Hamstring Tender To Palpation

[alophysio]

Hi Justin.

Thanks for responding. Believe me, if you want help, then your history can never be too long on a site - we can always ignore what is not required!

OK, firstly, I don't think you back problem is a simplistic one. The area you indicate seems to be over some ribs. Has anyone ever examined your thoracic spine properly? You might do well to contact LJ Lee in Canada to see if there is anyone she knows in the UK near where you live. She is an awesome physio who is doing research into the kind of pain you have.

Next, Becuase it doesn't seem that anyone has really dealt with what is probably an unstable rib injury, you aren't progressing. This can have implications for your low back and pelvis and then onto your hip and hamstrings.

I don't think your solution will lie in simply doing strengthening exercises. You need to sort out the reason why these things are happening and i don't think you are simply "weak". It has to do with how well your joints are working, your muscle strength and how the whole system coordinates.

To be honest, I am Australian so I don't understand how the NHS system works but it sounds like you are on some waiting list to see someone you don't have to pay for and you get to see them for a limited amount of time. Is that right?

Now, again i speak out of ignorance, but the type of physio you need would probably not work in the NHS system. It requires a higher level of knowledge, understanding and skill, so much so that they probably own their own businesses or get highly paid for the knowledge they have. I can tell you that in Sydney alone, there would not be many physios at all who can competently deal with the ribs in a specific way - maybe less than 10-20 practices in a city of 4 million people and loads of physios. And that is probably being nice!

LJ Lee's website is www.ljptconsulting.ca - email her and ask who you can see for treatment and a programme. Honestly, it would be worth the money if you got onto the right person. Perhaps physiobase would know someone - you can also PM him!

Let us know how you are going. There are more things we can do to help but i would need to be able to put my hands on you to help...

[Donjman]

Thankyou very much for your advice i really do appreciate it,

I recived a ltter today saying i have a course of physiothrapy in january, so I will attend that with fingers crossed.

If no joy, i wont hesistate to contact LJ Lee.

Oh just one more thing?

Scar tissue, its a pretty common thing? I mean any physio will want the scar tissue out of the equation to make things less complicated?

Right now im just massaging it quiet aggresivley for 10 minutes a day, would you reccomened that? Or would you know a better way i can get rid of it myself?

Thankyou again.

[alophysio]

Hi,

Without seeing you, in general, I wouldn't get too caught up on the whole scar tissue thing. It really doesn't sound like the root of your problems otherwise all the work you are doing on it will be making significant differences.

I have a simple philosophy - if it works, do it - if it doesn't work, don't bother.

So far, your story has been running along a certain line with little results. You still can't play your sport (which i don't think you have mentioned yet). You still can't do karate. It has been ages since you hurt yourself. Have a look at some of the elite athletes and the really bad injuries they have - they manage to get themselves back on the park after 6months after doing a knee reconstruction. It seems to me that you need a different approach because the one you are on is not working good enough IMHO. I think you have massaged your scar area more this year than i have massaged patients (if that gives you an idea of how much i massage "scar tissue" - i.e. hardly ever). You would be lucky if i massaged a total of 10 minutes during a full week of work, let alone 10mins/day.

Do the ground work now - find out who the physios who know this stuff are. You are at long odds to find someone through the NHS system if it is anything like the public system here in Australia - a real hit-and-miss affair i am afraid with lots of "young" physios just out of college (or old ones wanting to retire with little stress!).

Anyway, let us know how you get on!