We've all heard of IBS, but what is it really? It can't be diagnosed by imaging, blood tests, or other investigations, although the tests do help to rule out other potential diagnoses. Symptoms include two extremes in quick succession. Constipation…
The knee cap (patella) is an unusual feat of physics. It's a bone sitting suspended within a tendon, sliding over the main knee joint. Its presence makes the quadriceps muscles hugely more efficient, as long as it moves well itself…
"Referred pain" is when the body doesn't feel pain exactly where it should. One well known example of this is when someone has a heart attack and has no chest pain, only arm or jaw pain. This can happen with…
The official names for high and low arches are pes cavus and pes planus respectively. The image below shows the basic impact of these changes on where the foot contacts the ground. It also shows the impact on the foot…
The thorax is the area of the body between the base of the neck and the diaphragm. It encompasses 12 vertebrae, the heart, lungs, and countless nerves. We often see patients with neck or lower back pains, and end up…
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is often confused with osteoarthritis (OA), but the two are very different. Whereas OA is considered a more mechanical condition of "wear and tear", RA is autoimmune. That means the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own…
Compartment syndrome is a rare, but potentially serious condition affecting the calf or forearm. The compartment in question is a section of muscle, blood vessels, and other tissues. In this condition, the pressure within the compartment rises, reducing the blood…
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is an umbrella term for a number of rare connective tissue disorders. The most common is the hypermobile type (hEDS), which accounts for about 90% of cases. Classical (cEDS) and vascular (vEDS) are the next most common, with…
More than just a figure of speech, tongue tie can affect a baby's ability to breastfeed. This in turn can lead to an unsettled baby who struggles to gain weight, and an uncomfortable mum who might feel she has to…
Chronic pain is defined as any pain that lasts for more than 3 months. But when we use the term "chronic pain", we're usually referring to a kind of pain with different characteristics to most, not simply a pain that's…