Outdoor Navigation skills are lacking. 2015 has been a very busy year for mountain rescue teams as they try to cope with increasing numbers of walkers going astray.

During the summer, the television news featured a number of articles about walkers and climbers getting into trouble in the Cumbrian Lake District due to their reliance on mobile devices.

Whilst it is incredibly handy to have your Ordnance Survey maps on your phone or tablet, they use a great deal of battery capacity and cannot really be seen in enough detail for safe navigation.

The scariest aspect of these interviews was the comment by the interviewee that “Using these electronic maps can cause your battery to run flat not allowing you to have the ability to call for help”.

He obviously was not from round these parts!  As anybody who lives in the Lake District will tell you….In most cases there will be no signal anyway.

The conclusion of these programmes was that most walkers did not know how to use a map and compass to navigate.

Learn to navigate
Cloud 9 Walking Holidays run Navigation and Hill Walking skills courses which aim to provide you with the confidence and skills required to be able to navigate in all weather conditions and even at night.

They cover a whole range of topics including understanding the map and interpreting contours, taking and following compass bearings, pacing and timing distance, use of GPS and mapping software and a range of basic hill skills that will come in handy if there’s ever an emergency or accident.

The weekend courses are suitable for beginners and those with a little experience, and they guarantee that it will boost your confidence and increase your skills and knowledge.

For more information, visit the Cloud 9 Walking Holidays website.

A High Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) is a surgical procedure carried out to realign the leg.

The shinbone (tibia) is cut and opened up using a device to hold the bones in a more natural alignment.

Osteoarthritis treatment

This procedure can be carried out when early stage osteoarthritis has damaged one side of the knee joint in order to provide pain relief, improve function and prolong the life of the damaged knee, delaying the need for a total knee replacement.

High Tibial Osteotomy is a useful option for somebody suffering with Osteoarthritis affecting one side of the knee joint who is too young for a total knee replacement.

Unlike a total knee replacement, once a HTO has healed, there are generally no restrictions on physical activity, allowing the return to sport or even high impact exercise.

When one side of the knee joint becomes worn, the leg will change in shape, weight distribution will become difficult and further complications of hip and low back pain often appear as the body tries to cope with movement.

There are two distinct patterns:

Bow leg (genu Varus) – where the inside or medial part of the knee has worn.
Knock knee (genu valgus) – where the outside of the knee joint has worn.

In either of these cases the knee joint itself becomes stiff, making it difficult to bend the knee and this can be very painful.

Recovery from High Tibial Osteotomy

You may rely on pain relief medication for a few weeks and you will need to use crutches for a couple of weeks after the procedure.

Rehabilitation therapy is usually required to help the knee return to full function and help the body adjust to the change in biomechanics due to the realignment of the leg.

The bone has been physically cut so the length of time it takes to heal is very similar to that of a broken leg.  General day to day activity is advised until this time period has elapsed.

Your consultant will want to see you again around five weeks to take some more images to make sure the bone is healing.

Alternative options to High Tibial Osteotomy

Unloader brace – A unique knee brace designed to offload the affected side of the knee.
Pain relief – Prescribed pain relief medication.
Using a walking stick or walking pole.
Waiting until the joint can be replaced with total knee replacement.

Changes in weather can affect joint pain in those with osteoarthritis.

Damp

Any one of us who has an old joint injury or osteoarthritis is very much aware that it seems more painful when the weather is damp.

In the past, this has been treated as an old wives tale but the data we gather from our Carlisle clinic also suggests a correlation with weather patterns.

Arthritis Research UK

A recent project multi-centre study, partly funded by Arthritis Research UK, examined whether daily or three-day average weather conditions had a causal relationship with joint pain fluctuations, and whether and changes in weather affect this trend.

Data from 810 patients involved in the population-based European Project on Osteoarthritis was analysed, with subjects being individuals with osteoarthritis in the knee, hand and/or hips.

Joint pain was assessed using two-week pain calendars over 18 months, with daily values for temperature, precipitation, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, and wind speed also analysed.

Humidity

According to results published in the Journal of Rheumatology, there were significant associations between joint pain and daily and three-day humidity averages, with a strong interaction effect found between daily average humidity and temperature on joint pain.

Effects of humidity on pain was also stronger in relatively cold weather conditions, but changes in weather variables between two consecutive days were not shown to be significantly associated with reported joint pain.

Find out more

Back pain is a very general term and something we are all likely to experience at some stage.

The spine supports our entire body and as a result has to endure an array of stresses and strains of daily life.

People spens more time sitting down compared to previous generations which in turn causes greater strain on the back when short bursts of movement are required.

The importance of diagnosis

Back pain is extremely common. On average 49% of the UK adult population have experienced back pain which has lasted for a minimum of 24 hours.

A total of 80% of adults having succumbed to a back injury at some stage in their life, which costs the NHS more than £1 billion every year.

