FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

You do not need to be refered by a GP or consultant to book a physiotherapy appointment. If you are self paying you can self-refer for physiotherapy, however some insurance companies may require a referal from a GP or consultant first. If you are insured, please contact your insurance company to find out more.

Yes, we do accept insurance patients to see some of our physiotherapists. However our Senior and Consultant Physiotherapist fees are not covered by insurance. If you wish to see one of our senior or consultant physios, we only accept self paying appointments. All insurance companies cover different fees, therefore please contact us to find out if your insrance can be used for our physiotherapy appointments.

Physiotherapy initial assessment with our lead Consultant Physiotherapist are £85 and folllow up appointments are £70. A detailed list of all our prices can be found on our pricing page: https://www.extramilehealth.com/prices

We advise you to wear shorts and a T-shirt/vest for your visit so that we can assess you optimally. Unless you have a preference or reason otherwise, then we can also accomodate working over the top of clothing. We have changing facillities and showers on site should you wish to use these pre or post your visit. If you are attending for a running injury, we would also recommend bringing your current running trainers.

All our face to face Physio appointments are 60 minutes duration. Our virtual appointments are 30 minutes. Further details can be found on our pricing page: https://www.extramilehealth.com/prices

We are based in Manchester, UK at the Manchester Institute of Health and Performance (MIHP) https://www.mihp.co.uk/ Directions to the MIHP can be found on our location page: https://www.extramilehealth.com/find-us-contact

We have folllowed government guidance and our industry guidance to help create a safe environment as possible for your visit. The details of how we do this are covered in our COVID-19 policy: https://www.extramilehealth.com/covid-19-policy

If you cannot attend our apppointment for whatever reason then we ask you to let us know with at least 48 hours notice. All the details of our cancellation policy can be found on of terms and conditions of service page: https://www.extramilehealth.com/terms-conditions-of-service Please call or email us, contact details can be found via our contact page: https://www.extramilehealth.com/find-us-contact

According to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Physiotherapy helps to restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury, illness or disability. https://www.csp.org.uk/careers-jobs/what-physiotherapy As physios, we help people affected by an injury, illness or disability to optimise their function and improve their physical health. This can be through a range of treatments including manual therapy, massage therapy, exercise programs, rehabilitation, strength and conditioning, education and advise. Our aim is to help reduce pain and guide a return to physical activity, work or sport.

Low back pain is one of the most common injuries to affect the UK population. Physiotherapy is an effective management approach for low back pain. Individually tailored physical exercise and rehabilitation programs, along with education on pain management are often effective in the treatment of low back pain. Treatments such as massage and manipulation may produce short term pain relief, however these interventions are unlikely to provide a long-term solution or prevent the recurrence of low back pain.

Neck pain can occur suddenly following an accident, sporadically, or can be of a more gradual onset result in long term neck pain. Treatment of neck pain should be tailored to your individual presentation. For long standing neck pain a combination of exercise and education on self-management of are often the most effective long-term treatments. Manual therapy such as massage and acupuncture may provide short term pain relief, however, should be combined with long term management strategies.

A repetitive strain injury (RSI) can occur when a structure is overloaded following a repetitive task. Physiotherapy can help to reduce pain, identify the cause of injury, restore function of the injured tissue and prevent injury recurrence. Often this is achieved through a combination of strategies including manual therapy to reduce acute pain, education about the cause of pain and rehabilitation or exercises to improve tissue function and return to pain free activity.

Physiotherapy rehabilitation recieved prior to surgery can help to improve outcomes following your operation. Through guided preoperative rehabilitation optimising muscle and joint function, recovery and function following surgery may be improved. In several scientific studies, physiotherapy guided rehabilitation received prior to surgery and following surgery has shown improved recovery outcomes, particularly in anterior cruciate ligament injuries (ACL injury). References: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/6/385.short https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/5/371?legid=bjsports%3B43/5/371 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0363546516652594

Yes. In many instances Physiotherapy can imporve outcomes following surgery compared to no physiotherapy. Physio aims to restore mobility, strength and tissue function following an operation.

Most likely, yes. Exercise is often useful in the treatment and rehabilitation of many musculoskeletal conditions. Exercise aims to imporve tissue function and structural properties helping you to reduce pain and return to pain free function. We work with you to establish an individualised treatment program including exercises. Our physios will guide you on the most appropriate exercises for your injury and how to perform them correctly.

