Dublin has enjoyed some high temperatures so far this summer and understandably many of us are more active outdoors when the sun is shining. We must be aware of the potential issue of heat related injuries sustained from exercise in sport and other forms of strenuous work-related activity.

I don’t want to put a dampener on our untypical warm and sunny weather but rather my intention is to simply raise awareness. Many of us may not have a lot of experience training in such warm conditions but I do from my youth growing up in sunny South Africa.

It’s important to realise from the start that heat injuries can be life-threatening, if precautions are not taken. Heat injuries can start with mild forms of heat cramps which are easily treated if identified early enough.

Let’s look at different types of heat injuries.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my personal experience in how I recognised I was suffering from patellar tendonitis. I covered some technical points about who is at risk and what some of the contributing risk factors are for developing patellar tendonitis.

If you are considering whether your knee pain might be patellar tendonitis then be sure to read my initial blog post - What Is Patellar Tendonosis

In this part 2 follow-up I want to share some of the first stage rehabilitation activities that I have been doing to help my recovery.

After doing all the wrong things at first I sought advice from the Mount Merrion Physiotheray team who set me straight on what I should be doing. Having an inquisitive mind for the detail I asked for some evidence-based literature on the treatment of patellar tendonitis which I duly studied and supports my personal account here.

The first time I felt the sharp and stabbing front of left knee pain was a few months ago while enjoying my usual afternoon run with my dog. It was unlike the more familiar muscle aches and pains and there was no swelling present. I remember worrying this could be a potentially serious issue because this was a knee pain I had not felt before.

I was experiencing for the first time a condition which has since been diagnosed by my Chartered Physiotherapist as patellar tendinosis. After discussing my condition with my physiotherapist he directed me to various evidence-based online information resources as well as sending on relevant journal articles to help me understand the condition better. What follows is an account of a knee problem from a patients point of view.

This condition can become a more serious and chronic issue requiring many months of rest and rehabilitation if not appropriately cared for in the early stages. My knee pain started with repeated deep squat movements in the gym with a heavily weighted bar across my shoulders. Oddly the pain did not last more than a second during the exercise and almost no pain followed in the days after. Naturally I did not give it much more thought at the time until many weeks later when the pain returned, much more intensely and persistently, during a less than demanding run.

I now find myself in a delicate situation having to manage my knee pain very carefully indeed with fear of my condition becoming a much more difficult one to cure if I don’t give it the right attention.

Our next Pilates course schedule is now published and we are accepting registrations via our Pilates website.

Between the 28th of April and the 2nd of May we have a total of 9 Pilates classes commencing. This term we are running 3x Beginner level classes, 5x Improver and 1x Advanced class.

If you are not sure which level is best suited for your ability please read our level descriptions.

Signing up for one of our courses is very simple. We have a secure online booking system where you can choose your class, register and pay using a debit, laser or credit card to reserve your place immediately. You will receive instant confirmation of the success of your booking.

Modern life seems to be getting busier for most of us and it seems the quest for ultimate efficiency is running away with itself. It's no surprise why sleep-time would be the obvious area to skimp on because sleeping does not seem to be a very productive activity for go-getters.

Notable persons in history have proclaimed their disdain for sleep

Thomas Edison described sleep

as a criminal waste

while Margaret Thatcher said

sleep is for wimps

Chartered Physiotherapists are trained to assess an acute (recent) ankle sprain and using a specific set of assessment criteria known as the Ottawa Ankle Rules we can determine if a fracture is likely to have occurred. If we suspect a fracture we can refer you for an X Ray or MRI scan (In Ireland, depending on your health insurance policy, you may need your doctor to sign off on the request). The results of the scan will help us decide how best the ankle should be managed and depending on the extent of the damage, an orthopaedic specialist may need to be consulted in addition to receiving physiotherapy.

Most ankle sprains result in soft tissue injury, usually to the ligament structures which support the ankle joint. The lateral (outer) ligaments are more commonly injured which may result in pain, swelling, restriction of movement and a loss of function e.g. walking properly, or ability to run and take part in sports. If this type of injury is not treated correctly, on-going weakness and instability may result, making further injury much more likely down the road. Simply taking anti-inflammatories is not sufficient.

Are you suffering an episode of acute lower back pain? I encourage you to stay calm and don't panic. Lower back pain is common and it does heal, most of the time full activity is restored over a number of weeks.

There is a worrying trend to over-treat back pain with unnecessary and aggressive techniques while all that may be needed is rest and gentle manual therapy. An interesting article related to this issue is available on the Harvard Health blog and I encourage anyone who has had or is currently suffering from lower back pain to read.

Harvard Health blog excerpt:

Most routine back pain will improve on its own with conservative therapy in three months, often shorter than that,” says Dr. Bruce E. Landon, professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “Even more importantly, when we do more aggressive things - such as injections, imaging, and surgery - the long-term outcomes don’t change at all. These things have very little impact on what is going on, and they have the potential to make things worse.

During your first consultation with us your Chartered Physiotherapist will conduct a thorough physical assessment. This essential first step will assist us in determining what the structural source of your musculoskeletal pain complaint is most likely to be and enable us to provide a diagnosis followed by a planned course of treatment.

Your assessment will involve a combination of you answering relevant questions and your Physiotherapist conducting a hands-on, physical assessment of the affected body area.

Questions we will ask you

Firstly we will need to understand, in as much detail as possible, the history of your condition. Your Physiotherapist will ask you:

• When did the problem start
• Was there an injury sustained, or
• Did the problem arise for no apparent reason

In order to get an impression of how your symptoms respond to certain activities we also need to know:

A combination of medical intervention and lifestyle modifications are needed in order to offer a cure for a repetitive strain injury (RSI).

RSI, also referred to as upper limb work related disorder, is a general term used to describe pain of muscles, nerves and tendons caused by repetitive movement and overuse (National Health Service). It most frequently occurs in those who work with computers or in repetitive manual labour. This condition mostly affects parts of the upper body including the neck, shoulder, elbow, wrists and forearm.