cause of shoulder pain in one way or another. There are 4 muscles/tendons in the rotator cuff group, all of which may have a different presentation. These may be mild, moderate or severe and may be present as tendinopathy (general dysfunction of the tendon), tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon),

Impingement
Impingement is a common cause of shoulder pain, and is associated with the rotator cuff group. This classically presents as pinching in the shoulder with getting the arm overhead or getting your arm into a jacket.

More info
Many structures in the shoulder will present quite similarly, especially in severe cases when you may experience a total loss of range of movement. If indicated, we can organise imaging such as MRI or x-ray.

Repetitive Strain/General Tension
A lot of roles require repitive use of the arms, whether that is typing, childcare, animal care, trades, and more. Repetitive strain normally builds up in the forearm or around the wrist, but it can vary depending on what movements you do in your day to day life.

Tennis/Golfers Elbow
Tennis elbow is on the outer edge of the arm and Golfers elbow is on the inside. IT is the same problem - irritation of the tendons or muscles that attach into the elbow but control wrist movement. This can be mild, moderate or severe.

DeQuervains syndrome
This is an overuse of one of the thumb tendon - it presents as pain in the forearm, thumb side, just below where a watch would sit. It is becoming more common with scrolling on phones.

Trapped nerves
The most common place for the nerves in the arm to get trapped is at their roots in the neck, however they may be trapped in the brachial plexus (chest) or further down in the arm. Nerve entrapment will normally present as pain, pins or needles, shooting pains or weakness. Depending which nerve is trapped and where, you may get different pattern of symptoms.

Disc Problems
The IVD (intervertebral disc) is a common source of pain. These may be low Grade 1 or 2 which can be low/zero pain, or high Grade 3 or 4 may cause severe pain, with or without entrapment of the nerves into either the legs or lower abdomen/groin.

Spinal pain
Spinal may be acute (short term) or chronic (long term) and may be mild, moderate or severe. The most common cause of spinal pain is irritation to the facet joints, normally due to a loading pattern on the low back. There may be underlying wear and tear such as arthritis or DJD. If there is some structural degenerative changes to the bones, we can still help to alleviate the pressure and improve the mobility of the surrounding tissue.

Pulled/tight muscles
Pulled or strained back muscles will most commonly happen from repetitive low level strain from our daily movement patterns, however sometimes it can be from a major stressor such as a lift or fall.

Trapped nerves (Including Sciatica)
Trapped nerves can be mild, moderate or severe and the nerves from the lower back send communication between the legs and brain. Symptoms can present as pins and needles, numbness or weakness. It is important that your diagnosis also identifies the cause of entrapment, such as mechanical, stenosis, disc etc. The sciatic nerve is the most common entrapment but there are many others that are similar.

Sacro-iliac (SI)
SI pain is often described as ‘hip’ pain as it feels like the back of the hip (over the bumpy bit at the back of the pelvis). This can extend into the legs and present similarly to disc pain, sciatic pain or muscle sprain. It may be due to instability such as in pregnancy or hypermobility, weakness due to sedentary lifestyle, or restriction due to degenerative changes.

Other
Other conditions which may benefit from manual therapy include Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hypersostosis (DISH), post-surgical care (after minimum 12 weeks recovery), scoliosis and more.

General stiffness and restriction
The hip is a complex ball and socket joint with muscles crossing into the front and back of leg, low back and pelvic floor. As we don’t often use their full range, the joint may become tight and can build up imbalances in the surrounding musculature. Manual therapy can help restore optimal hip function.

Trochanteric bursitis
This pain is often felt on the side of the hips after laying on them, and is closely linked to the tendons in the area, and how your pelvis is moving.

Gluteal Tendinopathy/tendinitis
This is closely linked to trochanteric bursitis, and similarly, can be aggravated our loading patterns in the area. We address the surrounding musculature, as well as above and below the problem area.

Labral tears
The cartilage inside the hip can become aggravated or torn with either injury or repetitive stress. It will usually present as aching inside the hip/groin, or may feel like its going to give out. Treatment will help to reduce the stress on the labrum by addressing your movement patterns, restrictions and rebalancing the muscles in the area.

Arthritis
The pain from hip arthritis will normally present as hip stiffness with pain into the groin and thigh. If indicated, we can organise imaging to assess structural damage to the bones. Manual therapy can help to improve the tension in the surrounding tissues and guide you through strengthening, which can help alleviate symptoms.

Sacro-iliac (SI)
SI pain is often described as ‘hip’ pain as it feels like the back of the hip (over the bumpy bit at the back of the pelvis). This can extend into the legs and present similarly to disc pain, sciatic pain or muscle sprain. It may be due to instability such as in pregnancy or hypermobility, weakness due to sedentary lifestyle, or restriction due to degenerative changes.

Snapping hip Syndrome
Snapping hip syndrome is a tendon moving suddenly over a ridge on the pelvis - this can feel like its catching or needs to ‘pop’.

Knee Pain
The most common source of knee pain is PFPS (Runner’s knee) which is due to movement patterns that put stress around the kneecap. Other knee complaints include meniscus (cartilage), ligament or arthritis.

Ilio-Tibial Band (ITB)
The ITB travels down the outside of the leg and is a thick, fibrous tissue that is controlled by muscles of the hip including glute medius and tensor fascia lata. To treat the ITB, the whole leg must be looked at to address any loading or movement patterns that are stressing the ITB, and to guide you in strengthening the muscles.

Flat Feet
Whilst this is normally a genetic variation, restoring the mechanics and improving the strength in the arches and muscles that control the arch can alleviate pain and weakness in the foot/ankle that is associated with flat feet/fallen arches.

Trapped nerves (including Sciatica)
The most common place for the nerves in the leg to get trapped is at their roots in the low back, however they may be trapped in the buttocks or further down in the leg. Nerve entrapment will normally present as pain, pins or needles, shooting pains or weakness. Depending which nerve is trapped and where, you may get different pattern of symptoms.

Posture
There are many factors that may affect how you hold your body. Whilst everybody has different body shapes through their genetics, we can guide you in how to optimise your body.

Imbalance
We all have dominant side and therefore some extent of imbalance, and it is not an inherently ‘bad’ thing. However, if you feel that it is affecting the way your body moves/feels then we can help identify and guide you in rebalancing your body.

General tension/inability to relax
When your body moves better, you feel better. Struggling to relax is often a sign your body is storing tension, but by improving the flexibility in your tissues, relaxing gets much more easy and natural. Patients often start by saying “I feel much older than I actually am”.

Arthritis
There are two broad categories of arthritis that exist. There are treatment techniques that can help with the symptom management of both types of arthritis:
1. Osteoarthritis (wear and tear) which may be mild, moderate or severe, but is normal to some extent as we age.
2. Inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, anklylosing spondylitis etc).

Other
Other common conditions that we help our patients manage include pregnancy related pain, HSD (Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder), EDS (Ehlos-Danlos Syndrome), fibromyalgia and more.

There are many other conditions or troubles that manual therapy can help with - please contact us if you have any further questions.