This can depend on multiple factors that are not always predictable. Each injury and individual may respond and recover differently, depending upon the severity of your injury and the type of tissue injuried (e.g. muscle, tendon, bone). We work using scientific evidence in order to provide an approximate time scale for your recovery.

We see several injuries caused by gym training. We often see overuse injuries, or injuries caused by increasing an exercise too quickly. This includes suddenly increasing load or lifting more frequently. Our physios aim to diagnose your injury, the cause of your injury and provide you with treatment and management plan to get you back in the gym.

Acupuncture is a form of alternative therapy often performed by Physiotherapists. Traditional acupuncture is based upon traditional Chinese Medicine which uses acupuncture needles to stimulate specific points on the body to restore a "balanced state of health" or homeostasis. More commonly UK based physiotherapists perform a form of acupuncture called "dry needling" or "western acupuncture" where needles are used to faciliate pain relief at specific injury sites. (Ref: https://www.aacp.org.uk/page/14/what-is-acupuncture) Some of our physiotherapists are qualified in the use of acupunture. If this is a specific treatment you are interested in we recommend contacting us to find out more.

According to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, rehabilitation aims to optimise patient function and wellbeing, to help integrate you back into your chosen activities, lifestyles or work. At Extra Mile Health, we work with you to establish and achieve a rehabilitation program to help you achieve your goals. Ref: https://www.csp.org.uk/publications/physiotherapy-works-rehabilitation

Yes, through specific exercise you can improve strength and/or flexibility. If your aim is to improve strength and/or flexibility, our physio team can help to design a strength and/or flexibility program to help you achieve your goals.

Physiotherapy rehabilitation and guided return to sport can be effective in the management of hamstring strain injuries. Following a hamstring injury there are often changes to hamstring muscle structure and function that can lead to an increased risk of further hamstring injury. The risk of injury may also be influenced by the severity of your hamstring injury, with more sever or high grade hamstring injuries at greater risk of reinjury. Our team uses the latest scientific evidence to identify biomechanical, structural and function deficits following hamstring injury to guide your return to sport and reduce the risk of further injury.

Posture as a cause of pain or injury is a common myth. Currently, there is no strong evidence to suggest posture causes back pain or other musculoskeletal injuries. Posture is a form of loading activity, and with any loading activity, unaccustomed or a sudden increase in the frequency of loading may influence injury onset. Therefore, it is not posture per se, that influences injury, but more likely a change in loading activity. There is no “best posture” and therefore it is safe to adopt different postures. Frequently changing your posture to find a comfortable position, or regularly moving around is safe, and if in pain, can help to alleviate your symptoms.

We are specilalist running injury physio's. Our team are runners and have worked with runners of all levels. At Extra Mile Health we are able to provide you with access to a specialist running physio who understands running, can diagnose running injuries and guide your return to running. Visit our about page to find out more about our running physio's

We would advise to reduce any painful activity and seek advice from one of our physio team. Through a physio assessment we can help identify whether you are safe to continue running and help get you to the start line.

At Extra Mile Health we understand how important running is to you. As runners ourselves, we want to keep you running. Therefore, our team of running physios are able to help advise you on how to keep training safely and help you overcome your injury. This can be through advice on how to modify your training, exercises to reduce pain and help your injury recover as well as technique changes through gait retraining to help offload an injury. Therefore if you'd like to keep running, but are struggling with an injury, contact us to see how we can help https://www.extramilehealth.com/find-us-contact

If you've sprained your ankle during a run, the initial advice is to protect the injury, elevate the injured area, avoid anti-inflammatory medication (this can reduce tissue healing and prolong the injury), compress using an ellastic bandade or compression and get further assessment advice from one of our physios. Our team will then help ensure the injury is safe to progress, help increase loading of the injury, guide methods of cross training to help you maintain fitness during an injury and gradually return to running.

Muscle strains can be common during running. Most frequently runners may experience calf strain or hamstring strain characterised by a sudden onset of pain in the calf or back of the leg. Our advice is to follow the simple rules of protection, elevation, compression and get your injury assessed by our physiotherapists.

Our team are all experienced runners with specialist knowledge in helping you return to run following a running injury. Through their experience as runners, having suffered many injuries, they can help advise you on cross training methods, injury rehabilitation and guide your return to run when you are ready to get back on the roads. At Extra Mile Health our staff are experienced running physios, here to help you achieve your personal best.

