Action Harpenden Physiotherapy Clinic

There seems to be a plethora of foot and ankle injuries this summer. At Action Harpenden physiotherapy, we find that the incidence painful foot conditions can rise when people are wearing sandals, flip flops and sliders in the warmer weather. Often faulty, but painless, biomechanical issues in the lower limbs can transition into a painful conditions once there is less support from footwear. The foot is a complex structure, and assessment includes an evaluation of several aspects and interplay between the soft tissue, bones and movement, including individual medical conditions. Specific leg, foot and ankle exercises can strengthen and support and reduce strain on ligaments, tendons and nerves of the foot.
Book to see our physiotherapists at Action Harpenden Physiotherapy for all foot and ankle problems affecting your mobility, including Planter fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, Severs disease, bunions and neuromas.

Persistent back pain. Did you know that low activity levels, poor sleep, low mood, stress and fatigue are factors which rank higher in susceptibility to persistent back pain, than posture.
A good question for your physiotherapist is "How do I to learn and develop new tools to manage my pain?" Integrate the skills your physio teaches you (including movement skills) into managing your pain better.
That’s where good back pain management should be aiming.
Managing persistent spinal pain is a journey. Start this conversation at Action Harpenden Physiotherapy today by emailing [email protected]

Get Ready for the Ski Slopes with Our Physiotherapy Knee and Hip Treatment!
Do you have concerns about previous knee diagnoses such as meniscal or cruciate injuries, chondromalacia patellae or knee cap pain? Then this medically proven, physio-led approach and trusted advice could be for you. More details here:

Get Ready for the Ski Slopes! - Action Harpenden Physiotherapy Get Ready for the Slopes with Our Physiotherapy Knee and Hip Treatment! At Action Harpenden Physiotherapy, we understand the thrill of conquering the mountains. That’s why we offer a comprehensive knee and hip treatment program tailored for skiers, ensuring you’re at your peak performance this s...

My son bumped his head, whipping down the zip wire in the park this week.
Having two young teens playing hockey, rugby and lacrosse, that head bump triggered a reminder to me to have some baseline testing for concussion before the school term kicks off. This gives a preseason baseline test reference for concussion using the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool. Further considerations in interpreting the tool, needs to be made for children with neurodivergence:

Influence of Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders on Cognitive and Symptom Profiles: Considerations for Baseline Sport Concussion Assessment - PubMed Results elucidate patterns of baseline performance for athletes with ASD, demonstrating that there may not be significant differences between ASD and healthy controls on four of the five ImPACT composites, and no symptom reporting differences. Cognitive and symptom differences found for other NDs sh...

Absolute fan of this top Physio, Peter O’Sullivan, and other pain scientists like him, who are shaking up old and outdated concepts of back pain, and filling in with evidence based information.
Here is one on the myths of good posture:

Is slouching bad for your back? | The Project NZ For ages, bad posture has been blamed for back pain. But now a physiotherapist is among international experts who are now questioning that logic. ➡️ SUBSCRIB...

At the England Open Trials Under 16 boys this week. Not quite the weather you would expect in August! ☁️☁️
Taking the warm-ups and cools down/stretch:
My dynamic warm-up check list:
✅jog
✅pelvic/hip mobility
✅spinal mobility
✅depth and range in joint movements
✅plyometrics
✅directional change
✅graduated pace increase

We believe that anybody playing sport with a contact risk like hockey, netball, football and rugby, should have a preseason concussion test, which would act as a baseline in the event of a head injury.
For more information on this service, text a physio “pre-concussion test” to 07803403443

Players told to 'sit it out' under new concussion guidance New guidance for grassroots sport says concussed players will be advised not to work or drive a car.

So what does physio mum actually know? Apparently a 4th ankle sprain for my son…..😳.
Advice falling on deaf ears?
Factors: Flat feet, importance of good foot wear, tie up your shoe laces, rapid growth phase and necessity for stretch : blah blah blah……

Take the horse to the water…..saying comes to mind.

Karate grading tomorrow, and with some pretty regimented strapping of the ankle, underneath white straps for stability and an overlay of brown strapping tape for compression to contain the swelling, we might just get away with it. 🤞

Mum/physio despair, and of course this boy is a super star 🤩in so many other ways….and life must carry on, right ……..

