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Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

You may have ongoing pain that seem to come from joints, muscles or tendons. Treatment may ease the pain, but it keeps coming back. If that is the case, the pain system in your body may be overactive. It overreacts to normal signals from your body and makes them feel like pain. Treating the body can deal with some of the physical issues, but it may not deal with the pain itself.

Here are a few (but not all) indicators that your pain system may be overactive:

Your pain seems to have a mind of its own. It comes and goes for no clear reason, and it may spread or move.
The pain started without injury.
The pain started during a stressful period in your life.
You have seen a doctor and perhaps had tests as well, but you have not been given a clear physical or medical diagnosis.

When Dr Hubert van Griensven assesses you for this type of ongoing pain, he finds out about your symptoms and determines how your pain system is working. We then agree on a programme to help your pain system to settle down, and restore normal sensation and function of your body. You will also be given things to practise at home, to make the treatment as effective as possible. [Process, prognosis]

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)

CRPS is a pain problem that typically starts after an injury to a hand or foot, or after having a limb in plaster for a while. Apart from having pain, the affected body part may be pale, red, swollen or sweaty, or a combination of these. It may be extremely sensitive to touch, warmth or cold. Regular physiotherapy may not be effective or even make it worse.

It is extremely important that you see a physiotherapist such as Dr Hubert van Griensven, who understands CRPS. They will do a detailed examination, and provide you with appropriate treatments, advice and exercises. It is important to understand that the approach is different from standard physiotherapy. It may have to be combined with medication to gain maximum benefit.

Depending on your symptoms, your specialist treatment may include:

Techniques to control swelling and normalise blood flow.
Special gentle therapeutic exercises for joints and muscles.
Sensory training to restore normal feeling in your limb.
Graded motor imagery and exercises to restore control.

If you are suffering from chronic pain and wish to make an appointment or discuss your symptoms with a physiotherapist call the clinic on 0208 202 8322.