Running injuries can be caused by many different factors. Factors such as our training routine, running trainers, strength and weaknesses are all commonly thought to influence running injuries. However other factors we often do not consider can also contribute to running injuries. This can include psychological stress, a change in work routine, reduced sleep and nutrition. Our team of running physios aim to assess all of the factors that may contribute to running injuries to help identify the underlying cause of your injury and advise you on how best to reduce your risk of future injury. Through working alongside some the UK's leading specialists we can help advise you on the best people to help address the multiple factors that may cause running injuries.

Calf tears or calf strain injuries are a common running injury that can occur to the gastrocnemius or soleus muscle. They can present as a sudden pain felt in the calf during running or a gradual tightness or cramping felt in the calf. Physio can help to identify the underlying cause of the injury, advise you on exercises to help recover from a calf injury and guide your return to running following a calf strain injury.

Achilles tendon pain or Achilles tendinopathy can start as a gradual onset. Usually symptoms are first noticed as morning pain or stiffness in the Achilles tendon which is often most painful when walking downstairs. Physiotherapy is the best management for Achilles tendon pain with the aim to help reduce pain and gradually increase the load tolerance of the tendon to ensure your tendon is ready to return to run. Often Achilles tendon requires careful management of training routines to allow optimal recovery between sessions to prevent recurrence of Achilles pain.

Injuries are common in running, however there are steps you can take to help reduce the risk of running injury. This can include a gradual progression of training volume and intensity, avoiding sudden increase in mileage. Including strengthening exercises to address underlying weaknesses and improve tissue tolerance to loading. Ensuring adequate nutrition intake to help your body recovery, maintaining good sleep and recovery between training, and listening to your body. Small tightness and injury niggles can often be a warning sign that you are doing too much. Listen to your body and get advice from a specialist running physio to help prevent running injuries.

We do provide sports massage for runners. Sports massage can help reduce muscle soreness and increase range of movement, but is unlikely to cure an injury or help you perform. At Extra Mile Health our physios can help to advise you on the best way to improve your running performance and injury recovery.

Pain in the heel when running is a symptom of many different running injuries. Including plantar fasciitis (or plantar heel pain), Achilles tendinopathy or even, although quite rare, a calcaneal stress fracture. If heel pain is preventing you running, you should seek advise from a running specialist to help gain an accurate diagnosis and ensure you are safe to continue running.

Our team are specialist running physios who can help advice you on all things running, from training methods, running trainers, technique or running gait and strength and conditioning exercises. Through our experience in running we aim to help you achieve your best. We also work closely with many running coaches to ensure you’re working with the right people to achieve your personal best.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome often presents as pain on the outside of the knee that gets worse into running. This can often be aggravated by running downhill and eases when you stop running. Patellofemoral pain (often termed runner’s knee) can also present as pain on the outside of the knee, however this is more often located towards the front of the knee cap and also felt during squatting and when walking up and down the stairs. Both of these injuries can be effectively managed with physiotherapy. Our team aim to porvide you with a correct diagnosis and a management plan to get you back running.

Medial tibial stress syndrome (commonly called shin splints) often presents as pain on the inside of the shin during running. This injury is an overload injury to the shin bone (tibia) and can be caused by a number of factors including a sudden increase in training, reduced calf muscle strength, reduced hip muscle strength, running technique of biomechanics or even poor nutrition and sleep habits. If you think you have shin splints, contact our team and we can arrange for an in depth assessment to identify the cause of your shin pain and help provide you with a rehabilitation program tailored to you.

The knee is one of the most commonly injured areas during running. Types of knee injuries often include, iliotibial band syndrome (ITB pain), Patellofemoral pain (runners knee) and patella tendinopathy. With their in depth knowledge of running injuries, our team of running physios aim to help identify the cause of your knee pain to create a management program to help reduce pain and guide your return to run.

Our team are all trained in sports massage. Sports massage can offer a range of benefits including reducing perceived muscle soreness, improving range of movement and providing short term pain relief. However, if you have a specific sport injury, sports massage is unlikely to get you better as injury recovery is often achieved through a combination of appropriate rehabilitation and graded return to sport and physical activity.

Sports massage can help to reduce muscle soreness and improve range of movement. Although many people may feel a benefit from sports massage, it is important to know that if you have a specific sport injury, sports massage is unlikely to get you better. While sports massage may help to provide short term pain relief, injury recovery is often achieved through appropriate rehabilitation and a graded return to sport and physical activity.

