As a physiotherapist, I treat many children with different pain conditions, so when I came across a journal article published in the journal Nursing Children and Young People titled "Factors Influencing Pain Management in Children", I was keen to have a read. The article discusses an essential aspect of paediatric care, which is the management of pain in children. 

Every child will experience an ankle or knee injury sustained while playing sports quite differently. Although the diagnosis or type of injury may be the same, each child may present with very different levels of pain and dysfunction. As such, all healthcare providers must understand what factors can impact how a child feels after an injury and how this may affect their treatment and recovery. 

My patients often ask me the differences between a Physiotherapist and an Exercise Physiologist (EP).

A runner's body is subject to much wear and tear: The longer and faster the runs, the greater the wear and tear over time.

Our muscles seem to deal with most of the wear and tear, which over time, can lead to muscle imbalance, pain and reduced running efficiency.

An example of muscle imbalance may start with a weak gluteus medius resulting in overactivity of the upper gluteus maximus, tensor fasciae latae, and lateral quadriceps muscles. Such muscle imbalance may lead to knee pain (patellofemoral pain syndrome) and possibly patellar tendinopathy. The overactive muscles themselves may also become painful due to the development of myofascial trigger points.

Last week I was lifting something heavy and awkward and felt a tweak just below my right elbow. Over the next few hours, I experienced pain and weakness on lifting and gripping activities involving my right hand as well as tenderness over the muscle which runs from just above the outer elbow to the back of the hand, the extensor carpi radialis longus.

What you eat has a massive impact on your brain’s health. Good dietary choices can protect you against severe neurological diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s. But eating well doesn’t just help improve your long-term health – it can also make you sharper, more balanced and happier.

Author Max Lugavere has developed The Genius Plan, which starts with a 14-day period in which you focus on eliminating brain-toxic foods like sugar, processed oils and grain products. Reducing your consumption of these types of foods will reduce long-term brain inflammation.

Brain inflammation can cause all sorts of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s, ALS and Parkinson’s, anxiety, depression, lethargy and reduced cognitive functioning.

• Fatigue
• Shortness of Breath (dyspnoea)
• Headaches, confusion, or seizures
• Reduced concentration or "brain fog."
• Joint or muscle pain
• Chest Pain or tightness
• Cough
• Loss of Smell (anosmia)

• Corrective breathing techniques and home exercises 
• Activity pacing 
• Cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility exercise programmes
• Diet and nutrition information and education resources
• Medical acupuncture to support the function and recovery of the immune system and help ease muscle and joint pain. For more information, please click here
• Manual therapy to help alleviate muscle tension and assist in improving joint mobility

Manual therapy is a term used to describe most techniques Chartered Physiotherapists do mainly with their hands. These are techniques physiotherapists learn at university and requires a lot of practice to perform correctly and effectively.

You are doing high-intensity spinning classes, three to four times a week, you feel pretty good afterwards. Why?...because you have triggered a physically induced stress response, you have taken your body into the red zone, the fight or flight state. Your body releases adrenaline, cortisol, endorphins and insulin which, like some magic mix cocktail, leave you buzzing....like you might after having outrun a sabre-toothed tiger with eyes on you for lunch.

We treat many cases of adhesive capsulitis, a.k.a 'frozen shoulder' each year. It is an unpleasant, painful and tricky condition but usually responds very well to an integrated physiotherapy treatment approach.

The stiff and painful frozen shoulder is usually due to an inflammatory reaction of the sub-synovial tissue that results in capsular (the elastic tissue that holds the top of the arm bone in the shoulder socket) and synovial thickening and often accompanied by rotator cuff tendon inflammation (1). Women over the age of 50 years are more likely to develop this condition (2).