Sharp Physiotherapy

Sharp Physiotherapy ▪️Specialist Sport & Musculoskeletal Injury Clinic.
📍 Bawtry 📍 Lincoln📍 Newark

Sharp Physiotherapy Doncaster helps adults aged 30–60 recover from pain, injury, and surgery so they can stay active and move with confidence. We treat all areas of the body including back, neck, shoulder, hip & groin, knee, foot, and ankle pain. Our services include physiotherapy, sports injury rehab, physio-led gym access, shockwave therapy, manual therapy, and post-surgery rehabilitation. Conveniently based in Bawtry with free parking and HCPC-registered clinicians, we're trusted by patients across Doncaster.

18/02/2026

That persistent, uncomfortable tension between your shoulder blades doesn’t always originate in your back.

One of the most common and overlooked contributors is tight chest muscles.

When the pectorals shorten, they pull the shoulders forward and promote a rounded upper-back posture.

This shifts the shoulder blades away from their ideal position, forcing the mid-back muscles to work much harder simply to keep you upright.

Over time, those muscles become tight, fatigued, and sore, not because they’re weak, but because they’re being overworked.

The answer isn’t endless stretching or massaging of the mid-back, but addressing what’s happening at the front of the body.

Releasing the chest allows the shoulders to return to a more natural resting position, reducing load through the mid-back, improving posture and breathing, and taking strain off the neck.

So if mid-back discomfort keeps coming back, don’t just treat the symptoms, address what’s pulling everything out of alignment.

The Sharp Physio Team

18/02/2026

If you think you have a hamstring injury, get it checked early.

The first step is working out what you have actually injured.

Is it a muscle belly strain or a tendon or muscle tendon junction injury?

They heal very differently.

Next is assessing how much strength you have lost.

A power deficit tells us how serious the injury really is and how aggressive rehab needs to be.

This is what drives the whole plan.

Without this, people guess.

They rest too much or too little.

They return too early.

And they re injure it.

Early assessment means:

A clear diagnosis
A clear timeline
And a clear rehab plan

So you can get back to your sport properly.
And not keep going round in circles.

The Sharp Physio Team

17/02/2026

Neck pain is often blamed on tight muscles at the back of the neck or tension through the shoulders, but one of the most commonly missed contributors sits right at the front...

The sternocleidomastoid, or SCM.

This long, powerful muscle runs from just behind the ear, down the side of the neck, to the collarbone and sternum.

Its role is to help rotate and tilt the head, but when it becomes tight or irritated, it can trigger far more than local discomfort.

An overloaded SCM can leave the neck feeling stiff, refer pain into the jaw or face, contribute to headaches or dizziness, and reduce how freely you can turn your head.

Because of its position at the front of the neck, this muscle is frequently overlooked during treatment.

Many people repeatedly stretch the back of the neck without ever addressing the structure that’s actually driving the symptoms.

When the SCM is properly released and retrained, movement often returns quickly.

People commonly describe feeling lighter, looser, and able to turn their head without that familiar pulling sensation.

If your neck pain keeps hanging around despite everything you’ve tried, the SCM may be the key piece that needs attention.

The Sharp Physio Team

17/02/2026

What does treatment for a frozen shoulder actually involve?

In clinic, treatment is very hands on.

This usually includes soft tissue work around the shoulder.

Joint articulation and mobilisations and a lot of work aimed at stretching the tight joint capsule.

The goal in each session is to reduce stiffness.

Improve movement.

And gently push the shoulder a little further than it could go before.

But this is only half of the treatment.

The most important part happens between sessions.

This is where your exercises and capsule stretches come in.

These are designed to maintain the movement gains made in clinic.

They stop the shoulder from tightening straight back up again and they create carry over from one session to the next.

Without this carry over, progress is slow and a ometimes it stalls completely.

With consistent home exercises, progress compounds.

Each session builds on the last one.

Movement improves faster and pain settles sooner.

So frozen shoulder rehab is not just about what happens in the room.

It is about what you do every day in between.

Hands on treatment opens the door.
Your exercises keep it open.

The Sharp Physio Team

16/02/2026

That deep, persistent ache at the front of the shoulder can be frustratingly hard to settle.

It might pinch when you reach overhead or across your body, throb after lifting or pressing movements, or feel tight at the front of the joint when you move your arm back.

Many people assume it’s just muscle strain, but quite often it reflects an issue with how the shoulder joint and surrounding stabilising muscles are working together.

When the rotator cuff and shoulder blade aren’t controlling movement properly, the front of the joint is placed under extra stress.

Over time, this altered movement can irritate sensitive structures at the front of the shoulder, such as the biceps tendon or rotator cuff, leading to pain that may spread into the upper arm or even toward the neck.

Hands-on treatment can help by reducing irritation, freeing restricted tissues, and restoring smooth movement through the shoulder blade and joint.

Many people notice a sense of relief quickly, as that constant pressure at the front of the shoulder eases.

However, lasting improvement comes from rebuilding strength, control, and stability around the shoulder.

That’s what allows the joint to move freely again, without sharp pinching or ongoing discomfort returning.

We don’t just treat where it hurts, we restore how your shoulder moves.

The Sharp Physio Team

16/02/2026

Many people with shoulder or neck issues struggle to properly activate the serratus anterior.

Even when shoulder strength improves, this key stabilising muscle is often under-recruited.

This matters because the serratus anterior controls the shoulder blade as the arm moves overhead.

Without it, the shoulder loses stability and load is transferred into the neck and upper traps.

