FAQs
Why do I have lower and upper back pain? I also have pain in my legs and in two fingers on the left hand?
At Physiofusion we get a lot of questions regarding different conditions and problems that people are suffering from. We love answering each one personally as everyone has different needs and symptoms can vary. However, some can be answered generally and we hope that this will provide a more efficient service for our visitors.
I’m sorry to hear that you are struggling with so many painful areas.
It may well be that they are all connected to some degree i.e. a mechanical fault that is forcing your body to make changes in other areas (like a domino effect). If it is this then essentially, we find the first domino, we find the answers
The mention of your fingers, however, indicates the possibility that you have some nerve entrapment somewhere.
From this you are probably gathering that because of the areas involved there are a number of options as to what could be happening here and I’m afraid without a thorough assessment it would be hard for me to give specific advice I’m afraid.
Things for you to focus on to assist your body include-
1. Making sure you are using your body evenly…even at rest
2. Ask a chemist about anti-inflammatories if you feel the spine or nerve could be inflamed
3. Try to make sure when you are sitting that you have a support in the curve of your low back to maintain good posture
I hope this helps but if you have tried this already of just feel you would like to know exactly what is going on feel free to call for an assessment (01282 453 110). Our assessments take up to an hour (cost £40) but include a treatment too. Kate would be particularly excellent with this type of condition/symptoms (in case you do call).
I have general aches and pains from running long distances, any advice?
Well done for seeking advice. There a lovely bit of research that was done pre, during and post the London Olympics that studied the injuries that were occurring and 90% of them cause wise were via ‘overtraining’.
This includes the progressive increase in training associated with ‘putting the miles in’.
My best advice here is –
1. Try to get your body ‘re-set’ ie massaged or stretched out or the niggly injuries sorted so that you are back to your baseline
2. Hydration is key! Hydration allows your body to detox from previous training so that you do not accumulate toxins associated with exercise
3. Warming up very thoroughly reduces injury prevention (stretching does not…stretching is more important post exercise to again stop toxin accumulation)
4. Try to not add more than 10% increase in exercise from 1 week to the next. When the body gets to its limits it struggles to cope with more than 10% without something going wrong
I hope this helps but if you need an assessment with a physio to review your body/injuries, a massage, orthotics for running etc feel free to call us on 01282 453 110. Liz is particularly experienced in these types of issues.
Consent to Treatment
People over the age of 16
People aged 16 or over are entitled to consent to their own treatment. This can only be overruled in exceptional circumstances.
Like adults, young people (aged 16 or 17) are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there’s significant evidence to suggest otherwise.
Where the individual is deemed not to have capacity to consent to treatment, in these circumstances a parent, guardian or person responsible for the client’s wellbeing should attend all appointments with the patient and it is their responsibility to provide consent.
Children Under 16 Years
Children who are aged 14-16 can consent to their own treatment if they’re believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what’s involved in their treatment.
Where a patient aged 14-16 is deemed to have sufficient capacity to consent to treatment, these patients can be seen on their own for treatment. While this is the case, Physiofusion has taken the approach that we require the express authorisation of the person providing parental responsibility. This authorisation must be gained prior to the patient attending their appointment on their own.
If you have any concerns or questions regarding this, please direct these to the Practice Manager.
How we use your data
We care about your personal data and it is important that you know how we use it and how we keep it safe.
This privacy notice is not exhaustive, but of course if you have any specific questions regarding the data we hold about you, we would be more than happy to explain this. You can contact our Practice Manager at info@physiofusion.co.uk or telephone 01282 453 110.
Information we hold and collect about you
We need to use information about you in various forms and we will only use the minimum amount of information necessary. Sometimes we will use information which does not identify you i.e. statistics / anonymised reports.
We process information such as your name, address, post code, date of birth and contact email / telephone numbers. We will also process information about your medical history and the treatment you receive when you attend your appointments at Physiofusion.
At your initial assessment we will ask for written consent for us to hold this information, you will also be asked to provide consent verbally at each of your appointments.
We are passionate about our patient’s wellbeing and will share information with you on how to improve or maintain good health. On occasion we do have special offers for our clients, we will ask for your consent to send this information to you. Please be rest assured that we never share your information with 3rd parties for marketing purposes.
Information we share about you
Following your initial assessment, it is our normal practice to update your GP, we will inform them of your condition and how we plan to treat you, if for any reason you would not like us to do this please let your clinician know.
Dependant on your clinical needs, we may need to also write to your GP or relevant Consultant to recommend they arrange further investigatory tests on your behalf, this will involve us sharing clinical information about you with them.
If you have been referred to us by a Medico Legal company, Solicitors, Employer or Health Insurer and they are financing your treatment, you will have been asked to provide consent for us to share information regarding your treatment, this may include our diagnosis of your condition, proposed treatment plan and updates regarding your progress during treatment.
Our Commitment to Data Privacy and Confidentiality Issues
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will only process personal confidential data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulations (2018). We are legally responsible for ensuring that all personal confidential data that we hold or share about you is done in compliance with this legislation. Physiofusion has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential and in a way that always respects your rights and well-being.
All information that we hold about you will be held securely and confidentially. Your personal data may be held in the form of paper notes, electronic cloud storage, email and also held on our diary management system. Steps are taken to ensure that your data is only accessible by authorised staff on a need to know basis.
All staff receive appropriate and ongoing training to ensure that they are aware of their personal responsibilities and have contractual obligations to uphold confidentiality, they are also trained in reporting data breach incidents.
We do have a legal requirement to hold medical records regarding your treatment for the following periods of time:
- Until the patients 25th birthday or 26th if the young person was under 17 at conclusion of treatment.
- 8 Years after the conclusion of treatment
We take steps to ensure that any service providers we use who support the storage of personal data, for example our diary management system, that they are also compliant under Data Protection and GDPR requirements.
Yours rights
You have a legal right to have your information processed fairly and lawfully, you also have the right to access any information we hold about you.
You have the right for Physiofusion to hold your information confidential and secure.
You have the right to request that any information held about you is amended if incorrect.
If you would like to request information that we hold about you, then please contact the Practice Manager at info@physiofusion.co.uk or call 01282 453 110.
You have the right to refuse or withdraw consent to information sharing at any time by using the details above, the Practice Manager will explain the consequences of withdrawing consent to you.
Complaints
The protection of your personal data is very important to us and for this reason we do take complaints exceptionally seriously. If you have any concerns that you have regarding the collection of your data we would encourage you to bring these concerns to our attention, we also welcome any suggestion on how we could make any improvements. If you would like to contact us regarding this, or would like to make a complaint please contact the Practice Manager via info@physiofusion.co.uk or alternatively you can call 01282 453 110.