Impingement or damage to the sciatic nerve at any point along its course can cause symptoms ranging from severe pain radiating down the back of the leg, to pins and needles, numbness, tingling and muscle weakness.

Frozen shoulder tends to spontaneously recover within 12-18 months with movement strongly encouraged during this time. “Hands on” Osteopathic treatment is beneficial to improving mobility and optimizing muscle function. If there is pain but normal active or passive mobility of the joint… it is not a frozen shoulder!

If the affected area is at the base of the spine, the spinal nerve involved will be the sciatic and symptoms including pain, pins and needles, numbness, tingling and weakness, may be felt, usually in one leg.

A slipped disc is fairly uncommon so don’t be alarmed, but suffice to say all back pain should be properly checked out by your Osteopath, or GP, and gentle de-restricting articulation and manipulation can often resolve the pain from stiff and locked up joints, once correctly diagnosed.

Tennis Elbow readily resolves with osteopathic treatment. Sometimes it can be highly effective in only a couple of treatments. Prevention should involve warm-up and cool-down exercises before and after any sporting activity.

Many sports injuries are a result of overuse. Playing too hard too often, e.g. tennis elbow, biceps tendinitis, or from not warming up properly beforehand or from not warming down afterwards.

Reduced flexibility may also affect the degree of performance and could result in injury if the player is unaware that they cannot perform to the same level as they used to. For example, golfers who cannot turn at the waist as well as they used to and older footballers whose knees are now prone to injury from wear and tear.

However, although sports injuries are common, those who are fit tend to recover more quickly and easily from their injuries.

Remember:

1. Begin slowly and build up after an injury.
2. Warm up first and warm down with stretches afterwards.
3. Following an injury, apply ice to the affected area for 10 minutes every hour.

Stretching the muscles in the back of the legs will help to alleviate the pain and speed recovery and ice the area if the inflammation is painful. Appropriate footwear is also essential to help support the foot. Severs is not permanent and will heal in time.

This causes pain, stiffness and occasionally loss of movement of the affected joint(s). The most common of these are weight-bearing joints, such as the hips, knees and spine. Exercise is very important in managing osteoarthritis, firstly because there is no cure as such, and secondly because lack of mobility can cause the surrounding muscles to deteriorate. Keeping active and partaking in regular exercise strengthens these muscles, which in turn provides efficient support for the affected joints. Swimming is especially good since it is an opportunity to exercise without putting more strain on those arthritic joints.

Heel pain in adults has many different causes including heel spur, rheumatoid arthritis, a trauma or fracture. However one of the most common causes is plantar fasciitis where the band of tissue on the bottom of the foot is over-stretched causing pain where it attaches to the heel bone. The pain is often worse first thing in the morning or after rest and this is because at night inflammation build up in the muscular layers of the foot and when we stand up it hurts. After walking for a while, the lymphatic system drains the inflammation away and it is not so painful.

Self help includes icing the area 3 or 4 times a day for 10 minutes duration; friction rub the area with a thumb to break down the thickened tissue; and stretching the calf muscles will take ease the structure under the foot.