What is Parkinson’s Disease? Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive neurological condition resulting in difficulty starting and maintaining movements in the body. Importantly, there is a loss of some neurons (brain cells) that contribute to coordinating muscles and creating smooth movements. As a result, individuals with this condition experience a range of symptoms that impair their strength, mobility,  flexibility, and posture. 4 hallmark features Tremors: Firstly, tremors are usually the initial symptom. The tremor is mostly when the body is resting, such as sitting, but may worsen over time to affect the individual while they’re performing other tasks like writing, eating, or shaving. Rigidity: Secondly, rigidity refers to stiffness of the muscles and joints. In Parkinson’s, it can affect the arms, legs, trunk, and even the face. Bradykinesia: Next, bradykinesia means slowness of movement which may include stopping or hesitating during movements. Postural Instability: Finally, difficulty balancing and correcting postural faults…

Osgood-Schlatter’s disease (OSD) is a fairly common condition in adolescents that results in knee pain and loss of function. Typically, it is characterized by pain and inflammation just below the knee, especially in individuals that are active and engage in sports and other physical activities.  As a result, this condition can be quite disruptive to a young athlete, who suddenly finds themselves unable to participate fully in practices or games due to pain. Specifically, in this blog, we will discuss causes, symptoms, and effective physiotherapy treatment of OSD.   What causes Osgood-Schlatter’s Disease? OSD is primarily an overuse injury causing the tendon under the knee, the patellar tendon, and the part of the bone it attaches to, the tibial tuberosity to become painful and inflamed. Eventually,  the tendon and bone experience repetitive traction and strain through high intensity movements such as running and jumping, and the tendon pulls on the…

Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex (TFCC) Injury The TFCC is a combination of ligament, tendon and cartilage and therefore name as Triangular Fibrocartilage complex. This ligament has a major function of stabilizing and supporting the wrist. It is an important structure connecting the forearm bones to the small bones in wrist, thereby giving you the mobility when you grip object tightly or rotate the wrist. The TFCC provides these movement more support and range while behaving as cushion in the area. What causes TFCC strain or tear? There are two ways your TFCC can give up – either due to injury or any degeneration of these ligament. Injury – most often when you fall on outstretched hand is a common precursor of the TFCC injury or tear. The mechanism could be a sudden impact or a twisting injury. Older adults are more vulnerable as there can be thinning of these ligaments with…

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease of the joint affecting the articular cartilage and bony structures and tissues involved. It starts with changes to the surrounding tissues of the joint and in advanced stages it affects the articular cartilage thereby reducing and narrowing the joint space causing structural bony changes. Osteoarthritis Signs and symptoms of Osteoarthritis in hand and wrist: Swelling of the joints or knuckles. Morning stiffness in fingers and wrist. Pain with movements. Difficulty with gripping and handling objects. Decreased strength. Enlarged joints or deformed joints in more than one or more area. Heberden’s nodes,…

Orthotics Orthotics are specially designed equipment that provide support to the feet and ankles to improve your lower body’s alignment. Since the body is all interconnected, misalignment at the feet can lead to compensation at the knees, hips, and lower back and contribute to pain and dysfunction in those areas. Thus, orthotics are a great tool to help correct this and alleviate pain and discomfort in the body. In this blog, we will go over how they work and how they can improve your quality of life. 1. Relieving Pain with Orthotics [caption id=”attachment_6107″ align=”alignnone”…

Aquafit: Dive Into a Fun Workout! Aquafit Trying to get in shape but joint pain is holding you back? Are you looking for a new and exciting way to start exercising? Look no further than aquafit! Aquafit, also known as hydrotherapy, or aqua therapy is a workout done in the water to increase fitness and strength. In this article, we will talk about the top 4 benefits of aquafit and how it can be used by our physiotherapy patients. 1. Low-impact, big results The biggest benefit of that it is very gentle on the joints, minimizing…

Motor Vehicle Accidents / MVA and physiotherapy. Motor Vehicle Accident Injuries sustained from a motor vehicle accident affect your normal function in life differently. It depends on the extent of the impact. Thus, it is very important to address any pertaining issues from the accident to your doctor. Additionally, to start rehabilitation at the earliest to decrease the impact of injury and its effects. MVA injuries can be as minor as  sprains or strains or it can be extensive that might include concussion, fractures, neurological involvement, other musculoskeletal involvements, etc. Once you are involved in an accident…

Scoliosis A side deviation or curvature in your spine is scoliosis. It could be in your neck, mid back and lower back. It can present in more than one area. The most common area where it develops is mid-back. Cervical and lumber spine are very common  when it comes to two curvatures. Type of scoliosis: C-shape: This is most common type, there is only one-sided curve. The most common area for C shape to develop is in the thoracic spine and also lumber spine.  In this type, scoliosis side leg could be short compared to non-scoliotic…

Chronic Ankle Instability Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries. Rest, ice, compression and elevation, or the RICE rule, are the go-tos for ankle sprains. In most cases, the ankle will heal between 4-12 weeks. Many people will allow the ankle to heal on its own but a failure to seek treatment and physical rehabilitation for the ankle after just one injury is enough to leave it weaker and more vulnerable to future sprains. Which in turn could result in chronic ankle instability. What causes ankle instability? After an ankle injury, there is damage…

Trigger finger? What to do Trigger Finger Lately you’ve noticed that your finger seems to be clicking, and maybe it also catches or locks into a bent position. Sometimes you may need to use your other hand to help you “unlock” your finger. What is this? We call this condition trigger finger. Your  finger locks in a flexed position. The position it locks in  resembles the position of a finger when it is pulling a trigger. If you have trigger finger, you may also have: Stiffness and swelling, especially in the mornings. Painful or painless clicking,…