Physio, does it really work ?

[Gremlin]

Back in July I suffered extreme pain in my knee, doctor diagnosed torn cartilage and put me on Neproxin,, which I couldn't take due to reactions,
and signed me off work, recommending physio.
Work referred me for physio and TBH it really didn't help at all, if anything it made things worse, I had 6 different exercises to do 3 times a day..
The last lot strained the calf muscle and that it turned aggrevated the knee.
Beginning of October, one of my customers noticed me limping and asked what the problem was, so I told her and she told she had a similar problem due
to a horse riding accident and told me to try this ointment specifically for joints, doesn't contain any drugs.
Three days later and pain has gone, movement is back, 2 weeks later and swelling has gone too and I haven't used the ointment for a week now , no longer need to see the physio
as I have full movement back and hardly any pain.
Why didn't I know about this when it happened

 

[neil_g]

thats a very broad question.

does it work? yes*.

are all physios created equally? no. the NHS physio my OH went to was as much use as a chocolate teapot.

does it work for all types of issues? probably not.

*(my private physio was the only person that manage to diagnose that my pelvis and shoulders were pointed in different directions and managed to get them in line again. the exercises and stretches she gave me also relieved my lower back pain.)

 

[Russ77]

I think a lot depends on the type of injury and the body part affected.

About 10 years ago, I gave myself groin strain playing cricket. Very mild but where I was limping on it I damaged my calf muscle. It didn't hurt too much and as I was due to go on a cricket tour I just took ibuprofen and rubbed deep heat into it.

After playing 6 games in 8 days I noticed my calf was REALLY swollen, to the point that I showed my boss when I went back to work after a week off and he told me to go and see a doctor straight away....... the doctor referred me to the DVT clinic at the hospital who thankfully confirmed it wasn't DVT.

I went to see a physio friend of mine who soon established that I'd torn my calf muscle and rubbing deep heat into it had encouraged it to bleed which is why it was so swollen. I had several sessions of physio on it which helped with the pain and swelling so for this particular injury it helped.

I also had physio after I broke 3 bones in my foot when I was 16 but I think that was more about phasing in proper walking again whilst letting the bones heal.

 

[stevewestern]

Beginning of October, one of my customers noticed me limping and asked what the problem was, so I told her and she told she had a similar problem due
to a horse riding accident and told me to try this ointment specifically for joints, doesn't contain any drugs.

What was the ointment Ingrid ?

 

[munch]

Yes physio works, but not for everybody and not every injury. Add to that the physio will work to what the doctor has told them the problem is. There are also good physios and bad physios, just as there are good and bad patients. By that I mean patients that are told to do certain exercises and not do some other tasks, but do things they are not supposed too and not carry on with exercises they are told to.

 

[Gremlin]

Yes physio works, but not for everybody and not every injury. Add to that the physio will work to what the doctor has told them the problem is. There also good physios and bad physios, just as there are good and bad patients. By that I mean patients that are told to do certain exercises and not do some other tasks, but do thinks they are not supposed too and not carry on with exercises they are told to.

I did have a very good physio guy this time, he read the re[port which wasn't from the doctor as it was a private referral so he only had
what I told them to go on, and knew exactly what it was and where the pain was when he examined it, but despite following his instructions
I found as we moved on a lot of them didn't seem to be aimed at the injured knee for some reason and yes I did question it but it still seemed that each
time thigs improved, the new stuff caused more problems

What was the ointment Ingrid ?

This Steve FLEXISEQ

 

[swiftflo]

Personally I would not pay a physio with rusty washers, I have been on 2 separate occasions and they achieved nothing.

 

[viv1969]

Personally I would not pay a physio with rusty washers, I have been on 2 separate occasions and they achieved nothing.

Two single occasions, or two courses?

I had a rubbish dentist once, does that mean all dentistry is not worth it?

 

[neil_g]

This Steve FLEXISEQ

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/...ry-medicines-for-osteoarthritis/flexiseq.aspx

Personally I would not pay a physio with rusty washers, I have been on 2 separate occasions and they achieved nothing.

as said, not all injuries or physios are created the same. our private physio is massively better than my OH NHS referral physio.

 

[swiftflo]

Two single occasions, or two courses?

I had a rubbish dentist once, does that mean all dentistry is not worth it?

This was 2 courses and please note : This is my personal opinion.

 

[ancient_mariner]

I paid for a course of private physio treatment earlier this year while training for a half marathon. She diagnosed why I has knee pains, gave me exercises to help and also massaged my legs to deal with other muscle issues that had developed. I was able to run my half marathon without injury, although after I stopped getting treatment running became much less comfortable for me.

From this sample of 1 I'd say yes it does.

