Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapy Team - Whitby, Scarborough, Pocklington and Ryedale

About us

The Musculoskeletal (MSK) Physiotherapy team provide an outpatient-based physiotherapy service for those who have problems affecting the musculoskeletal system. This includes:

Muscles
Bones
Joints
Tendons
Ligaments

Some examples of these include:

A recent soft tissue injury such as twisted knee, back strain or sprained ankle
Sports injuries
Following orthopaedic surgery, such as a knee replacement or shoulder operation
Following a broken bone (fracture)
Osteoarthritis

The service is available for adults aged 18 or over within Scarborough and Whitby, and for both adults and children in Pocklington. 

(If the patient is under the age of 18 within Scarborough and Whitby you will need to ask your GP to refer you to AHP Childrens services instead.)

How we can help

Musculoskeletal Physiotherapists are Health Professionals with specialist training in the diagnosis and treatment of Musculoskeletal conditions.

Musculoskeletal physiotherapy is about rehabilitation, us helping you to restore movement and strength to improve your function. Our goal is for you to be able to manage your problem by regaining and maintaining an independent lifestyle as far as possible when you are affected by an accident, illness, injury or disability.

We will ‘listen to you so we can understand your story’ and then use our experience and knowledge to work with you to determine what your problem is and the best way of helping you manage it using the latest research and evidence.

Physiotherapy is most successful when we work together.  After assessment the Physiotherapist will set goals and develop an appropriate exercise-based rehabilitation plan for you which you must be willing to participate in. MSK Physiotherapy is not a passive treatment. Our treatments will involve you actively following our advice and taking on some of our suggestions.

Some of the ways we can help include:

Assessing and diagnosing what the problem is
Considering what factors might be causing it, or making it worse
Optimising and promoting rehabilitation following injury
Restoring movement to your joints
Helping address muscle weakness or imbalance
Restoring your confidence by helping increase independence and improving  movement
Educating you about healthy living, especially exercise and activity
Providing advice on work, leisure and daily living
Managing a long term condition and advising on how to reduce the risk of problems in the future

What we do not do

The MSK Physiotherapy service does not see patients whose primary problem is not Musculoskeletal including:

Neurological issues such as weakness after a stroke or neurological illness eg. multiple-sclerosis (MS) - (Neurological Physiotherapy)
Rheumatological eg Rheumatoid arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Fibromyalgia , hEDS - (Rheumatological physiotherapy)
Respiratory (breathing) problems - (Respiratory Physiotherapy)
Rehabilitation following Heart Attack - (Cardiac Physiotherapy)
Rehabilitation based problems such as declining mobility and falls in elderly patients. - (community physiotherapy)
Pelvic Health problems such as incontinence or vaginal prolapse or pregnancy related issues – (pelvic health Physiotherapy – self refer link : https://www.humberandnorthyorkshirematernity.org.uk/perinatal-pelvic-health-services/)
Chronic (long term) pain problems (Pain Clinic)
Splinting or braces, insoles (Orthotics)
Feet issues like Toe pain or foot joint pain or if you feel you may need insoles (Podiatry – self refer link: https://www.hdft.nhs.uk/services/podiatry/podiatry-referral/)
We also cannot refer you for scans, x-rays or other investigations.

If you require physiotherapy for the above conditions please contact your GP to ask them to refer you to the appropriate service.

How to access the MSK service

To access and self-refer to this service please use the link below:

https://forms.office.com/e/CM1hwYUWd6,

if you have difficulties accessing the online form call 01653 609609.

What you can do while waiting to hear from us:

For some helpful tips on managing your pain at home, please see the following page and the links listed below for further guidance: https://www.csp.org.uk/conditions/managing-pain-home