However there is a new therapeutic approach which can help people who are hypermobile to realign their gait as well as relieve MSK pain and help to improve mobility. This approach is not only drug-free but surgery free and with impressive clinical results. In fact, it is clinically proven to reduce knee pain in almost nine out of ten (87%) of patients – there is nothing else like it on the market. The approach is called AposTherapy, a revolutionary biomechanical therapy devised by a leading orthopaedic surgeon and a sports physician which will allow thousands of patients to literally walk away from knee pain. The approach includes a very sophisticated gait analysis of our musculoskeletal body, as well as meeting with clinicians to understand your lifestyle and habits so that special biomechanical shoes consisting of four intelligently designed and adjustable pods which are integrated into the soles ‘Pertupods’ of these special therapeutic trainers can be bespokely aligned to the individual and transform the way we walk by forcing the brain to re learn how we walk so that we can alter our alignment to help alleviate the pain and improve our mobility. From then on you wear the specially calibrated shoes for just 30mins-1hour a day to start to see a difference. Due to easy nature of the treatment the compliance levels and success stories are excellent.
GP Dr Stillman who sees many patients with knee issues explains: “The science is fascinating, but fundamentally it is very simple. The Pertupods create a hint of instability which prompts a flurry of signals between the brain and muscles to action lots of minor corrections and adjustments to restore perfect balance. Some patients report an almost immediate improvement in symptoms and the clinical evidence is very impressive. But this process of feedback and adjustment also re-educates the muscles and promotes an optimal gait at all times.”
A clinical study with 1,300 patients showed that:
• Almost nine out of ten (87%) noticed a reduction in pain
• 88% experienced improved mobility, and
• 92% said they would recommend AposTherapy®.
Case study on hypermobility and how AposTherapy helped her: Georgina 62 from Devon
“Two years ago, at the age of 60, I was suffering a lot of pain and swelling in one ankle, for which I was referred to an orthopaedic consultant who told me that I had no alternative but to have extensive surgery to rebuild the soft tissue all around my ankle. Having already had a total hip replacement the previous year, at the relatively early age of 59, I did not want to revisit major surgery so soon, and on the advice of a good friend I made an appointment with AposTherapy almost as a last resort.
I did not even know I was hypermobile until I walked into Seema’s clinic at AposTherapy. In about 30 seconds she recognised I was hypermobile. I knew I had very mobile joints, but just thought that was normal! I have had chronic back and neck problems, and almost daily headaches since I was a teenager. I never associated that with what I now realise is hypermobility. I have been to more doctors, physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, masseurs, Reiki healers – you name it – than I can hope to remember. Some of them brought some temporary relief; some of them didn’t. I have taken more analgesics, quite literally, than most people have had the proverbial hot dinners. It has just become a way of life. I have also suffered from extreme fatigue for many years, and have had countless blood tests which have all been ‘normal’. I was beginning to feel as if it was ‘all in my head’. I was even prescribed antidepressants for a while, and was on steroids for two years. I gave up both as I never felt I really should be taking them as they were only masking the symptoms.
Let me talk about the benefits that I experienced from AposTherapy first: within a few months of using the boots, all pain in my ankle had gone and the swelling was hugely reduced. Two years later, I continue to use the boots, and I have never been back to the orthopaedic consultant, as I really feel I don’t need to. I regularly walk miles. My back (not the reason I went to Apos!) has gradually improved to the point where I can now say that it is causing me fewer problems than it has in nearly 50 years. Occasionally it aches but I always know what has caused it – usually carrying something heavy – and I can control that. I would recommend
AposTherapy to anyone with similar problems, and my main regret is that I didn’t discover it earlier; I may well have avoided the hip surgery.
Discovering I was hypermobile has been a longer, more complicated and very interesting journey. I was determined to get a formal diagnosis, more for my son’s sake than mine, and my GP referred me to a rheumatologist who was not interested, and then to a geneticist. He told me that I most likely have EDS Type 3, and that my son probably has the same. We are also almost certain that my mother, who died at 86 and suffered a lifetime of pain, had the same condition. There is no cure, but knowing what one is dealing with is so useful. I live in Devon so going to London for treatment, over and above the three-monthly Apos visits, was not a viable option. However, as soon as I knew what I needed help with, it was not difficult to find a wonderful physiotherapist who specialises in EDS and fibromyalgia – which she has also diagnosed, and told me goes hand in hand with EDS. Needless to say, this is not on the NHS. I pay for it, but it is worth every penny and more. My physio and Seema from AposTherapy have contacted each other to discuss a treatment programme for me.
AposTherapy was not something that my local physio had come across before, but she thinks the principle is excellent, and she has designed a daily exercise programme for me, to be carried out while wearing the boots. I cannot claim that I am never without pain, but now I feel much more in control, as I can nearly always pinpoint what has caused it. If I do too much gardening, lifting of suitcases or heavy shopping, vigorous housework etc I suffer from pain and debilitating fatigue (OK – that’s my excuse!) If I behave myself I don’t! It is a question of weighing up the risks against the benefits, not doing anything for too long without breaks, and going to see my physio to have a lot of muscles released if I overdo it – which I frequently do! Above all, knowing what has caused me to feel horrible is a huge relief. Not knowing what is wrong, and being branded as a hypochondriac because nothing shows on blood-tests, is one of the worst things that EDS and fibromyalgia patients have to go through. I feel very frustrated that no one diagnosed hypermobility before I was 60; if I had had that diagnosis I might have avoided a lot of the damage I have caused to my soft tissues throughout my life. However, being diagnosed at 60 is far better than never being diagnosed, and it is totally thanks to Seema at Apos that that happened. I went hoping for relief for my ankle. I never expected it to be so holistic.”