Yes, hamstring injuries are common sports injuries. At Extra Mile Health we ensure we keep up to date with the latest scientific evidence to help identify the cause of hamstring injuries and provide you with an individualised hamstring rehabilitation program.

Gait analysis is the study of human movement, this can include walking, running or other forms of sporting movements. At Extra Mile Health we specialise in running gait analysis, analysing your running technique to help identify areas which may contribute to ongoing injuries or could help improve your running performance. Our clinic Director, Chris Bramah, has spent the last 10 years providing running gait analysis assessments for runners of all levels while conducing scientific studies investigating the running biomechanics of running injuries and running performance. https://www.extramilehealth.com/specialist-services

At Extra Mile Health we offer a range of gait analysis services, including our remote running gait analysis, 2D running gait analysis and 3D gait analysis assessments. Both our 2D and 3D gait analysis assessments are approximately 2 hours long. These include a full biomechanical assessment of your running technique combined with an in-depth physiotherapy assessment of your training history, injury history, muscular strength, endurance and range of movement. You are then given a report informing you of the findings of the gait analysis along with recommendations of where to improve. Our remote assessment is delivered online which means you can gain our advice on your running technique from anywhere across the UK. For this assessment we send you instructions to record the videos we require to assess your running technique. We then conduct an online video consultation to establish your aims and/or injury history before providing you with video feedback of your running technique along with recommendations.

Following your running gait analysis assessment, we provide you with a written report of findings and recommendations. We aim to provide you with a full running gait analysis report within 7 days of completing your appointment.

Yes, running gait analysis assessments aim to identify the cause of your injury and help you recover from injury. However, you do need to be able to do some running for us to provide a full assessment. Ideally you must be able to run for a minimum of 10 minutes for us to provide you with a running gait analysis assessment. If you would like a running gait analysis assessment but are not sure of whether this is suitable for you, please contact our team and we will be happy to talk running with you. https://www.extramilehealth.com/find-us-contact

Running gait analysis assessments are suitable for all runners. Over the last 10 years we have worked with runners of all levels helping to advise them on their running biomechanics or running form. From Olympic level athletes to those looking to start running or complete their first marathon, our running gait analysis assessments are tailored to your aims and ability.

Our running gait analysis aims to identify any areas that may contribute to injuries and inform injury recovery programs. At Extra Mile Health we understand that there are many different factors that can cause a running injury, not just running technique. Therefore, all our running gait analysis assessments are combined with a thorough physiotherapy assessment to identify all the possible causes of your running injury. This is then used to inform an individualised management and recovery program which aims to address the underlying cause of your injury. This can include running technique retraining or gait retraining, strength and conditioning exercises or even advice on the safe progression of your running. At Extra Mile Health our aim is to ensure your running is the priority.

Our remote running gait analysis assessments allow you to get expert running biomechanics advise without having to see us in person. This means you can access our running biomechanics knowledge from anywhere in the UK. We simply, send you a list of instructions to video your running technique and then analyse your running technique. This is combined with an online video consultation to understand your aims and injury history to provide you with feedback and recommendations. We then provide you with a video report of your running gait and a written report of recommendations.

Our remote running gait analysis provides you with a customised video report of your running technique. This can be downloaded to your mobile, tablet or computer which you can use for visual reference of your running technique.

Remote gait analysis assessments allow you to receive expert biomechanics advise from anywhere in the UK. This is useful if you are unable to attend in person. Our 2D assessments allow us to conduct a more thorough physiotherapy assessment and provide in person feedback and our 3D assessments utilise state of the art biomechanics technology to analyse your movement patterns (kinematics) and forces you experience when running (kinetics). Our range of running gait analysis services means we can provide you with a running gait analysis assessment suited to your individual needs.

You should bring the running trainers you use for your weekly training. If you use different running trainers throughout the week, we would recommend bringing these with you. We like to assess you in running trainers you would commonly use to get an idea of your biomechanics in different running trainers and different running speeds.

Our remote running gait analysis costs £150, 2D gait analysis costs £200 and 3D gait analysis costs £350. For a full list of our prices visit: https://www.extramilehealth.com/prices

Running gait analysis assessments can beenfit any sport which involves running. Whether you're picking up injuries when running or looking to improve your performance, a running gait analysis may help idenitfy any underlying contributors to injury. We regularily work with sports such as football or rugby to provide running gait analysis assessment following knee injury and hamstring injuries.