If you are searching for local County of Berkshire physiotherapy practices, the clinics below are recommended. Please click on the practice name links for detailed descriptions of each clinic and the conditions in which they specialise.
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Physiotherapists in Berkshire treat many different conditions including the condition profiled below.
Fracture Treatment
Fractures occur in a huge variety of forms and in a wide variation of severity from the small flake pulled of a bone by a ligament to an open fracture with many pieces. Treatment for a fracture reflects this variety, encompassing a spectrum from a minor reduction in activity to amputation of the body part involved. An important first assessment is to decide whether the fracture is closed or open, meaning whether the skin is intact or there is an open wound leading down to the fracture. Open or compound fractures need thorough cleaning and removal of any dead tissue and treatment with antibiotics to prevent infection.
The next issue to decide is the matter of displacement. Many fractures occur through the body of a bone but the whole bone remains in its original alignment and there is no displacement of one part of the bone compared to another. Healing should occur in as close to the original anatomy as possible so treatment aims to .reduce. a fracture, i.e. to re-establish to original position of the bone by manipulation and then maintaining the position by immobilisation. Fractures are typically placed in Plaster of Paris or other materials to hold the position for a number of weeks.
Simple Neck Exercises . Four
It is important to perform the neck exercises smoothly and slowly over a few seconds and to do each exercise on its own rather than combining two or more movements at once. Start with rotating the neck to the left as far as it will go and hold with a slight stretch at the end for a few seconds then return steadily to the starting position. Repeating this movement five or ten times can be followed by a short rest the practising turning to the right. This is the pattern for all the movements. Flexion involves letting the chin come forward until it rests almost on the chest as if someone is falling asleep in sitting up.
Extension involves looking up as far as one can although if that brings on dizziness it should be avoided. Side flexion is performed by allowing the ear to move towards the same side shoulder without rotating the head, with an accompanying firm stretch typical on the opposite side. Retractions or the .chicken movement. are more difficult to perform well. The face needs to be kept parallel to the vertical such as a wall as the head is drawn backwards with the chin pulled down slightly during the movement.
Physiotherapists in Berkshire have contributed some of the many articles on this site such as the one extracted below.
As children we have the great gift of a mobile, strong, well designed and painless spine and it is unusual for stiffness to be an issue as the lumbar spine has evolved to do the job of weight bearing and providing movement. Intervertebral discs separate the spinal vertebrae, allowing more movement in areas where they are thicker and also coping with variable loads. The posterior spinal facet joints limit and control segmental movement, preventing the spine from displacing inappropriately under the shear forces. Strong, balanced and coordinated muscle actions complete the picture.An acute episode of low back pain inhibits the core stabilising muscles from working well and can cause wasting of them with time. Segmental loss of stability control can make the occurrence of further low back pain episodes at the same level more likely. As time and injuries change the spine, degenerative changes can occur in the facet joints and discs, leading to segmental stiffness and chronic back pain. The...