When serratus activation is poor, the shoulder blade wings or tilts, overhead movement feels weak or painful and efficiency is lost.

The exercise in the video is a serratus press into flexion.

The press encourages active protraction before the arm moves into flexion, reinforcing correct scapular control through range.

This helps restore shoulder blade stability, reduce neck and shoulder strain and improve overhead movement mechanics.

The Sharp Physio Team

16/02/2026

People with hip impingement or labral tears very often hate squatting.

They also struggle with sports that involve lots of twisting and rotation.
Examples include padel, tennis, and squash.

The reason is simple.

These positions push the hip into deep flexion and rotation.
This is the exact position where impingement occurs.
The bones clash and the labrum gets pinched.

That is why pain is usually felt deep in the front of the hip or groin.

If squatting and rotational sports consistently trigger hip or groin pain, it is a major red flag.

Not all hip pain is muscular.
And not all hip pain comes from weak glutes

The Sharp Physio Team

15/02/2026

You rarely appreciate how much your neck does for you until you try to turn your head and it simply won’t move.

Neck pain almost never comes out of the blue.

It usually begins subtly... A little morning stiffness, or an ache that creeps in after hours at a desk.

At first, it’s easy to brush off.

Then one day you go to reverse the car, check your blind spot, and realise the movement just isn’t there.

That’s often the moment people recognise something needs to change.

Recovering from neck pain isn’t only about settling the sharp catch when you turn your head.

It’s about restoring full, comfortable movement in every direction.

Rotation, looking up and down, and gentle side bending all rely on the neck moving freely and working together.

When even one of those motions becomes limited, the others start compensating, tension increases, and symptoms tend to linger.

That’s when simple daily tasks begin to feel stiff, awkward, or painful.

The good news is that with the right hands-on treatment and targeted rehabilitation, the neck can regain its natural mobility.

Pain settles, control improves, and turning your head begins to feel normal again.

The Sharp Physio Team

15/02/2026

What actually causes PFJ pain?

The knee sits in the middle of the chain.
And it has two angry neighbours.

Below it is the foot and ankle.
Above it is the hip.

Very often when people think about knee pain, they focus only on the knee itself.
But the knee rarely misbehaves on its own.

It is a passenger in the kinetic chain.

Anything that happens at the hip will change how load is controlled at the knee.
And anything that does not happen well at the hip will usually be compensated for by the knee.

Poor hip control.
Reduced strength.
Lack of rotation or stability.
All of these can increase stress through the patellofemoral joint.

The same applies below.

If the foot and ankle do not move well.
If there is reduced ankle range or poor foot control.
The knee often has to absorb forces it was never designed to manage on its own.

So PFJ pain is rarely just a kneecap problem.
It is usually a load management problem across the whole chain.

That is why proper assessment always looks above and below the knee.
Because fixing the knee without addressing its neighbours rarely works long term.

The Sharp Physio Team

14/02/2026

Pain at the back of the shoulder isn’t always coming from the shoulder itself.

Posterior shoulder discomfort is often blamed on tight muscles or a rotator cuff issue, but in many cases the true source is the neck.

When nerves in the cervical spine become irritated, pain can be referred into the back of the shoulder, even when the shoulder joint moves normally.

Here’s the reassuring part.

A few simple checks can help guide you in the right direction:

✔️ Does the pain change when you turn your head or look down?
✔️ Does reducing tension in the neck alter how the shoulder feels?
✔️ Does the pain improve when treatment focuses higher up rather than just on the shoulder?

That’s why effective rehab doesn’t just chase the painful area, it identifies and treats the real driver behind it.

The Sharp Physio Team

14/02/2026

How do we treat PFJ pain?

Early treatment in clinic is very hands on.
And there is a clear reason for that.

First we look for anything abnormal around the knee itself.

One common area is the fat pads.
It is not unusual for these to become irritated or swollen and they can be a significant source of pain.
We use manual therapy to settle the fat pads and reduce sensitivity.

We also assess the quads.
Because they attach directly onto the patella, reduced length or excess tightness can alter how the patella moves.
That change in movement can overload the patellofemoral joint and drive symptoms.

But treatment does not stop at the knee.

We always assess higher up and lower down the kinetic chain.
The hip.
The foot and ankle.
Restrictions or poor control in these areas can change how load is transferred through the knee.

The purpose of manual therapy is not to fix everything long term.
Its role is to restore movement.
Reduce pain.
And create a window of opportunity.

That window allows us to then layer in the rehabilitation work that actually builds long term resilience and strength.

Hands on treatment opens the door.
Rehab is what keeps it open.

The Sharp Physio Team

13/02/2026

Neck pain that refuses to settle may be coming from a muscle many people never consider... The SCM.

Most people assume neck pain originates from the back of the neck or across the shoulders.

However, one of the most common contributors is found at the front: the sternocleidomastoid (SCM).

This muscle runs from just behind the ear down the side of the neck, attaching to the collarbone and sternum.

When it becomes tight or irritated, its effects go far beyond local neck discomfort.

A problematic SCM can restrict how far you can turn your head, trigger headaches, and even refer pain into the jaw or face.

The challenge is that, because of its position at the front of the neck, it’s frequently overlooked during treatment.

Many people spend time stretching or massaging the back of the neck while the SCM is never addressed.

When this muscle is properly released and retrained, relief is often immediate, with smoother movement and reduced tension.

If your neck pain continues to return, it may be time to look beyond the obvious.

The SCM could be the missing link in your recovery.

The Sharp Physio Team

Address

14 The Courtyard
Bawtry
DN106JG

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+441302244093

Website

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