 

[Cobra]

Following a very serious m/bike accident nearly 35 years ago(nerve & muscle damage) I spent nearly 2 years 2x weekly visits at physio.
They taught me various things, not least re-trained other muscles in my arm to do the work of the "dead" one, building up strength exercises and much more.
My opinion is yes and they were bloody good too!

I still get the odd recurring pain, and it hurts like hell, but thankfully its rare, I used then and still use now, the red Tiger balm, yeah it smells a tad, but its much more effective than taking pain killers,
which in this instance don't do what it says on the box.

 

[ancient_mariner]

I used then and still use now, the red Tiger balm, yeah it smells a tad

Smells like this?

 

[Gremlin]

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/...ry-medicines-for-osteoarthritis/flexiseq.aspx.

and your point is ?
Whatever that research say, it worked for the person that recommended it to me and for me, being pain free and able to sleep at night is
good enough for me

For the record this is the 3rd lot of physio I;ve had, yes whn I broke my elbow it was great, frozen shoulder ........................I'll say no more, just that 2 totally useless
visits and I never went back.
This latest one was ok,but for reasons I won't go into seemed to want to push things along beyond my capabilities and needs

 

[Cobra]

Smells like this?

Nope, worse

 

[Cobra]

Whatever that research say, it worked for the person that recommended it to me and for me, being pain free and able to sleep at night is
good enough for me

And that's exactly the point isn't it? not everyone likes Tiger Balm, but it worked for me when very strong pain killers failed

 

[neil_g]

and your point is ?
Whatever that research say, it worked for the person that recommended it to me and for me, being pain free and able to sleep at night is
good enough for me

my point? not sure I had one other than giving a bit of information about what it was (I googled it as I wondered if it was ibuprofen etc and their site gave hardly any information).

sounds a bit like a placebo personally but if it works then great.

 

[Gremlin]

my point? not sure I had one other than giving a bit of information about what it was (I googled it as I wondered if it was ibuprofen etc and their site gave hardly any information).

sounds a bit like a placebo personally but if it works then great.

You're thinking of that other stuff they advertise on the TV, I did say in the original post that it doesn't contain any drugs

 

[viv1969]

There's a lot to be said for the placebo effect, and that's not a criticism.

 

[Gremlin]

And that's exactly the point isn't it? not everyone likes Tiger Balm, but it worked for me when very strong pain killers failed

Never actually tried, smell puts me off

 

[Comfortably Numb]

I tore the cartilage in my knee, & struggled to walk. I was working for a retired surgeon, at the time, & he had a look & explained the importance of the muscles, around the knee, for holding the whole joint together.

At this point, I decided to concentrate on strenthening those muscles, mainly through cycling. It's made a huge difference to me. I'm back to playing tennis & it meant I didn't need to have the planned surgery. My brother had the surgery & was left with only 15% of the original cartilage, he was told that he was likely to suffer from arthritis, as a result. I'm glad I avoided the knife!

 

[nilagin]

I tore the cartilage in my knee, & struggled to walk. I was working for a retired surgeon, at the time, & he had a look & explained the importance of the muscles, around the knee, for holding the whole joint together.

At this point, I decided to concentrate on strenthening those muscles, mainly through cycling. It's made a huge difference to me. I'm back to playing tennis & it meant I didn't need to have the planned surgery. My brother had the surgery & was left with only 15% of the original cartilage, he was told that he was likely to suffer from arthritis, as a result. I'm glad I avoided the knife!

I haven't cycled in years but jumped a bike at the gym a few weeks bag, just for a change, for about a week after I endured a sharp pain that felt like it was right in the knee cap. Cycling to work years ago, also made my knees ache so I stopped. I used to play a lot of 5 a side football in my late teens and up into my mid twenties and my knees became week from all the sharp twisting and changing of direction and the excessive grip of trainers on a cork floored ball court. Having taken up weight training and doing leg raises to build up the muscles around the knees, I no longer have any trouble from my knees, even when doing heavy squats leg press or deadlifts. Not sure why the cycling makes my knees ache, and even though it doesn't stop me squatting, I'll avoid it just in case it is doing some sort of damage.
Other than once where I had one treatment of deep tissue massage for a shoulder injury, I've always found my own exercises in the gym to work through any injuries.

 

[Cobra]

but jumped a bike at the gym a few weeks bag

So many innuendos so little time

(should there be a comma after weeks BTW? )

 

[nilagin]

So many innuendos so little time

(should there be a comma after weeks BTW? )

Not sure what happened there, should have read

but jumped on a bike at the gym a few weeks back

And yes there is supposed to be a comma after weeks, as extra but irrelevant info, I put "just for a change" inside commas rather than brackets.

