I’ve been seeing a (private practice) physio for the last 4 weeks to try and sort out a knee injury after doing a fell race 6 weeks ago. I’ve been a bit surprised as she has wanted me to have at least 2 appointments per week, but have gone along because as if she has said it’s needed then it must be (although it has been hard to meet the cost of twice weekly sessions). She has done some work on my knee, including taping it to ‘re-align’ the patella, and then found that my pelvis was tilted and higher on one side. I last went 4 days ago when she worked to adjust my pelvis, including pushing down hard just above my pelvis on the lower part of my back whilst simultaneously tugging hard on the leg with the injured knee. She also used her ‘electric pulse needle’ (no idea what it is!) round my spine on my lower back. Since then I’ve had bad back pains, a really strange ‘icy cold / hot’ sensation in my thigh muscle, and pains in my pelvis.

I’m not sure what to do – I don’t have any confidence in going back to her, but I also can’t now afford to start treatment with someone new (it has cost me about £300 so far). I’m worried that having gone there with a relatively minor overuse injury to my knee that I now have more significant dame to my back or nerves. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do now? Especially as I still can’t mountain bike or run!

Can your doctor refer you to an NHS physio, at least for a second opinion? I’d be a bit suspicious of your current one, based on your description. How did you find out about her – was she recommended, or just local?

Run (limp) a mile, she sounds mental

Is she a ‘proper’ physio as it is now a protected title. You can check on the Health Professionals Council (HPC)website. GP may be the best route to get NHS referral?

Does sound a bit odd!

May be worth asking on this forum?
http://www.physiobob.com/forum/

sounds simple to me, …..pay money…get fixed..good
pay money…hurt more in more places…bad

go elsewhere imo and before you leave take a copy of yr patient notes that she has written to hand to the next physio it’ll help in your next treatment. (ha and also in sueing her ass if the treatment was not indicated for your problem!!)

What position were you in when she was pushing down on your back and pulling on your leg?? which way was she pulling your leg??

A chiropractor sorted out my tilted pelvis. But I did previously see another chiropractor who fleeced me. He was registered with the chiropractic council but was subsequently expelled after he was taken to court.

I can certainly understand your frustrations and lack of confidence. In the end I had to go by personal recommendation for my current one.

FWIW I did speak with the chiropractic council and they said that in the first instance I had to put in writing my concerns. I did this and conman chiro wrote back saying I had claimed his treatment was helping. Oh the powers of persuasion. In the end I didn’t follow it through which I bitterly regret as I had spent a lot of money and went through dark days of inactivity.

The fact that you feel uneasy about this person would indicate a loss of confidence so perhaps you should seek alternative treatment.

Good luck with it.

I once went to a physio every wednesday for a year to have work on my knee, i payed every week, i saw a surgeon who said i needed a lateral release and no amount of physio would have helped
i think you have to go on you r personnel judgement and try someone else

[/quote]You can check on the Health Professionals Council (HPC)website.

Get in touch with the HPC if you have any doubts and they will put you in touch with another Physio as well as investigating. Any person practicing as a health professional, and using a “protected” title to do so is actually committing a crime.

To use the web site type in the person’s specialization and name, if they aren’t on the register, give their details to the HPC and set the wheels in motion.

Recommend you consult with your GP, and try to get some form of imaging done to pinpoint the problem.

Probably going to get it in the neck now(no pun), but I wouldn’t let a physio or chiropractor loose on my pelvis or back without an x-ray or MRI. Put it this way, would you let a dentist fill teeth blindfolded?? The difference between serious nerve damage and paralysis is millimetres. Go carefully, and speedy recovery.

many thanks all. I’ll definately try checking this out with the HPC. I suspect if I wrote to the physio with my concerns I would end up with an experience similar to Cinnamon_girl. I first priority is to try and get my leg and now back sorted out and get riding and running again, but if extra problems have been cuased by the treatment then I will want to pursue it further.

Right, time to book an appointment with the GP to start with.

Still intrigued as to what position your pelvis was manipulated in. Sounds like a neuropraxia but difficult to say without more info….

e-mail me if you like

Hi, Really sorry you have had ongoing pain. I can totally understand your worries.

If you have any concerns then it really is best to talk to the physio practice/the physio concerned/her boss in the first instance. People on here, although a good source of information do not know your individual medical presentation.

There are generally 2 ways of treating knee pain- one (the quicker more temporary option) is sorting out the symptoms ie local knee issues and the second (more permanent option) is sorting out the underlying cause which in your case sounds like it might be spine/ pelvis related. If you dont sort out the cause you run the risk of the pain returning at a later fell run. Or it may indeed be that you pain originated from your back in the first place?

The muscles which attach to your knee cap at one end attach to your pelvis at the other. It may be that your pelvis is tilted which will in effect lengthen/shorten the muscles attaching to your kneecap which will cause the mal alignment. Because the body is connected, if you treat the pelvis you have an effect higher up on the spine- much like if you alter the angle of foundations of a building. It is not uncommon for someone to experience different, temporary pains after a pelvis adjustment as your back gets used to its new position.

It sounds like you need to have a chat with the physio before going through to the HPC to sort out these concerns that you have- you seem to be have left in the dark somewhat about what she is doing and why. There is probably a very simple explanation/solution if the communication is left open.
Hope this is helpful?

A lot of sense in what grazed knees says.

I would go back to the physio and ask for an explanation. Depending on that explanation I would get a second opinion. However if you really have lost faith in that physio there is little point going back to them. IMO the most important thing with treatment of any kind is your faith in the person treating you. without faith it will work it won’t

Does anyone know how the pelvis becomes misaligned and the signs of this – i think mine might well be from what i’ve read here – who would be the best type of person to be examined by to check for this?

my symptoms are: pain in hip (soft tissue) – hip bones asymetric to extent you can see/feel it when walking and pain in same knee which i assumed was a patella alignment issue.

background to this might be old injury where femur was pinned. (physio said that i had scar tissue around hip joint)

sorry to hijack the thread.

Shoefiti – you will get different opinions from Drs, physios and osteopaths on this. I have been diagnosed with things by osteopaths that according to Drs do not exist and the physio had a third opinion.