Arthritis is a joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints. There are various forms including, amoungst others, rheumatoid arthritis, septic arthritis and gout but osteoarthritis is the most common type.

When your big toe pushes against the next toe, forcing the joint of the big toe to expand and protrude, the resultant bony bump is known as a Bunion. The skin over the Bunion is often red and painful. Wearing tight narrow shoes is commonly the cause of bunions, but they can also develop from a medical condition like arthritis, inherited structural defects, or other stresses on the foot.

Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more small sacs of synovial fluid. These are found over bony prominences where a muscle or tendon might friction and get damaged.

DOMS is the commonly used abbreviation of ‘Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness’ and is the pain and stiffness felt in muscles a while after unusual or strenuous exercise. Felt most strongly from 24 to 72 hours after exercise, it is thought to be caused by lengthening or ‘Eccentric’ exercise, which causes ‘micro-trauma’ or small-scale damage to muscle fibres. The muscle adapts rapidly after exercise, to prevent muscle damage and soreness, if the exercise is repeated.

Widespread pain to the muscles of the body, unusually high levels of fatigue, tender points in multiple areas and great sensitivity to seemingly normal things, are all indicative of someone suffering from the disorder known as Fibromyalgia.

Iliotibial band (friction) syndrome very commonly affects the knee and is associated with especially running, cycling, hiking and weight-lifting.

‘Ligament sprains’ and ‘Muscle strain’ are often confused and usually written about in tandem, however they are in fact quite different. Muscle and tendon (joining muscle to bone) strains occur when there is a poor level of fitness or poor dynamic control within the muscles, whereas Ligaments join bone to bone and injuries occur when there is excessive movement forced through a joint...quite different and so we deal with them in separate articles.

This term is derived from an injury done to the Knee Meniscus and is more commonly referred to as a ‘Meniscus tear.’ So, what is the knee Meniscus? It is a kidney shaped, fibrous cartilage wedge which separates your thigh bone, or ‘Femur’, from your shin bone or ‘Tibia.’ The knee absorbs great forces when we run and jump or even just walk, so the Meniscus is a type of ‘shock absorber’ which also assists in rotational stability due to the wedge-shape. The Meniscus helps to spread the compressive forces over the whole knee, which escalate as we go from walking to running to jumping.

‘Muscle strains’ and ‘Ligament sprains’ and are often confused and usually written about in tandem, and although the rehabilitation principles are similar they are in fact quite different conditions. Ligaments join bone to bone and injuries occur when there is excessive movement forced through a joint, whereas muscle and tendon (joining muscle to bone) strains occur when there is a poor level of fitness or poor dynamic control within the muscles...quite different and so we deal with them in separate articles.

Musculoskeletal pain is pain caused by injury to the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons and/or nerves. The pain can be either acute or chronic and either localised or widespread. It is basically a summary of all the types of physical pain a person could suffer from.