I have treated quite a few cases of migraines relatively successfully. However with any treatment, there may be patients who will respond little or not at all. Conversely, towards the other end of the spectrum, there will be patients for whom it will be life changing. Today I will share one of those life changing…
Occipital neuralgia is a subtype of headache that affects the back of the head (occipital region). It can present as a sharp piercing pain which can last from seconds to minutes. This can develop into debilitating chronic occipital pain. The cause of occipital neuralgia stems from damage of the greater occipital nerve, lesser occipital nerve…
A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached. Approximately 80 to 100% of individuals with an amputation experience sensations in their amputated limb. However, only a small percentage will experience painful phantom limb sensation. These sensations are relatively common in amputees and usually resolve within two to three years without treatment. But what are the options…
The term Neurogenic Bladder refers to nerve dysfunction of the bladder. Symptoms can include urinary incontinence, urgency, frequency and overactive bladder. Causes of neurogenic bladder may be from diseases of the central nervous system like strokes, tumours, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, dementia or other neurodegenerative diseases. It may also be from damage to the peripheral…
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is a very common disease in our society which stems from repetitive stress on the hands and wrists. Over time this leads to inflammation and swelling of an area of our wrist called the carpal tunnel. The structures that run through the carpal tunnel are flexor tendons (flexes fingers and wrists)…
Bell’s Palsy is a condition of acute onset facial paralysis due to dysfunction of the facial nerve. The presentation is quite confronting and usually patients rightly present to the emergency department worried about a stroke. Scans of the brain will be normal ruling out a stroke and a clinical diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy is made. …
Chronic groin pain is a very tricky problem to treat. In sport it is the 3rd most common reason after ACL and fracture for keeping players off the field. Because of the extremely complicated anatomy of the groin, pain in this area can come from quite a few different structures within the groin or passing…
I have seen quite a few patients now with chronic tail bone pain. The medical term for this is coccydynia. The common causes are childbirth and trauma, and women tend to have this condition more often than men. The usual story is that the patient fell backwards onto their bottom and it’s been hurting ever…
Faecal incontinence is the involuntary loss of faeces aka ‘soiling your pants’. It is one of the more under-recognised conditions due to the taboo nature of poo. Faecal incontinence reduces quality of life – affected patients do not want to go out as they fear soiling themselves and causing embarrassment etc. I noticed a regular…
Throughout the last 12 months, I would say that one of the most common problem I treat is sciatica. The sciatic nerve is the body’s longest nerve and is a collection of nerves that originate from the lower lumbar to sacral nerves (L4 to S3). The term sciatica refers to pain in the distribution of…
