So many of us have “sprained” an ankle. That general term for “I fell and hurt my ankle and it’s still sore”. In medical terms a sprain is when there is a “stretching or tearing of ligaments” so it’s a useful catch all term for joint injuries that need a bit of rest and Ice but not much more. But a recent study suggests that there might be longer term…
I’ve spoken before about how to get the right fit for children’s school shoes (where you can download my handy guide!) but what about us adults? Aren’t our feet important too? While I’m an avid believer in orthotics and the impact they have, it helps to put them in a well-fitting pair of shoes! Do your shoes fit? The average shoe size is up about two sizes since the 1970’s,…
Aaaaah,Back to School time, depending on which side of the parenting fence you are on you are jumping for joy or sad for the end of summer. But whatever you feel about this time of year one thing never changes – kids grow! And that means new uniform and new school shoes. While the wrong size clothes might be annoying or irritating, the wrong size shoes can have a BIG…
“I have a vision . . . . a vision of your future . . . . . it’s a pain free future . . . . . ” Yes, yes, I know, it’s an old joke that I can predict your future with gait analysis. The studies show that it can predict your outcome after hip replacement surgery and now it turns out that it can predict your injury…
In the past I have jokingly referred to gait analysis as a way to predict the future. I can watch you walk, analyse your foot function and be pretty certain whether you will have hip, knee or ankle pain in the next decade. Foot function rarely alters, it gets worse but if you have high big toe impact at 18 the chances are you will continue to have high big…
The hip or acetabilofemoral joint includes over 70 different ligaments, tendons, muscles and bones and is (with the shoulder) the most flexible joint in the body, slightly different in men and women. Where’s the pain? Confusingly, the area that most of us refer to as our hip is actually the pelvis bone. The hip joint itself is deep into the groin. So “true” hip joint pain is usually felt as…
I was horrified to read on the NHS website (usually a reliable if rather conventional source) that the “cause of bunions is unknown“. What Utter Nonsense!!! We know the cause and have done for decades – excess pressure on the joint at the base of the big toe. This pressure causes the joint to twist out of alignment and swell, causing the typical “bump” as the bones move out to the…
The knee is the largest joint in the body and one of the most complex, making it a very vulnerable joint! It is made up of 4 bones, more than 20 muscles each with a tendon, 4 major ligaments as well as many little ones, and at least 3 layers of cartilage. Arthroscopy An operation to “clean” inside the knee joint. Results of recent studys report that arthroscopic surgery is…
Again and again you’ve heard me stress the vital importance of a proper clinical assessment when you have knee pain. One of the KEY factors in a knee pain assessment (because we have to check it is a knee problem and not a hip or foot or lower back problem – they all cause knee pain too!) is examining knee extension – basically how straight you can get your knee.…
I’ve just been reading a really fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal of all places! Not my usual paper by any means but this particular article caught my eye. Edit – my apologies, it seems that for some people this article might be behind a pay wall. I’m not quite sure how I was able to view it for free but I do apologise for any frustration! I have…