What is the labrum of the shoulder?
 
The shoulder is a remarkably mobile joint, however this flexibility comes with the cost of less stability. The glenohumeral joint, where the upper arm meets with the shoulder blade is a ball and socket type joint. The surface area of the ‘socket’ part of the joint (the glenoid fossa) is much smaller than the ball part of the joint (the head of the humerus). A fibro-cartilaginous ring called a labrum surrounds the edge of the glenoid fossa which acts to increase both the depth and width of the fossa. 
 
This labrum provides increased stability and is also the attachment for a part of the biceps muscle via a long tendon. The labrum can provide flexibility and stability that a larger glenoid fossa might not be able to, however being a soft structure it is prone to tearing which can be problematic. 

​What causes the labrum to tear?
 
The most common way the labrum is torn is through a fall onto an outstretched arm or through repetitive overhead activities such as throwing or painting, as the repeated stress on the labrum can cause it to weaken and tear. 
 
Suspected labral tears can be diagnosed in a clinic by your physiotherapist through a series of tests, however, an MRI is usually required to fully confirm the presence of a labral tear. Labral tears are classified into different grades, which are determined by their location and severity. This grading is used as a guide to help determine the correct treatment. 
 
What are the symptoms of a labral tear?
 
A labral tear is often associated with other injuries, such as a rotator cuff tear, which can make the clinical picture a little confusing. Commonly there will be pain in the shoulder that is difficult to pinpoint and the pain will be aggravated by overhead and behind the back activities.
 
 Severe labral tears can lead to instability and can also be related to dislocations of the shoulder. 
 
How Can Physiotherapy Help?
 
The severity and grade of the labral tear will guide treatment. Smaller tears can be treated with physiotherapy that is aimed at increasing strength and control of the shoulder. Other tears may require surgical repair after which physiotherapy is an important part of treatment to rehabilitate the shoulder.  

A serious injury of the knee is a tearing of the ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). This ligament is  important for stability of the knee and may need to be repaired surgically. The primary function of the ACL is to keep the bottom surface of the knee joint from sliding forwards during movement. An unrepaired knee may feel unstable or give way suddenly.
 
Not all ACL injuries require surgery and some may heal well with proper rehabilitation, however for those who do need surgery, there is a significant rehabilitation period afterwards.

What does the surgery consist of?
 
Each surgeon will have a slightly different technique for surgery. The most common approach is the arthroscopic approach, which uses a small camera and allows the surgeon to make only small incisions into the knee. They will then replace the torn ligament with either a graft from a tendon or ligament at another part of the body or using a synthetic graft.
 
How long does rehabilitation take?
 
Full rehabilitation following surgery can take 9 to 12 months and is divided into different stages. As surgeons can have different protocols for their approaches to surgery, time frames will vary for everyone. 
 
Initially after surgery, the graft will be quite weak while a new blood supply is being established. It can take up to 12 weeks before the graft is at its strongest point and evidence suggests that it may never have the strength of the original ligament.
 
In the early stages, rehabilitation will be focused on restoring movement to the joint and strengthening the muscles around the knee without putting any undue stress on the graft.
 
As the graft begins to heal and strengthen, rehabilitation can progress to include stability and control exercises and gradually build up to a complex program that prepares the knee for a full return to sport.
 
The path to full rehabilitation from a knee reconstruction can be a long and bumpy one, however, there are high success rates with this surgery, particularly when followed up with full physiotherapy rehabilitation.

The knees function as hinges, allowing your legs to swing forwards and backwards smoothly as you walk, kick and run. The knee cap (the patella) sits at the front of the knee and has a variety of functions, including guiding the muscles that straighten the knee, protecting the knee joint and absorbing forces when the knee is bent. When something goes wrong and the patella doesn’t glide up and down smoothly, the soft tissue between the kneecap and the knee can become irritated, causing pain. This is called patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), sometimes also referred to as PFJ syndrome, patella maltracking or runner's knee.
 
Pain is usually felt on the inside of the kneecap when running, squatting, jumping, bending, using stairs or hopping. Sitting for long periods of time or keeping your knees bent can also result in pain. 

What Causes It?
 
The patella sits in a shallow groove at the front of the knee and usually moves up and down as the knee bends and straightens without too much trouble. The quadriceps muscles located at the front of the thigh contract and pull on the kneecap, which then attaches to the shin bone and acts to straighten the knee. If one side of the quadriceps is stronger or tighter than the other, it can cause the kneecap to pull more to one side and over time become irritated. 

The cause of muscle imbalance or weakness can be varied. In general, the outer muscles of the thigh tend to be stronger and tighter than the inner muscles. If you have poor posture and hip position, this can cause the outer muscles to work harder and the inside muscles to become weaker. Lack of arch support in your feet or a physical anomaly of the knees can also contribute to this condition.
 
How Can Physiotherapy Help?
 
Diagnosing patellofemoral pain syndrome correctly is important because pain on the inside of the knee can also be caused by other injuries, dislocations, inflammation, arthritis and a variety of other less common conditions. With that in mind, it is helpful to know that your physiotherapist can diagnosis PFPS accurately and identify its likely causes.
 