Just enjoying the last day of pitch side care for Hockey juniors. It might be spring, but I can’t ditch the gloves just yet, when standing outside for hours! Thinking about the implications of RED-S, an energy deficiency seen in both male and female athletes👉🏼
https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2019/04/22/relative-energy-deficiency-in-sport-red-s-recognition-and-next-steps/

England Hockey Under-18 boys assessment, at the fabulous grounds of Lilleshall National Sports Centre.
As ever, a great weekend, challenging both the players and the support team to reach for their best. It’s so much more than just sport…..

Back pain. Did you know that low activity levels, poor sleep, low mood, stress and fatigue are factors which rank higher in susceptibility to back pain, than posture.
A good question for your physiotherapist is how to develop tools to manage these factors and integrate the skills your physio teaches you (including movement skills) into managing your pain better.
That’s where good back pain management should be aiming.

Eventful day in Volleyball at the British Universities and College’s Sports at Nottingham university. Relieved to have advance sports trauma care equipment at hand.👇🏼
And medals to celebrate the finals 🏆🥇🥈

Looking forward to providing physiotherapy cover and trauma care at the British Universities and Colleges Sport championship finals at Nottingham University this week. https://www.bucs.org.uk

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) We are the National Governing Body of university sport in the United Kingdom. Our mission is simple - create the best university sport experience in the world.

Feeling relieved to have passed my test last week, which enables me to directly refer for diagnostic imaging. Revisiting physics, understanding ionising radiation, weighing up exposure risk versus benefit, and appreciating the clinical limitations of the various imaging modalities, processing the advancements in medical technology, certainly had the cogs in my brain turning.
I can now directly refer for X-rays, MRI, ultrasound imaging, with the confidence that my decision is in the best interest of the patient.

Sport improves academic progress in children - Action Harpenden Physiotherapy The benefits of sport for children go beyond the physical benefits. Sport benefits the mind, and emotional well-being, and this information is now backed by a strong evidence from the research study by Cambridge University of over 4000 students. The study found that overall, children who do more phy...

Menopause. Hormone deficiency resulting from menopause can affect musculoskeletal symptoms (for example, joint and muscle pain). Learning is a lifelong process, and every therapist- patient interaction is part of my learning process.

Here is what I have learnt today from Dr Louise Newson, a GP and menopause specialist:

• Menopause is a hormone deficiency, and there is safe, low-cost, effective treatment available, and everybody should know about this and have access to it, should they wish.
• Around 1 in 100 women under 40 years in the UK have an early menopause and need HRT
• Women having periods can still be given HRT
• Women can take HRT indefinitely (there is no maximum age for taking HRT)
• There are huge gender inequalities in healthcare provision. The menopause is a life event and affects more than half the population.
• Women should be signposted to evidence-based and unbiased information about their menopause and its management.

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG23
https://thebms.org.uk
https://www.balance-menopause.com

Menopause | Symptoms, Treatment & Help | Balance by Dr Louise Newson By making menopause support inclusive and accessible to all, we can change the narrative by educating and empowering people across the world! Discover more.

What happens when you have a grade 2 sprain of your ankle, 20 mins after the school bell rings for start of October half term, but you can’t wait to get back onto the badminton court?……Day 1: strapped for support and compression, protection from weight bearing, icing. Day 3-4: specific stretching, football camps cancelled (pumpkin carving allowed🎃)….. Day 4:gradual loading, Day 8 : fiercely competing on court with sibling (continued rehab still required!)

Absolutely love this place. Two days at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, with an amazing team for England Hockey juniors camp. 2 days was too short.

I am here in Birmingham, waiting for my interview, hoping to join the Commonwealth Games 2022 Medical team. Remembering my time at the Games in Glasgow, 2014. How time has flown. I am reflecting on how much I have learnt from my patients experiences.

https://www.birmingham2022.com

Home of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Keep up to date with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with medal tables, games schedule, volunteer jobs and tickets.

