Samanthawhitereflexology

26/12/2024

Ziggy, blond cardigan corgi has gone missing from Eland Road, Battersea SW11, please please if you see her, contact me on 07713886693

18/12/2024

Gravy on its way!

09/10/2024

25/03/2023

06/01/2023

🔊 KNEE PAIN? IT CAN BE PATELLA MALTRACKING

Patella maltracking is one of the main causes of knee problems, so it’s important to understand why it occurs. If you have general knee problems, this brief guide will help clarify exactly what patella maltracking is and how it might be responsible for your pain. We will explain what the patella is, why it tracks incorrectly and the problems this can cause, as well as briefly touch on what can be done to relieve pain.

What is the patella?
The patella is what most people know as the kneecap. It is the point highlighted green in the picture. The movements of areas of the whole body can have an impact on the way the patella tracks over the knee, so the movement of the kneecap can point to different problems. In the immediate area around the knee, we are most concerned with the impact of these quadricep muscles.

What is patella maltracking?
Patella maltracking is an imbalance problem. The muscles in the upper thigh, the vastus medialis (inside) and vastus lateralis (outside) pull on the patella tendon in different directions. If one side is tighter than the other, it will pull the patella out of balance. Demonstrated with this simple diagram, the patella should ideally run smoothly down the middle of the groove between the condyles (the two sides) of the femur, at the end of your thigh bone.

In most cases of patella maltracking, the lateral (outer) quad is overactive and stronger than the medial (inner) quad, which is weak and underused. In these cases, the patella gets pulled out of the groove, to the side, and rubs against the femur, and this is what causes the pain you feel.

When the outer quad is especially tight, it can even pull the patella out of the joint and cause a dislocation. To tackle patella maltracking, therefore, you have to address the tightening of the muscle and the strength imbalance.

What causes the muscle tightness?
There are a number of reasons that the patella movement can become imbalanced, but muscle tightness is caused by an imbalance in strength or through muscles being overworked or used incorrectly. The muscle tightness stemming from improper muscle use comes from an evolutionary survival mechanism. When the muscle is overworked, there is a risk that it will tear and be damaged. In order to prevent this, the body sends impulses for the muscle to contract and avoid overstraining. This contraction forms a permanent knot in the muscle, which shortens the muscle. The shortened muscles then pulls tighter on the joint, causing it to feel stiff. The stiff feeling makes you want to avoid using the joint.

The corrective measures made by your body are well-intentioned, as they may prevent you from performing seriously harmful actions, but these warning signs leave lasting stiffness in the body. The muscle knots causing this stiffness can be removed manually. If you remove the knot, the muscle can be restored to its full length, preventing tightness and alleviating the pain. You can do this, simply, by massaging the knot. This breaks it down, switching off the nervous impulse and releasing the waste products caught in the knot. It also restores blood-flow to the muscle.

24/10/2022

🔈 SURFACE ANATOMY OF FOOT

The tendons in the ankle region can be identified satisfactorily only when their muscles are acting. If the foot is actively inverted, the tendon of the tibialis posterior may be palpated as it passes posterior and distal to the medial malleolus, then superior to the sustentaculum tali, to reach its attachment to the tuberosity of the navicular. Hence, the tibialis posterior tendon is the guide to the navicular. The tendon of the tibialis posterior also indicates the site for palpating the posterior tibial pulse (halfway between the medial malleolus and the calcaneal tendon.

The tendons of the fibularis longus and brevis may be followed distally, posterior and inferior to the lateral malleolus, and then anteriorly along the lateral aspect of the foot. The fibularis longus tendon can be palpated as far as the cuboid, and then, it disappears as it turns into the sole. The fibularis brevis tendon can easily be traced to its attachment to the dorsal surface of the tuberosity on the base of the 5th metatarsal. This tuberosity is located at the middle of the lateral border of the foot. With toes actively extended, the small fleshy belly of the extensor digitorum brevis may be seen and palpated anterior to the lateral malleolus. Its position should be observed and palpated so that it may not be mistaken subsequently for an abnormal edema (swelling).

The tendons on the anterior aspect of the ankle (from medial to lateral side) are easily palpated when the foot is dorsiflexed:

• The large tendon of the tibialis anterior leaves the cover of the superior extensor tendon, from which level the tendon is invested by a continuous synovial sheath; the tendon may be traced to its attachment to the 1st cuneiform and the base of the 1st metatarsal.
• The tendon of the extensor hallucis longus , obvious when the great toe is extended against resistance, may be followed to its attachment to the base of the distal phalanx of the great toe.
• The tendons of the extensor digitorum longus may be followed easily to their attachments to the lateral four toes.
• The tendon of the fibularis tertius may also be traced to its attachment to the base of the 5th metatarsal. This muscle is of minor importance and may be absent.

