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Knee instability physiotherapy London

Name: Nell Mead
Address: Longcroft House 2-8 Victoria Ave, London, EC2M 4NS
Telephone: 0207 175 0150

If you’re looking for knee instability physiotherapy, and need a therapist who is thorough and thinks outside the traditional physiotherapy box, then look no further!

Get in contact

Just call my London team on
0207 175 0150 or use the form below and let me help you get better.

Just call my London team on 0207 175 0150 or use the form here.

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Knee instability physiotherapy

Knee instability can be a painful and a scary problem – we expect to be able to trust our knees to keep us upright and not to collapse unexpectedly at any given moment!

The three systems that have to work in harmony to keep your knee stable are:

the shape of the bones – they need to be able to slot together properly, femur sitting on top of tibia, with everything intact
the integrity of the ligaments and capsule, the tough, relatively passive soft tissue structures that attach bone to bone. Key ligaments that keep your knee from collapsing are the cruciate ligaments and the medial collateral ligament.
the neuromuscular control – your brain and nervous system need to tell your muscles to activate at the appropriate moments, and your muscles need to be strong enough to respond effectively

If one or more of these systems is compromised – by trauma, such as a rugby, football, skiing or road accident; or by chronic pain or a spinal cord injury, you could develop an unstable knee.

What to expect from a knee instability physio assessment

The first thing we need to understand when you come in for an assessment is why your knee is unstable. Has there been a traumatic structural injury such as an ACL tear or a fracture, or do you have chronic muscular weakness stemming from pain or from a nerve injury? Can we get the muscles to work well enough to stabilise your knee adequately for you to be able to do the tasks and activities that you want to be able to do, or is there simply too much damage?

We need to understand whether your instability is due to bone shape, ligamentous integrity, or muscular control. This may involve imaging such as X-ray or MRI as well as a clinical assessment; and we may need to talk to other specialists such as an orthopaedic knee surgeon, a radiologist, a neurologist, a sports doctor or a rheumatologist.

Knee instability treatment London

Physiotherapy for knee instability will focus on retraining the muscle and movement patterns that allow you to trust that your knee will hold you upright without giving way underneath you. We are likely to work on the muscles that attach to the bones of the knee directly – the calf muscles, hamstrings, quadriceps and adductors. We are also likely to work on the muscles which don’t have a direct attachment to the knee area but which are nonetheless vital to maintain normal alignment and control of the femur and tibia, such as gluteus medius and tibialis posterior. It’s hard for your quads and hamstrings to work optimally when your hip is stiff, or when the arches of your feet are collapsing at every step!

However, if the passive systems (bone, cartilage and ligament) are significantly damaged, then we may also need to involve some of the other profesionals. Teamwork is key to success if you’re to make the best possible recovery – and don’t forget that the most important member of your team is you!

Knee instability physio assessments are 90 minutes

Follow-up sessions if required are usually an hour – it’s important to me to be very thorough when it comes to Knee instability physiotherapy, as I want to be the last knee physiotherapist you need.

Nell Mead Physiotherapy YouTube Channel

Where i share my logical and simple formula to help you improve your own body. See all my knee instability physiotherapy related videos.

Knee pain specialist physio - Client reviews

"The best physio in town! Nell has been helping with the rehabilitation of an aspiring tennis player following major knee reconstruction and cartilage graft and the results so far have been impressive. Always available for help, advice and those healing hands, Nell is hugely recommended. She has also helped two other members of the family with other issues, all with equal great success. Thanks Nell ;)"

Charlie Carrick

"Attempting to play tennis for 24 consecutive hours is no easy task. Especially with an arthritic knee and a replaced hip! But Nell and her team took care of all of my needs, and made sure that I was still walking (and functioning) at its conclusion. Great knowledge, and a real passion for their work. I would definitely recommend Nell...."

Bright Ideas for Tennis Charity

"I visited Nell recently, having met her a few weeks earlier and describing to her a long-running problem I'd had with my knee. Where others had failed to identify the cause or the cure, her Holmes-like investigative questions and observations soon isolated the cause of the problem (oddly enough a decades-old collarbone break) and she was able to treat it. Remarkable results and I couldn't recommend 'the best physio in London' highly enough. Thank you Nell "

Martin Gladdish