Treatments for common conditions
Physiotherapy is highly effective in treating most shoulder & elbow problems. It is often the first step in treatment, allowing you to improve the range of movement, strength and muscle control. Quite often, this is all you need to get better. Even if it is not effective for you, it can be a good way to get your joint into the best shape possible for future surgery.
Mr. Davies has a few points that are important to know about physiotherapy:
- Physiotherapy happens at home! The sessions with your physiotherapist are important to help assess and progress with your exercise programme. However most of the physiotherapy is carried out by you, at home, by regularly completing the exercises that are provided.
- It can take 2-3 months to start to see the benefit, so don’t give up if you don’t see early results.
- Physiotherapy is what you do. It is not what you have done to you! For example, some physiotherapists use acupuncture, ultrasound or infrared machines to name but a few. While these may give you short-term relief as an add-on to the exercises, it is the exercises that will bring about the long-term improvements.
Choosing a physiotherapist
There are many different ypes of physiotherapist. Some, for example, specialist in breathing, balance or children. Mr. Davies prefers to use physiotherapists who are experts in treating shoulder and elbow conditions. You may choose your own physiotherapist if you have a good relationship with someone already. Several expert upper-limb physiotherapists are:
- Lewis Harris: Based in Whitefield, Lewis is an expert on sports injuries and shoulder and elbow rehabilitation. He works closely with Mr. Davies.
- Physioclinics: Prestwich Physiotherapy and Sports Injuries clinic was established by Sid Ahamed MCSP in 1989. Their clinical staff are highly trained and they have been a teaching practice for over 25 years providing undergraduate lectures and post graduate training courses and conference sessions. They have a special interest in upper limb treatment and rehabilitation.
- Delta Physiotherapy: Based in Middleton, Jack Dixon and Lesley Raw have a lot of experience in shoulder and elbow rehabilitation. They have excellent facilities, including a fully-equipped physio-rehab gym.
Rehabilitation after surgery
To get the best possible result after surgery, it is important to have a good physiotherapy programme. Mr. Davies is a great believer in ‘listening to your body’ and does not set specific time points for using your arm. Instead, for most operations, the general advice is to start to use it as pain allows. It is very difficult to damage any surgical repairs if you stay within the limits of pain. Alongside this advice, you will be given a specific exercise programme that is tailored to your needs.