10/10/2022

🔈 SACROILIITIS - CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT

🔎 What is sacroiliitis?

Sacroiliitis is the inflammation of one or both of your sacroiliac joints. These two joints are located where the sacrum (the triangular last section of the spine) meets the ilium (a part of the pelvis).

Sacroiliitis is a common source of lower back pain or pain in the buttocks or thighs. It is often difficult to diagnose since many other conditions cause pain in the same locations.

🔎 What causes sacroiliitis?

Inflammation of the sacroiliac joint causes most of the symptoms of sacroiliitis. Many medical conditions cause inflammation in the sacroiliac joint, including:

🔘 Osteoarthritis -This type of wear-and-tear arthritis can occur in the sacroiliac joints and results from the breakdown of ligaments.

🔘 Ankylosing spondylitis - This is a type of inflammatory arthritis of the joints of the spine. Sacroiliitis is often an early symptom of ankylosing spondylitis.

🔘 Psoriatic arthritis - This inflammatory condition causes joint pain and swelling as well as psoriasis (scaly patches on the skin). Psoriatic arthritis can cause inflammation of the spinal joints, including the sacroiliac joints.
Other causes of sacroiliitis include:

🔘 Trauma - A fall, motor vehicle accident, or other injury to the sacroiliac joints or the ligaments supporting or surrounding the sacroiliac joint can cause symptoms.

🔘 Pregnancy - Hormones generated during pregnancy can relax the muscles and ligaments of the pelvis, causing the sacroiliac joint to rotate. The weight of pregnancy can also stress the sacroiliac joint and lead to wearing of the joint.

🔘 Pyogenic sacroiliitis - This is a rare infection of the sacroiliac joint caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus.

🔎 What are the symptoms of sacroiliitis?

Common symptoms of sacroiliitis include pain that:
🔘 Occurs in the lower back, buttock, hip, or thigh
🔘 Gets worse after long periods of sitting or standing, or getting out of a chair
🔘 Worsens after rotating your hips
🔘 Feels sharp or stabbing, or dull and achy

🔎 How is sacroiliitis treated?

Most people with sacroiliitis benefit from physical therapy. This treatment helps strengthen and stabilise the muscles surrounding your sacroiliac joints. Physical therapy also makes it easier for you to move your sacroiliac joints through full range of motion.

Reference: Cleveland Clinic, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology Information

03/10/2022

🔈 WHAT IS BICEPS TENDONITIS?

The biceps muscle has two heads, simply named the long head and the short head. With biceps tendinitis, it’s usually the long head (which attaches to the top front of the shoulder) that gets injured. The long head tendon attaches to the shoulder joint capsule, and it is very near other important shoulder structures, such as your rotator cuff.

When the biceps tendon has any kind of abnormal or excessive stress, it may get inflamed. This includes excessive tension (pulling), compression (pinching), or shearing. If this happens repetitively, your body’s ability to heal itself may lag compared to these stresses, and this can lead to pain and injury via inflammation and swelling.

✳ Risk Factors for Biceps Tendonitis:

1. Repetitive overhead movements.

2. Poor movement mechanics and posture.

3. Weakness in the rotator cuff.

4. Age-related changes.

5. Abrupt increase in upper body exercise routine.

✳ How Do You Know If You Have Biceps Tendonitis?

People with biceps tendonitis often have a deep ache in the front of the shoulder. More specifically, pain is usually localized at the bicipital groove.

Sometimes pain can radiate distally down the arm. Symptoms will usually come on with overhead motions, pulling, lifting, or the follow-through of a throwing motion. Instability of the shoulder may also present as a palpable or audible snap when shoulder motion occurs.

✳ Common Symptoms of Biceps Tendonitis:

1. Sharp pain in the front of your shoulder when you reach overhead.

2. Tenderness to touch at the front of your shoulder.

3. Dull, achy pain at the front of the shoulder, especially following activity.

4. Weakness felt around the shoulder joint, usually experienced when lifting or carrying objects, or reaching overhead.

5. A sensation of “catching” or “clicking” in the front of the shoulder with movement.

6. Pain when throwing a ball.

7. Difficulty with daily activities, such as reaching behind your back to tuck in your shirt, or putting dishes away in an overhead cabinet.

Finding a health practitioner who is a skilled manual therapist may help speed up your recovery. Manual therapy is great to loosen tight muscles, mobilize stiff joints, and improve the blood flow in target areas.