Whether it is due to poor posture, a lack of arch support in your feet, or poor running technique, your physiotherapist will assess the problem and provide a specific treatment program to best approach your condition. PFPS usually responds well to biomechanical analysis and correction of any muscular weakness and imbalance. Having the correct shoes and orthotics can also make a huge difference. There are some short-term treatments, such as patella taping, dry needling, massage, trigger point therapy and ultrasound, which may help alleviate symptoms quickly and keep you active while you address the other factors contributing to your pain.
 
In the rare case that your condition is not helped by physiotherapy, surgery may be considered as a last resort. For more information, please  ask your physiotherapist.

There is no doubt that the human body can be resilient. The body is capable of recovering from amazing amounts of damage, including broken bones. Perhaps because of this, some people feel that physiotherapy treatment can only speed up recovery and if they are not elite athletes then simply letting nature take its course is the best, most cost-effective choice for them. 
 
Speed of recovery, however, is only one small measure of physiotherapy success and fails to fully represent how important proper treatment is. Here are a few things about injury healing you may not have been aware of.

1. Scar Tissue is more likely to form without treatment. 
Scar tissue can cause ongoing pain and stiffness in your tissues. Physiotherapy can prevent excess scarring through advice regarding movement, massage and other hands-on treatment. 
 
2. Your ability to sense the position of your body, known as proprioception, is often damaged after an injury and can be retrained.  
Impaired proprioception is a major factor in reinjury. If you’ve ever heard someone say “my knee/ankle/shoulder still doesn’t feel 100%” then this could be why. Physiotherapy treatment will aim to restore proprioception as a part of your rehabilitation. 
 
3. Once healing has finished, your body may not be quite the same as before.  
Injured ligaments may be weaker, damaged muscles and joints may be stiffer and tighter. While the original pain may resolve, there may still be some residual issues that need to be addressed to prevent reinjury. 
 
4. You may have picked up some bad habits while waiting for the injury to heal.  
While in pain we often change the way we do things, which can lead to the development of poor movement patterns and muscle imbalances. Even though the pain has gone, these new patterns can persist and create further problems down the road. 
 
5. Injuries don’t always heal completely. 
On occasion, circumstances may prevent an injury from healing fully. The most serious example of this would be a fracture that cannot heal if the bone is not kept still enough. Other factors that may prevent an injury from healing include poor circulation, diabetes, insufficient care of the injury and poor nutrition. Your physiotherapist can guide you on the best path to a more complete recovery from any injury.

Back pain is such a common experience that it is estimated up to 80% of adults will have at least one severe episode of lower back pain in their lifetime. 
     
For many people, the pain quickly resolves and things go back to normal. However the first time this happens to you it can be scary, particularly as severe pain can occur suddenly and without warning. 
 
Statistics however are on your side. Most of the time, acute low back pain resolves without consequence and doesn’t recur. If you happen to be in the middle of an episode though, here are a few tips to help you get through.

1. Avoid heavy lifting

 
While this may seem obvious, there are a few people who will always try to push through the pain. The expression "no pain, no gain" is in many cases outdated and if your work requires heavy lifting, it is more than reasonable to take a few days off. 
 
2. Avoid too much rest.
 
On the other hand, lying in bed all day is bad for you as well. If you have severe back pain, gentle movement under the advice of a physiotherapist is much better for you than complete rest. 
 
3. Avoid long car or plane trips
 
If possible, now is the time to avoid long distance travel. If you absolutely must travel, speak to your physiotherapist about how to manage your pain during the trip. 
 
4. Avoid listening to horror stories
 
There are always stories about pain that never went away, requiring surgery, which only made it worse. While worst case scenarios can happen, they are rare, and being fearful can negatively impact your recovery. That terrible story is probably not going to happen to you and hearing these stories is only going to worry you and make you feel worse!
 
5. Avoid delaying treatment
 
While your pain may go away on its own, it is important to have a professional assess your condition to screen for any serious injuries and advise you on how to best manage your pain while you are getting better. They can also help you recover as quickly as possible, as well as give you advice on how to avoid future episodes.
 
6.   Don’t expect a miracle cure
 
Back pain is complicated and a single treatment that works for everyone simply does not exist. It is important to follow the directions of your therapist and work with them to set reasonable and realistic goals for your recovery. 
 
None of the information in this article is a replacement for proper medical advice. Always see a medical professional for advice on your individual injury. 

What is a stress fracture?

A stress fracture is a microscopic fracture of the bone that is often not picked up on X-ray. If left untreated, a stress fracture can cause significant disability and develop into a full fracture, possibly even requiring surgery.
​
The majority of stress fractures occur in the lower limb, being particularly common in the hip, shins and foot at points where the most force passes through when weight bearing. Most stress fractures are overuse injuries and are common in long distance runners.

What are the symptoms?

As with many overuse injuries, the pain of a stress fracture starts gradually, beginning with pain during or after activity or sometimes the morning after. If activity continues without modification, the pain will gradually increase. Eventually most people are unable to maintain their usual activity level. Stress fractures are common in runners and military personnel who are required to march for long periods. A stress fracture will be more likely to occur in a person who has weaker bone strength, such as someone with osteoporosis, which is itself affected by many factors such as adequate calcium intake, vitamin D deficiency and a history of inactivity.

