Tendonitis
A common over use injury, this is a condition in which a tendon or its sheath is inflamed due to repetitive movements, excessive strain, or trauma. This can be an acute or chronic. In which case, treatments using manual therapy, massage, stretching and exercise, electrophysical agents, and evaluation of the patients’ biomechanics can often help alleviate this condition.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
This is a common painful disorder involving the wrist and hand, whereby the median nerve is compressed by various structures in the carpal tunnel of the wrist. This can be due to repeated trauma or overuse of the wrist and its surrounding structures, causing occasional weakness, pain, pins and needles, and numbness. Severe cases are sometimes surgically released. But before the invasive techniques are taken, physiotherapy plays a key role in preventing progression of the symptoms and can reverse the process through exercise and stretches, massage, ultrasound, interferential, and manual therapy.

Dislocation
Commonly occurring with trauma, usually falling on an outstretched hand, this can debilitate patients from their daily activities. There is associated pain and swelling, and a great deal of loss of function. Though dislocations are often relocated at the hospital, failure to address the associated soft tissue and joint symptoms can often lead to other problems of the joint (see arthritis and tendonitis). Following dislocations, treatments of manual therapy, strengthening, pain management, retraining of tasks, ultrasound, acupuncture, and other modalities, can help a patient overcome this condition.

Post Surgical Conditions
Often left untreated, patients having had surgery can develop other conditions at the very least mismanaged scarring and deconditioning. Regardless of the surgery, physiotherapy has a role in the overall recovery of the patient from breathing exercises, endurance and mobility for those recovering from surgeries such as heart, abdominal, caesareans, joint replacements, internal fixation of fractures, etc. Methods of treating these conditions vary as much as there are surgeries, but in all aspects, physiotherapy (normally first started in hospital) is continued after a patient is discharged from surgery to act as a transition from the hospital to normal daily activities.

Osteoarthritis
Also called degenerative joint disease, this is where one or more of the joints degenerate or inflame due to overuse, repeated trauma, genetics, or metabolic/hormonal factors. Normally symptoms start with pain after exertion, but then progresses later to swelling, tenderness to touch, stiffness, “clicking”, and of course, pain. Due to structural changes, there is no known “cure” but physiotherapy can help alleviate the symptoms through pain management education, ultrasound, magnetic therapy, heat (wax), manual therapy, graduated exercise and stretching program, and coping education to modify activities.

Rheumatoid arthritis
This arthritis is referred to an auto-immune condition whereby the body itself attacks the joint surfaces causing them to wear down and inflame. This is very debilitating and is often treated with anti-inflammatory drugs by doctors. Physiotherapy is involved in helping the patient adapt to this condition by teaching the patient pain management skills with complimentary techniques such as heat, ice, exercise, and stretching, to add to the effects of the anti-inflammatory. They also will help alleviate acute episodes using modalities such as paraffin wax baths, splinting, manual therapy, and electromodalities, all the while educating the patient in methods and ways to modify movements or tasks to decrease the painful effects of this condition.