We are delighted to welcome Jael Muzzi to our physiotherapy team.
Jael's professional experience working in renowned clinics in London has provided her a vast knowledge in various treatment methods which include manual therapy techniques and exercise rehabilitation. Jael’s passion is tailoring each treatment session to the individual, enabling patients to achieve their health goals as effectively and enjoyably as possible.
Jael is empathetic to how debilitating an injury can be and so takes a keen interest in assisting individuals back to physical activity.

“Whether you are suffering from an arthritic knee joint or cannot seem to shake off that niggling shoulder injury, I use exercise rehabilitation as an essential part over the course of your treatment. Alongside manual therapy techniques, your bespoke exercise program aims to optimise your well being as well as a return to function and activity. Rehabilitation exercises not only get you stronger and more mobile, but strengthening your joints, muscles and tendons also reduces pain and stiffness.”

Feeling chuffed to be providing physiotherapy support at the Diploma in Sporting Excellence Hockey camp, in Lilleshall, at the end of this month. Working with England Hockey 🏑 is challenging and rewarding at the same time. Quick thinking and re-thinking will be a definite requirement, balancing advice for the here-and-now, with longer term advice on injury prevention. https://www.englandhockey.co.uk/play/the-player-pathway/diploma-in-sporting-excellence

Diploma In Sporting Excellence The Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme is a government funded scheme to support young hockey players in full time education

I am feeling very fortunate to be able to provide physiotherapy cover at the School Games National Finals 2021 at Loughborough University in September, given all the challenges sport has faced this year. Interesting fact: In the Women’s Hockey team, 4 of the 16 athletes competing at Tokyo were School Games alumni. https://www.schoolgamesfinals.org

Congratulations to our Tokyo 2020 alumni | 2021 School Games The 2021 School Games National Finals, is a major multi-sport event for talented young athletes across the UK taking place from Thursday 2 - Sunday 5 September.

When is a diagnostic label in medicine useful? Does a meniscal “tear” mean you can or can’t recover without surgery? Does “bursitis” mean you need a steroid injection or not? There are times when giving a problem a label can be detrimental. The label can influence how the person subsequently responds. It may lead them to believe they are fragile, and need to overprotect themselves, and avoid movement, or need invasive treatment. These Australians have clearly outlined the risks in medical, diagnostic labels. Clinicians need to spend more time explaining what a label does mean - and doesn’t mean. Always remember-words can hurt.
https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2021/05/06/bjsports-2021-103998

Peeling off musculoskeletal labels: sticks and stones may break my bones, but diagnostic labels can hamstring me forever Overdiagnosis in healthcare is a problem. A big one. Clinicians are skilled at labelling people in ways that do not necessarily benefit them. Too often we create harms from unnecessary labels and subsequent treatments that waste healthcare resources. Learning from Preventing Overdiagnosis conference...

There are some parts of today's medical approach which don't work very well for certain conditions. One of those being persistent pain. Today, I attended a webinar "Naughty or NICE: chronic pain guidelines and their implications".
NICE refers to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, who produce guidelines which influence decision making for clinicians. Guidelines for management of chronic pain have recently been reviewed.
I liked the idea of shifting our thinking from "what's the matter with me?" to "what matters to me", and using that as a way of focusing on achieving better outcomes for patients. This infographic explains it.

Second Covid vaccination done, and got the badge!

The science of pain is fascinating. Changing perceptions about what pain is, why we feel it, and how to respond to it, is a mammoth task. Covid has shown how hard it is to change perceptions and bust myths on public health topics. I can't wait to attend this course by these truly amazing pain scientists from Australia. https://youtu.be/aWvvtO0b2Mw

MasterSessions 2021 | Powered by Noigroup This MasterSession featuring Lorimer Moseley and special guests, aims to bring these discoveries to life in a practically applicable way. Contemporary learni...

Covid has certainly made us look in different places for inspiration. Today, I have been inspired by this incredible account of how an 87 year old is getting through lockdown. We are getting there......Dickie Bird on shielding through the Covid-19 lockdown https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-56367857

Shielding alone 'a real fight', says Dickie Bird The Yorkshire icon and former cricket umpire has shielded on his own for nearly a year.