 

[Cobra]

Not sure what happened there, should have read
And yes there is supposed to be a comma after weeks, as extra but irrelevant info, I put "just for a change" inside commas rather than brackets.

It reads better if its weeks, bag!

 

[Gremlin]

I tore the cartilage in my knee, & struggled to walk. I was working for a retired surgeon, at the time, & he had a look & explained the importance of the muscles, around the knee, for holding the whole joint together.

At this point, I decided to concentrate on strenthening those muscles, mainly through cycling. It's made a huge difference to me. I'm back to playing tennis & it meant I didn't need to have the planned surgery. My brother had the surgery & was left with only 15% of the original cartilage, he was told that he was likely to suffer from arthritis, as a result. I'm glad I avoided the knife!

I do have a physical job, walk a fair few miles daily, plus in and out of van so yep it seems I do have good muscle in the legs as a whole.
I am hoping that I too can avoid surgery, a friend has just had it done and been told the same, it will probably result in a knee replace op
a few years down the line
Whether this stuff is a just a placebo or not, it's been worth every penny, two and a half weeks down the line I can walk all day again, without any pain,
and even better it doesn't kick in when I rest, so it must be doing some good

 

[nilagin]

Back in July I suffered extreme pain in my knee, doctor diagnosed torn cartilage and put me on Neproxin,, which I couldn't take due to reactions,
and signed me off work, recommending physio.
Work referred me for physio and TBH it really didn't help at all, if anything it made things worse, I had 6 different exercises to do 3 times a day..
The last lot strained the calf muscle and that it turned aggrevated the knee.

What sort of exercises had you been advised to do?

 

[Gremlin]

What sort of exercises had you been advised to do?

The ones a highly qualified sports physio has told me to do and I am not about to get in a long discussion with someone who thinks they know better about what they think I should be doing

 

[nilagin]

The ones a highly qualified sports physio has told me to do and I am not about to get in a long discussion with someone who thinks they know better about what they think I should be doing

Oh blah blah blah.

 

[viv1969]

The ones a highly qualified sports physio has told me to do and I am not about to get in a long discussion with someone who thinks they know better about what they think I should be doing

Is that the same one who allegedly made it worse?

 

[Comfortably Numb]

The ones a highly qualified sports physio has told me to do and I am not about to get in a long discussion with someone who thinks they know better about what they think I should be doing

Does the new medication make you a bit grumpy, Ingrid?

i always think that it's useful to hear what has helped others, in the past. I hope you get the results you need.

 

[tijuana taxi]

In my experience yes, had a bad back injury from an accident at work and the NHS physio I saw got me mobile again. Appointment every day for weeks, but went from being bent over like an old man to a reasonably flexible middle aged man.

No point going if you don't do the exercises, also got three months free at a gym along with a fitness assessment and programme from one of the fitness coaches. Hated it and not for me, much prefer a good walk for my exercise regime, but stuck indoors in a gym, no thanks.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

I haven't cycled in years but jumped a bike at the gym a few weeks bag, just for a change, for about a week after I endured a sharp pain that felt like it was right in the knee cap. Cycling to work years ago, also made my knees ache so I stopped. I used to play a lot of 5 a side football in my late teens and up into my mid twenties and my knees became week from all the sharp twisting and changing of direction and the excessive grip of trainers on a cork floored ball court. Having taken up weight training and doing leg raises to build up the muscles around the knees, I no longer have any trouble from my knees, even when doing heavy squats leg press or deadlifts. Not sure why the cycling makes my knees ache, and even though it doesn't stop me squatting, I'll avoid it just in case it is doing some sort of damage.
Other than once where I had one treatment of deep tissue massage for a shoulder injury, I've always found my own exercises in the gym to work through any injuries.

I did squats too, which was also successful, but I don't think I could have started with them without aggrevating the problem.

Given that we're held together by muscles, it makes sense that strength is always part of the answer.

 

[Gremlin]

Does the new medication make you a bit grumpy, Ingrid?

i always think that it's useful to hear what has helped others, in the past. I hope you get the results you need.

Nope, not using it at the moment, things are fine
I just don't need people telling me what I should be doing when they have no qualifications
except believing that their's is the only way
Been signed off by the the physio due to the vast improvement in both movement and strength

 

[nilagin]

Nope, not using it at the moment, things are fine
I just don't need people telling me what I should be doing when they have no qualifications
except believing that their's is the only way
Been signed off by the the physio due to the vast improvement in both movement and strength

No real point in coming on here and asking if physio really works then as none of us are really "qualified" to answer that then is there. Did you tell your highly qualified physio they were useless and your mobility was regained by other means.
Here's a revelation for you. You don't have to be qualified in something to be able to know about something.

 

[emmisa]

It depends on where exactly you need the therapy