Understanding shoulder, knee and other joint pains: How Osteopathic Treatment can help

What to expect during your first visit at The Wimbledon Osteopath

At The Wimbledon Osteopath, we take a whole-body approach to diagnosing and managing joint pain. Rather than focusing solely on the painful area, we assess how the entire body is functioning. Restrictions, weakness, poor posture, altered movement patterns, or previous injuries elsewhere in the body can all contribute to ongoing joint discomfort.

Treatment may include gentle osteopathic manual therapy, soft tissue massage, joint mobilisation, stretching, and advice on posture and movement with personalised rehabilitation exercises designed to improve strength, flexibility, stability, and overall joint function.

Education also plays a key role in your recovery and we love to help patients better understand the causes of their symptoms and how to manage them effectively.

Shoulder, knee and joint pain can affect people of all ages, making everyday activities such as reaching, lifting, walking, or exercising difficult and uncomfortable. Whether the pain develops gradually through wear and tear or suddenly following an injury, early assessment and appropriate treatment can help prevent long-term problems and improve quality of life.

We are here to help!

Why is the knee such a problem?

Knee pain is probably one of the most common things we see and treat after back pain. It can have a negative effect on both confidence and mobility, which is where we can help.  Over the longer term, abnormal mechanics lead to earlier degenerative changes, which is another reason for getting things sorted sooner rather than later.  And if you’re in the older age group and have been told you have arthritis, don’t take that to mean that you just have to learn to live with it. Treatment can often make a big difference to the associated symptoms of stiffness & pain.

It’s important to know that once the knee starts to give you symptoms then this can also mean that the hips and pelvis have given up trying to cope with the demands of the sport or the stress of daily life such as walking and sitting, so we may need to check these areas also.

Let’s go into a bit more detail for a few of the more popular shoulder complaints:

Frozen Shoulder (adhesive capsulitis)

Frozen shoulder, also called adhesive capsulitis, most commonly occurs between the ages of 40 and 60, especially in women. Often the non-dominant shoulder appears to be affected more than the dominant one. Many conditions can result in a stiff shoulder like arthritis; however, a true frozen shoulder is characterized by a limitation of movement in all directions that is very disabling. This is because there are adhesions (sticky areas) and contractures of the capsule that surrounds the joint. We can play an important role in managing and reducing pain and restoring normal mobility and function more quickly with our expert manual approach. This sort of problem will respond well but will need the greatest attention so try and come in as soon as symptoms start.

Rotator cuff shoulder problems

These problems can involve a number of tendons around the shoulder, most commonly the supraspinatus. Characteristically, there is a pain when lifting the arm above the head. With rotator cuff problems it is possible for the shoulder to become quite restricted with time and manual intervention, such as deep tissue massage and stretching, is regarded as highly beneficial.

Do you get tension in your shoulders?

It is very common for people to experience tension in the shoulder muscles especially if they work at a computer, carry heavy things or are in awkward positions at work, like plasterers and mothers with young children. Shoulder strains can occur as a result of incorrect gym work and we can treat and advise you how best to plan a new and improved gym routine. Often there are trigger points (tender knots on pressure) in the muscles. The origins of these are quite varied but usually a combination of structural and postural. Osteopathy or a stronger sports/deep tissue massage may be appropriate and we offer both at The Wimbledon Osteopath.

If shoulder, knee or joint pains are affecting your life then professional osteopathic care and treatment may help you move more freely and feel your best again.

Call The Wimbledon Osteopath today. We would love to help you!

Why are feet and ankles so important?

Feet and ankles provide the basis of our posture so, if anything is wrong here, then the rest of the body is affected and muscles and ligaments get overworked and pain can ensue.

Feet are filled with many sensory nerves that let our joints and body know whether our posture is correct. Sadly, our feet have got very lazy wearing shoes and pounding pavements and this has resulted in them being misused and overused.

We can improve the ability of your feet to respond to postural changes through exercise and manual therapy. We can work on all the relevant muscles and ligaments around the feet, ankles and pelvis to ease the pressure on them. Naturally we will offer advice on shoes and insoles if required. We always recommend exercises to help stabilize you such as standing on one leg or standing with both heels a centimetre off the ground. Anything that makes you wobble is good for improving your balance and making your feet cleverer and that’s what you need!

There are many problems that we see with the foot such as bunions, tendinitis, plantar fasciitis and stiffness that results post-surgery or with arthritis.