Consider a desk worker who repeatedly turns in a particular position to access a drawer, an IT professional who sits for prolonged time in a particular position to work on the computer, a young mother who carries her baby for several hours a day and night, an elderly person who has adopted an odd walking pattern to accommodate age related degenerative changes.
Every individual, irrespective of whether an athlete or exerciser, is engaged in routine physical activities on a daily basis which place high demands on various parts of the body especially shoulders, neck, back and knee. Every individual has demands similar to an elite athlete! His pain and discomfort affects him/her and disturb his/her daily functioning; be it playing with the child or walking for errands or driving or sometimes even sleeping!
Many of these musculoskeletal conditions have their origin in abnormal biomechanics due to abnormal posture adoption, compensations in bone and joints, muscle imbalances, muscle tightnesses, etc. Very often an aberrance in the kinetic chain needs correction to get rid of the pain permanently because it is the actual cause of the problem. An evaluation of the kinetic chain can be performed by the Exercise and Sports Physician. Correction of these imbalances can produce better lasting pain relief and improvement in movements and function.
Common conditions treated by Exercise & Sports Physician:
Shoulder pain: Frozen shoulder, shoulder impingement, muscle tears, shoulder calcifications, shoulder dislocations are some of the common structural pathologies identified in a case of shoulder pain. Most of these pathologies have concomitant kinetic chain aberrations like a shoulder dyskinesia, postural abnormalities, winging of scapula, presence of trigger points in the muscles or very often cervical dysfunction. Correction of these help improve shoulder function and pain.
Back pain: Lower back pain could be due to musculoskeletal or non musculoskeletal reasons. However, among the musculoskeletal causes, only a minority of the patients require surgical intervention for a structural problem. A large majority of the general population suffers from back pain due to muscular reasons. Correct evaluation to identify the source of the imbalance in the muscles above, below and around the back is important to target pain reduction by direct rehabilitation exercises.
Knee pain: From adolescents to old age, knee pain cripples many. Very often the patient's pain is out of proportion to any knee joint and bone abnormality on evaluation. Evaluation of the proximal and distal joints as well as surrounding musculature reveals many imbalances that can correct the knee biomechanics.
Foot pain: With its 26 bones and 33 joints, the foot is clearly a miracle structure designed to bear the weight of the body. Whereas it is true that excess weight like in obesity can produce pain in the foot by stressing it, there are many biomechanical abnormalities in the foot and also in structures above it that can be a source of foot pain. Flat foot or pes planus is a very common condition and is attributed to a number of issues. Depending upon its type, the approach to the patient varies with the flexible type being amenable to rehabilitation exercises. Heel pain is among the commonest complaints faced especially by the Indian middle aged groups. Selecting the appropriate footwear is important for every individual who spends time on their foot. In case of housewives who are weight bearing for prolonged periods, appropriate home footwear advice should be sought in case of complaints. However, evaluation and correction of the kinetic chain and biomechanics in these cases is also of importance.
