A physiotherapist working with a community football team arranged for 70 players to be screened for heart defects in memory of a physio who died after a half marathon.

Ralph Murwill died aged just 28 immediately after finishing the Nottingham half marathon in 2008.

Colleague Kate Sheehy and others at Richmond Physiotherapy raised money in his memory and arranged for a physio to work with youngsters playing for the Balham Blazers football club.

The physiotherapist, Darren Gregoire, arranged for players at the club, aged nine to 19, to be screened for heart problems by charity Cardiac Risk in the Young at St George’s Hospital in nearby Tooting.

The charity’s mobile screening unit is due to visit the club during this football season to screen another group of players.

Ralph Murwill’s parents, Sue and Dave Murwill, have agreed to sponsor the Balham Blazers physio post for a year.

In a letter to Ms Sheehy, they wrote: ‘Thank you for promoting the awareness of the conditions that can lead to sudden cardiac death – just one person becoming aware of a potential problem would make the effort worthwhile.’

Article Reference - http://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/heart-screening-arranged-physio’s-memory

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If you’re training for the marathon this year, and its the first time you’ve attempted such a distance, first things first -

WELL DONE! SUCH AN ENORMOUS DISTANCE !

Secondly, bear in mind that the worst thing you can do as the event comes closer is to overtrain. Don’t be tempted to push up your distance too drastically, you run the risk of provoking an overuse injury which could prevent you from taking part on the big day.

The sorts of injuries we see, coming up to the marathon, are inflammation of the tendons - the patellar tendon and Achilles tendon are most common. Achilles tendon problems are thought to arise from inadequate stretching (or warm - up) before sport. But sometimes an Achilles injury happens well into a run so you know you’re tissues are warm. Tendons are made from connective tissue - very strong - and elastin - to give the springy character .

The Achilles tendon is said to be the strongest in the body, think about it - you can take your whole body weight on one leg and rise up on to your toes – there’s a lot of power in the calf muscle and the Achilles tendon takes the strain as it attaches to the heel bone.

Running requires the same sort of muscle action but this time at speed so the force is even greater. The repetition takes its toll, and if you increase the demand too rapidly by pushing up your distance or the frequency of training the tendon might just begin to react - a little inflammation in the fibres slowly starts to build up. The other thing about tendons is they have a relatively poor blood supply. Muscles are full of blood, vital to their action of course, all that oxygen required to make the muscles contract and relax. This means that a muscle injury will probably heal very well, all the necessary constituents for tissues to repair are readily to hand in the blood, but tendons like other connective tissues don’t usually require much blood, so when an injury does occur everything is very slow, the cell repair takes longer and re-injury is more of a risk.

In the last two months, a relatively minor tendon injury can snow ball into a major problem, slow to heal, it stops you from running, your training regime starts to go out the window, all your hard work over the past year starts to look as though its going to come to nothing. They are treatable of course but they can be avoided by resisting the urge to push your training that little bit too much. If you’ve never run a marathon before the question will be looming large - can I really do that distance? My advice would be to concentrate on cautious training coming up to the event, listen to your body, if you think you might be getting a bit of persistent tenderness get it checked out, don’t leave it to chance. If you’ve been running comfortably and following a sensible distance regime, stick to it – don’t be tempted to just try that little bit more. Believe in your running ability and on the day it will all come together.

Richmond Physiotherapy,
Lawton Gate House
7 Hill Street
Richmond TW9 1SX

Tel: 020 8332 1132

For National Back Pain Week, Chartered Physiotherapists recommends that in every home, the T.V. remote control should be hidden. People are spending more and more time sitting in front of the television. At least if they didn’t use the remote control they could get some sort of exercise by moving from sofa to telly to change channels!

Spinal problems are often made worse by staying in the same position for prolonged periods of time, so even the small amount of postural change involved in this simple movement really can be beneficial. Our sedentary lifestyles definitely increase the likelihood of developing back problems. Many people with back trouble will recall a specific incident when their back ‘went ‘ but the fact is that our backs are so unfit that any kind of demand can be a trigger - just like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Better still to get out of the T.V. room altogether. Try working a regular walk into your daily schedule, maybe a lunchtime stroll or perhaps you could park your car a little further from your destination and walk. School runs could incorporate a little regular exercise for the benefit of parents and children alike - just park the car a little further from the school and try a bit of walking. Less back pain and probably fewer headaches from all that frenzied milling about in the car trying to park by the school gates…

Contact us for me information: Tel: 020 8332 1132

O.K. I’m ready,this year. I’ve done all my fitness training, I’ve got excellent equipment, my boots feel really good, bindings are just right. I’ve had expert tuition all through the first morning, everything is set. The sun is shining, conditions are great….. so where did that guy come from ! completely out of control ! straight across the back of me, next thing I know I’m sliding down on my back, legs akimbo and my knee is really hurting I’ll give it a couple of minutes rest and see how it feels… not too bad, so let’s ski on down.

Imagine that’s you, by the end of the day that knee is aching rather more and feels quite stiff, going up and downstairs is difficult and feels sore. You’ve got four more days to ski, what should you do ?

Remember you are likely to experience some muscle fatigue and a few general aches and pains after the first day but there’s a difference.The symptoms may vary but basically if it doesn’t feel right by the end of the day it’s best to take some action.

What happens if you just wait and see ?

Well most of us spend the evening sitting (and drinking), then perhaps slipping and sliding back to the chalet, you might even have a bit of a thrash on the dance floor - not necceassrily the best medicine !

Sadly alcohol increases the swelling in the injured soft tissues, making things worse. Of course a little takes the pain away but - can you believe it - an excess actually increases pain ! The other activities listed are, hopefully self-explanatory.

The sensible approach is to make sure you have something to eat and rehydrate. Then…

Rest the knee,
ice the knee - regularly, through the evening, ten minutes at a time - every hour would be very keen;
compress the knee - with a firmish bandage and elevate it - adequate elevation means resting with your leg supported - up - higher than your heart
Rest is the recommended first aid protocol for any soft tissue injury if you want to give it the best conditions for repair. Soft tissue does not recover completely overnight but healing will start if you let it.

If you’re still limping the next day, your best bet is to check with the local doctor. The diagnosis can be anything from a strained thigh muscle to a cartilage or ligament tear. It can be confusing, the serious damage is not always the most painful, so it really is better to check.

You may be in two minds about it, you might be thinking “yes it’s sore but I can tough it out”, well you might be right , mentally you may be tough, but muscles don’t always get that message, it’s only when you get off the ski-lift and push your weight through your legs that you realise one of them just isn’t working and - yes that’s when you risk wrecking the other leg !!!

Does this all sound far too sensible, are you just out for fun and a bit of a laugh ? Well, it’s only advice and it’s up to you whether you follow it.

Of course you might find that if you do the right thing, one day’s rest is all it needs, then off you go, no problems for the whole of the rest of your trip.

If you do get a bit of an injury while skiing and it doesn’t completely clear up by the time you get back, then it may well lurk, almost forgotten in everyday activity but definintely not 100 % when you do anything approaching exercise - like running for the bus or leaping up a few stairs at a time. That’s something that needs to be checked out by your local physiotherapist , (there’s one at 16 King Street Richmond isn’t there ?) You can get advice on an appropriate course of treatment or home exercises to get it right - ready for the next trip !

Richmond Physiotherapy,
Lawton Gate House
7 Hill Street
Richmond TW9 1SX

Tel: 020 8332 1132