Musculoskeletal

East Cheshire NHS Trust's Physiotherapy Service falls under two main categories - Musculoskeletal Services and Specialist Services.

East Cheshire NHS Trust's Physiotherapy Service is the only NHS provider of specialist physiotherapy services in the East Cheshire area.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapists assess and treat problems with muscle, bone and joints that may cause pain, stiffness and/or disability. The Musculoskeletal team provides specialist assessment followed by expert advice and treatment for a wide range of joint and muscular related problems including rehabilitation after orthopaedic surgery.

Conditions
Below is a brief overview of the conditions treated by East Cheshire Physiotherapy Service.

• Spinal (neck and back): whiplash associated disorders, stiffness and restricted movement, headaches, symptoms referring into arms and legs (numbness, paraesthesia, pain), mechanical low back pain, discogenic problems, degenerative pain, postural related neck and back pain, rib pain
• Shoulder: frozen shoulder, impingements, instability, muscle imbalance, AC joint pain
• Knee: patello-femoral pain, patella tendinopathy, meniscal tears, cruciate and collateral ligament strains, osteoarthritis, ITB
• Hip and groin: sacro-iliac disorders, muscle tears, osteoarthritis, soft tissue inflammation around joint
• Ankle: Achilles pain, other tendon pain, joint stiffness
• Muscle tears and strains
• Joint, tendon and ligament sprains (all joints)
• Osteoarthritis
• Peripheral nerve pain
• Pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain (Women Health Specialist Physiotherapists work from Congleton War Memorial, Knutsford Hospital & Macclesfield District General Hospital for those who require more specialist assessment and treatment)
• Which age groups can we treat?
  The service primarily treats adults, but will accept referrals for children where the primary problem is a musculoskeletal disorder e.g. knee pain.

Treatments offered
All treatment options will be discussed and up-to-date information, to include the risks and benefits of different treatment options, will be provided and communicated in a way which can be clearly understood by patients. 

These can include:

• Education and self-management
• Home exercise programmes (including strengthening before orthopaedic surgery)
• Manual therapy including spinal manipulation, mobilisation and massage
• Individualised , targeted exercise programmes
• Combined physical and psychological programmes
• Gym classes
• Vestibular rehabilitation (at Macclesfield Hospital, Wilmslow Health Centre & Watersgreen Medical Centre)
• Back education classes (currently for stenotic patients linked to a research trial with Oxford University)
• Facial palsy treatment (at Macclesfield Hospital)

Group exercise programmes

• Total Knee Replacement classes (based at Macclesfield, Knutsford, Wilmslow & Congleton)
• Total Hip Replacement classes (based at Macclesfield, Knutsford, Wilmslow & Congleton)
• Lower Limb Osteoarthritis education and exercise classes (based at Macclesfield Leisure Centre)