Knee and leg pain
There are many conditions that can cause pain in the knee and lower limb. Often these are due to injury, overuse or postural compensations. Many different tissues can be affected including muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, joints, meniscus, bursae, nerves and bones. The pain can also be referred from the back and hips so it is important to carry out an examination of all of these areas.
Pain around the knee is common in young adolescents who play a lot of sport or who have sudden growth spurts. It is particularly important for these individuals to seek support from a trained therapist in order to manage the condition and prevent injury.
Pelvic and hip pain
This covers the section of the body including the hips, buttocks, sacrum (very bottom of the spine in the pelvic region), groin and pubic area. Tissues and conditions that often cause pain here include:
Hip osteoarthritis; Trochanteric bursitis; Sacro-iliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction (at the back of the pelvis); Pelvic girdle pain (PGP), also known as Symphysis pubis disorder (SPD); and pain from soft tissues like muscles, bursae, ligaments and tendons, including the gluteal or piriformis muscles (in the buttocks), hamstrings, psoas and adductor muscles (at the front of the pelvis/groin area) and the ilio-tibial band (ITB). Pain can also be referred from the lower back or organs, or caused by a peripheral nerve disorder (pressing on the nerves as they travel around the body) such as in piriformis syndrome.
For all of these areas I carry out the relevant orthopaedic, neurological and 'special' tests in order to identify the tissue causing the symptoms.