How are stress fractures treated and how long will it take to get better?

Stress fractures can easily be mistaken for other conditions such as shin splints. As the fracture is often too small to show up on X-ray, definitive diagnosis can be made using MRI, CT or bone scan.

After diagnosis, the most important part of treatment will be resting the area to allow the bone to heal before resuming activity. Stress fractures usually need at least 6 weeks to recover fully. Some areas of the body have poor blood supply, which makes healing more complicated.  For example, stress fractures of the navicular bone of the foot may need to be kept still and placed in a boot or cast for a period of time to heal properly.

Other aspects of treatment will involve correcting any factors that contributed to the original injury. There is some evidence that unsupportive footwear is a risk factor, along with poor biomechanics and weak muscles that provide inadequate support to the skeletal system during activity. Speak to your physiotherapist if you suspect you may have a stress fracture or if you want to know more.

Your physiotherapist has a wide variety of skills and can help you with so much more than just pain and injury. Here are a few reasons to visit your physiotherapist that can keep you healthy and pain-free, before injury strikes...

Stiffness and Inflexibility
 
Almost all of us have experienced pain and stiffness after a day of increased or unaccustomed exercise. This kind of stiffness usually wears off quickly and is referred to as DOMS (delayed onset muscles soreness). However, if you find yourself feeling stiff for more extended periods, or even most of the time – it might be time to see a physio. There are many different causes of stiffness and inflexibility. By far the most common is lack of movement. Our joints and muscles both lose flexibility if not moved through their range regularly. Muscle stiffness can feel like a tightness with a bouncy feeling of restriction, and joint stiffness can create a harder ‘blocked’ feeling when you try to move. 
 
When it comes to stiffness that evolves from lack of movement, you may not even notice that you have lost range, as it can be easy to adapt your movements to compensate. Your physiotherapist can help you to identify where you have areas of inflexibility and help you to exercise, stretch and mobilise your joints to get them back to a healthy range. Disease processes such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis can also cause prolonged stiffness, and your physiotherapist is well equipped to help you deal with these conditions. 
 
Reduced Strength or Weakness
 
There are many possible reasons for weakness in the body, from generalised disuse, weakness in one muscle group following an injury, neurological weakness or structural weakness of joint following a ligament tear. Musculoskeletal deficiency of any kind can predispose you to future injuries and are difficult to resolve without targeted exercises. Your physio can determine the cause of your weakness and prescibe the best treatment to restore your strength. 
 
Reduced Balance
 
Keeping your balance is a complicated process and your body works hard to make sure you stay on your feet. Humans have a small base of support for our height and we use all our senses together to determine which movements we should make to stay upright, including our visual, vestibular, muscular and sensory systems. As balance is essential for walking, if one system that supports our balance begins to weaken, the others will quickly compensate, so you may not notice that your balance has worsened until you fall or trip over unexpectedly. 
 
As a general rule balance deteriorates as we get older, but this doesn't mean that falling should be an inevitable part of aging. Actively working to maintain or improve your balance can have a significant effect on your quality of life and confidence in getting around. Your physiotherapist is able to test all aspects of your balance and provide effective rehabilitation to help keep you on your feet.

Tendons, the connective tissues that join muscles to bone are known for being notoriously difficult to treat once injured. The reason for this is that often they are injured through stress or overuse, and compared to muscles they can have relatively poor blood flow, which is essential for healing. 
 
Tendons and muscles work together to move your joints and together are called a contractile unit. As muscles are exercised and gain strength, the attaching tendons are also placed under tension and adapt to this to become stronger. If the load placed on the tissues exceeds their capacity, the tendon fibres can begin to break down and become stiff and painful. 

Is my pain related to a tendon injury?
 
For an accurate diagnosis, you will need to be assessed by a physiotherapist. However, some signs that your pain might be coming from an in issue with a tendon are; 
 
· The pain is quite specific and can be felt over the tendon itself; 
· The pain is worse when under stress and improves when rested; 
· The pain improves after exercise has started, but it might be worse once you cool down; 
· The area around the tendon may feel stiff after periods of rest, particularly in the morning. 
 
How are tendon injuries treated?
 
When it comes to recovery, tendons are often treated differently to other injuries. While each tendon injury is unique and will require assessment and intervention by a physiotherapist, there are a few general approaches that usually help with all tendon injuries.  
 
Reducing your activity to a comfortable level is the first step to recovery. Complete rest can actually delay healing as the tendon simply becomes weaker and less able to cope with subsequent loads. Your physiotherapist can provide you with a targeted exercise program to aid your recovery. Eccentric exercises, which are exercises that work alongside gravity, have been shown to stimulate tendon healing and strength.
 
Stretching may aggravate your injury and should be used with caution. Assessment of any biomechanical faults or stresses that are placing undue load on the tendon is also a central component of treatment. Your physiotherapist is able to guide you with your recovery and return to sport to avoid aggravating any injury.