Category Archives: physiotherapy

ITBs (Illotibial Band Syndrome)

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ITB syndrome is relatively common among the runners and triathletes that I have treated. It’s described variously as a sharp pain on the lateral (outside) edge of the kneecap, so painful that its like someone is poking a hot pin in there and twisting it around. It can also be felt further up the Band, toward the hip, but for this article, Im going to concentrate on the knee problem. The distal (bottom) part of the ITB, and potential painful spot. As you would expect, this tends to have an effect upon running style, generally a pronounced limp, followed swiftly … Continue reading →

Healing muscle strains – Treatment

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As mentioned in a post earlier this month (Processes involved in healing a muscle strain) what treatment aims to do initially in a muscle strain is to reduce pain, swelling, bleeding and secondary tissue damage by utilising PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation). At the acute stage treatment is, as mentioned, to follow the PRICE protocol. You should immediately stop the activity which caused or aggravated the injury. Protect the area, limit movement either with bandages or splints and keep it away from danger. From the perspective of a massage therapist you may think that there is little that … Continue reading →

Pain

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We all experience pain, be it emotional or physical, at some point in our lives. Some people are lucky and only experience pain when they are injured, like when they twist an ankle running in the fells or cut themselves accidentally while chopping vegetables. Other people seem blighted with pain, going from illness to illness, often (and frustratingly) without a specific cause. But pain is pain, whatever the cause or reason for it. And the level of pain we feel is on a continuum, and it is difficult to be precise about this as ones own pain tolerance is unique. … Continue reading →

abdominal massage and spasming diaphragms

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If you’ve read the post about the Mount Famine race, you may remember I mentioned a spasming diaphragm. This is a bit of a wierd one which I first felt a good few years ago when I was running in Japan. (just for fun, I must hasten to add… trying to lose weight to get better at climbing) Sometimes, as I was running, I would get a really really bad pain in the abdomen, on the right side, just below the ribs. I knew it wasn’t stitch- I’ve had that before, and it went pretty much as soon as I … Continue reading →

Processes involved in healing a muscle strain

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The first aim of treatment in healing a muscle strain is to reduce pain, swelling, bleeding and secondary tissue damage by utilising PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation). Encouraging circulation, after the acute stage, through gentle massage lymphatic drainage can help recovery. There are three stages to healing a muscle strain: inflammatory, proliferative and remodelling. Inflammatory: this is the body’s reaction to the injury and preparation for the repair phases. The inflammation stage is when the immune system increases circulation to the injury site, with the aim of producing edema (swelling). Pain will be felt at the site, which … Continue reading →

Shin Splints

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Having seen some interesting theories on Shin Splints and what to do about them in recent days, I thought I might write a little about them. There are actually 3 different conditions which are known as shin splints, so its quite useful to be able to differentiate between them. I’ll start scary and get less so as we go through. The first and most scary is stress fracture of the tibia (main weight bearing bone in the leg below the knee). If this happens, get it looked at asap. Stop running. Let it heal. There really isnt much that massage … Continue reading →