I am not exaggerating when I say those words “amazing physio” – If you find one you are indeed lucky!
In Cambridge I am privileged enough to know some very good sports injury specialists, however I have never before come across a private physio. This year I was referred to an NHS Physio for a hip injury. Everything was taking a huge amount of time to sort out so following my Strong First Course I was referred to Cris Kellet of Progress Health.
I have been so impressed with Cris’s skills that I have asked him to become one of Cambridge Bootcamps supported businesses and thus do a case study for me for the purpose of this blog. I have MANY MANY women complain to me of bad knees which included Andi below..
The main response I hear about my ladies injuries is : “I am too old” “There is no point in fixing this” “Ahh I am used to it there is no point” I did actually inform Cris that these were the main responses and he looked incredulous that women would think they were ‘too old’ to fix something…. So I asked him to do a case study on our Andi to prove that we can always fix things with the right knowledge, patience and proper care 😉
Here is Andi’s case study, and Cris’s details are below. Please do call him if you have ANY issues at all. He is lovely, and a very good therapist.
Andi’s knee:
In late July Andi came to see me after being referred by Charlie at Cambridge Bootcamps. She developed pain in the front of her right knee, and this was aggravated when she did squats and lunges, and even when going up and down stairs. She could run but typically her knee was sore afterwards. It even clicked and occasionally gave way.
Now, pain at the front of the knee (anterior knee pain) is a common problem, especially in runners, and according to some reports accounts for something like 25% of people who see physiotherapists. It can also be called ‘Runner’s Knee’, but this is just a catch-all phrase for people who get knee pain when running, and can be caused by many different tissues. Most commonly it comes from the joint where the knee cap (patella) contacts the thigh bone (femur). In the past we used to think that this was due to weakness in one of the quads muscles, but increasingly I think the knee is the victim of a problem at the hip and/or foot and ankle. For example, I might flatten my foot excessively while running (overpronation), or my knee might turn inwards when I’m standing on one leg (which most of us do several times when we’re running!) because my outer hip muscles are weak. However it happens, the knee cap and surrounding tissues get overloaded and unhappy – ITB friction anyone? Once it’s unhappy it will stay that way unless we stop overloading it.
So, when we first met, I spent most of my time looking at how Andi moved, then looked for any isolated muscle weakness, and finally examined the offending knee to see if there was any instability or potentially damaged tissues. There wasn’t.. only an unhappy patellofemoral joint. So, based on some of the dysfunctions we found, I wrote Andi a simple programme to address the underlying factors. Now, as it happened she had a pretty demanding race coming up, and rather than say NO! (I can be a bit soft sometimes), we taped Andi’s knee (see the picture). I knew Charlie was running with her, and that she would make sure that Andi did things properly.
Next stage will be to incorporate the things that Andi has worked on, and gained control/strength/movement in, back into running. And this will be a gradual process… learning to re-run takes time and effort (mental as well as physical). Watch this space for Andi’s Progress!
Cris
Cristopher Kellett MSc MCSP
Physiotherapy Manager | Head of Rehabilitation
______________________________
Progress | The Cambridge Centre for Health and Performance
Part of Spire Healthcare
Conqueror House
Vision Park
Chivers Way
Histon
Cambridge
CB24 9ZR
Tel 01223 200580
Fax 01223 200581
www.progresshealth.co.uk
Have a lovely day,
Charlie x
http://www.cambridgebootcamps.co.uk