📚 Treatment Plan 📚

👣 Step 1: Reduce Inflammation

The first step that any health practitioner should take is to relieve any possible inflammation. Rest and cold compress will help to reduce inflammation and begin the healing process.

👣 Step 2: Range of Motion

Once the pain has begun to subside, you should start to work on improving your pain-free range of motion. This will include not only the glenohumeral joint, which is what most people think of when they think of the shoulder, but also the neck, trunk, scapula (shoulder blade). If you have adequate flexibility in all of these other parts of your body, your glenohumeral joint won’t have to work as hard.

Two important ranges of motion for the shoulder include: flexion and internal rotation. You should be able to reach all the way overhead (full flexion) and have full internal rotation without pain. Having tight muscles in the back of your shoulder can lead to increased stress at the front of your shoulder, right where your biceps tendon is.

👣 Step 3: Build Strength

Early in your recovery, you can work on pain-free strengthening of the muscles in the shoulder as well as the back muscles that support the shoulder.

The rotator cuff muscles help to stabilize and protect the glenohumeral joint, so any basic shoulder-conditioning program should begin with these.

You also want to focus on stabilizing your scapula, which is the base that the humerus moves on. The shoulder girdle must be strong and stable enough to transfer all the forces between your arm and your body, and it must also be mobile enough to move with the humerus to allow for full range of motion.

👣 Step 4: Functional Training

Once you’ve started the healing process, significantly decreased inflammation, gained full range of motion, and have started strengthening, you’re ready for functional training. This is the last and most rewarding part of rehab because you’re now training to regain full strength and function.

You move with your entire body in a coordinated fashion, whether you want to return to playing baseball or carry a basket of laundry. If you move improperly (PTs refer to this as aberrant motion), this places increased stress to your tissues, which can lead to damage over time. So, even if your diagnosis is biceps tendonitis, a good physical therapist will know to treat the entire body. Whatever your goal is after physical therapy, your treatment should teach you to move more efficiently and optimally prepare you to return to your normal life.

02/10/2022

🔈 WHAT DO YOUR FEET TELL YOU? OVERPRONATION

👣 The feet tell you a lot about what’s happening above them, at rest and during movement.

↪️ The posture (position) your feet are in is the result of what’s happening upstream. Your foot position is intimately related to how well you control the position of your pelvis and how well your hips are able to function as a result of this.

➡️ The stability, strength, and control of your hips and pelvic musculature determines whether you can maintain control of every joint beneath them, and therefore maintain the desired position of your joints at rest and during movement.

🔑 It comes down to having control over your joints, and attaining/maintaining the desired joint positions as you move.

👣 The feet can grant your body a huge amount of stability IF they are in a good position. If you can use your hips and pelvic control to get your feet where you want them, then they have a huge amount of intrinsic muscles that can work to your advantage. But the feet need to be in a desirable position (posture) in order to work optimally.

🔑 All of this can be worked on and changed. The body changes and adapts to what you expose it to. Learning to control your body requires attention and focus at the start, but is essential for overall musculoskeletal/joint health.

27/09/2022

After a lovely summer break, my studio is now open for clients for reflexology. I specialise in pregnant mums, teenagers and small babies. Please feel free to contact me,

Sam 👣

07/07/2022

🔈 EXTENSOR POLLICIS BREVIS

The belly of the extensor pollicis brevis (EPB), the fusiform short extensor of the thumb, lies distal to the APL and is partly covered by it. Its tendon lies parallel and immediately medial to that of the APL but extends farther, reaching the base of the proximal phalanx. In continued action after acting to flex the proximal phalanx of the thumb, or acting when that joint is fixed by its antagonists, it helps extend the 1st metacarpal and extend and abduct the hand. When the thumb is fully extended, a hollow, called the anatomical s***f box, can be seen on the radial aspect of the wrist.

To test the extensor pollicis brevis, the thumb is extended against resistance at the metacarpophalangeal joint. If the EPB is acting normally, the tendon of the muscle can be seen and palpated at the lateral side of the anatomical s***f box and on the medial side of the adjacent APL tendon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE

Anatomical s***f box.

A. When the thumb is extended, a triangular hollow appears between the tendon of the extensor pollicis longus (EPL) medially and the tendons of the extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) and abductor pollicis longus (APL) laterally.

B. The floor of the s***f box, formed by the scaphoid and trapezium bones, is crossed by the radial artery as it passes diagonally from the anterior surface of the radius to the dorsal surface of the hand.