Diagnosis is essential in being able to identify the root cause of the problem and being able to offer an effective treatment programme to manage your condition for every condition is different.

Following any initial back pain it is important to stop what you are doing and rest to minimise the risk of making the injury worse, pushing through the pain is not a sensible option.

Should the condition fail to show signs of improvement following a few days of rest then it is advisable to speak with a medical professional to assess the condition as you may require additional treatment.

Overuse

The majority of back injuries result from overuse, where we push ourselves too far and the body simply needs time to recover.

Regardless of your sport or activity, it is important to know your limits and allow plenty of recovery time in order to minimise the risk of injury.

As an example, if you spend a full day gardening then invariably the following day you will experience stiffness and pain in a number of muscle groups, especially in the back if you have been undertaking a lot of bending, because your body is not used to it.

It is simply telling you to rest and you should take its advice.

Manual handling

In the workplace, manual handling and injuries following slips, trips and falls are the most common.

If you’re lifting something relatively heavy you should try to bend and lift with your knees but always stay within your level of capability.

A lower back support may also prove to be beneficial in offering compression to the region as well as limiting end of range movements of the spine to offer additional protection.

Poor posture

We all spend a lot of time sitting which can impact on posture and encourage us to adopt a bad slouch.

Back pain resulting from poor posture is fairly common which is why you should be conscious of how you sit, but also consider strengthening exercises such as pilates and yoga to help build core strength which help minimise the risk of injury.

Sciatica

Sciatica affects the extreme lower portion of the spine, causing back pain which can radiate down the leg. The pain is usually caused by impingement of one of the lumbar nerves.

Common causes of this are; prolapsed discs, narrowing of the intervertebral spaces or injury.  In some cases the condition may resolve on its own but often requires treatment by a therapist.

There are some other more serious conditions which can also give rise to sciatic nerve pain, so it is important to seek medical advice if sciatica or back pain persists.

Back supports

Back braces and supports are designed to manage back injuries and help support posture, offering the wearer additional protection and peace of mind during everyday life.

Braces and supports should easy to fit and able to provide compression whilst allowing the skin to breathe.

They should only be used during activity where the back needs the additional support or to aid recovery.

Ossur UK have a great range of back supports and you can get a 25% discount when you buy from the Ossur webshop and use our unique practitioner discount code PR100008 when checking out.

If you are unsure of the sort of back brace you require, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Knee Ligament damage is one of the most common types of sports injury and is often associated with sports such as Skiing, rugby and football.

Knee joint

The knee joint is one of the most active joints in the body, whether we are walking, running or even getting in and out of a chair.

Each time we move there are forces which pass through the knee joint and the amount of force depends on the activity being undertaken.

Because our knees are so important any strain or injury can have an impact on our mobility and be quite painful.

The knee joins the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia). The kneecap (patella) and the second bone of the lower leg (fibula) also form part of the joint. Four ligaments work to keep the knee stable.

The ACL

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is connected to the femur and tibia in the front part of the joint, this prevents the lower leg from sliding forward.

ACL injuries can be caused with a change of direction, deceleration and landing from a jump.

To prevent the tibia from sliding backwards the Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) is located behind the ACL and again connects to the femur and tibia.

A blow to the front of the knee can cause PCL injuries.

Other knee ligaments

There are ligaments on either side of the knee joint, with the Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) on the inside and the Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) on the outside.

These ligaments help to prevent sideways movement at the joint; the MCL is more commonly injured from any movement which forces the foot outwards and knee in.

Where the femur and tibia meet there is a layer of cartilage called meniscus. This absorbs some of the force which passes through the joint and protects the bones.

The degeneration of this meniscus is the cause of pain and stiffness suffered by people with Osteoarthritis.

Managing knee ligament damage

The severity of injury will determine treatment options available, which is why a professional diagnosis is essential in the first instance as ligament damage is graded from between one and three in terms of severity.

Grade one is considered a sprain where the ligament has been slightly stretched beyond its normal range of motion and whilst painful and the patient may experience inflammation there is still stability in the joint.

This is typically self-limiting and following a period of rest, the use of a knee support and strengthening exercises you should get back to full fitness.

A grade two strain is where the ligament is stretched to the point where it becomes loose or a mild tear has been incurred. This can require surgery to remedy, but strengthening exercises and rest are important to enhance stability.

A ligament knee support can also be used to help offer additional stability when active during your recovery.

A grade three refers to a complete tear resulting in the ligament being split into two pieces and a complete lack of stability in the joint. This is the most serious of injuries and can occur for a number of reasons.

According to the NHS, ACL injuries in the UK account for around 40% of all sports injuries and is the most common of all knee ligament injuries.

Where there is a complete rupture, surgery is often required to either repair or replace the ligament which is done by taking a graft from the hamstring or groin.

It is possible however to be ACL deficient by building muscle in the quads which can help overcome the instability.

Following recovery from surgery intensive therapy is required to help rebuild strength in the joint.