Handy tips for the graduating Physiotherapist

November 11, 2015 by Sian Smale

Being a physiotherapist is a wonderful career and it is a profession I am truely passionate about. It wasn't always the case. I've been lucky to have meet some incredible and inspiring people throughout my career, who have guided my journey and given me tips. This blog is my advice to graduating physiotherapists on ways to manage your new job, get the most out of what you do, and hopefully find a workplace that allows you to grow and develop into the Physiotherapist you wish to become.

Painful Plica - do they exist?

November 03, 2015 by Sian Smale

The medial plica was first mentioned in 1555 by Vesalius and was named at that time the ligament mucosum. What we know now is that the synovial plicas are remnants from embryonic development which is formed around 9-12 weeks. It exists in about 90% of knees and during our assessment of the knee we are encouraged to consider the plica as a source of anteromedial knee pain in our differential diagnosis. This blog is a review of the anatomy and clinical presentation of the painful plica syndrome.

Patella Tendinopathy & the 4-stage management program for 'Jumper's knee'

October 29, 2015 by Sian Smale

Let's continue to learn about the management of tendinopathy and this week look at the 4-stage management plan for patella tendinopathy presented by Malliaras, Cook, Purdam & Rio (2015). I've learnt so much about isometric exercises, isotonic loading, energy storage and release and return to sport from these amazing authors.

Treatment of Achilles tendinopathy with combined loading programs

October 22, 2015 by Sian Smale

Eccentric muscle strengthening has become the primary conservative management approach for Achilles tendinopathy and popularized by the Alfredson program, however up to 45% of patients do not respond to this approach. Other loading programs such as Silbernagel-combined loading program incorporates eccentric-concentric, eccentric and then faster loading. The purpose of this blog is to review this combined loading program in the treatment of Achilles Tendinopathy.

A review of the continuum of tendon pathology

October 16, 2015 by Sian Smale

The aim of this blog is to explore one landmark article in particular published in 2009 titled "Is tendon pathology a continuum? A pathology model to explain the clinical presentation of load-induced tendinopathy". Cook proposes that from the new research on tendon pathology there are three main phases of the process; reactive tendinopathy, tendon dysrepair, and degenerative tendinopathy.

Hip: Retraining mobility & dynamic motor control in Pilates

October 14, 2015 by Sian Smale

Recently I published a blog about current approaches to treating chronic pain and in that blog I discussed the Explain Pain approach to managing pain and used my personal story of chronic hip pain as an example. This blog is a follow up post to outline what current rehab I am completing for my hip. It is not a program for acute hip pain but an outline of long-term rehab goals. It is a fusion of Pilates, Yoga, Functional strengthening and more physio-centric exercises. We all know the initial exercises for restoring function at a joint in the acute phase of injury, however when thinking about managing the regions above and below that joint, I would encourage you to use exercises that link these regions rather than addressing them in isolation. Everything is connected to everything.