Physiotherapists in Camelford treat many different conditions including the issues profiled below.

Performing Neck Exercises

Neck exercises should be performed steadily and slowly, attempting to get the end of the available range each time and pushing that bit further to try and increase the movement for a few seconds. Sitting or standing are the obvious starting positions but high levels of pain may mean that lying down is best for some people, or while they are having a shower due to the warmth. Most people perform the individual movements much too quickly and it is more useful to take up to five seconds for the complete movement in either direction.

Patients can often start with five movements performed three or four times per day, although lower number of repetitions or times per day may be necessary due to some pain problems. Doing smaller movements may also be necessary if pushing into the pain is not helpful, after which the movements can increase in size as the problem eases. Rolling the neck right around should be avoided as this can be aggravating to the neck joints and if exercises cause dizziness or symptoms in the hands they should be stopped and advice taken as to which exercises would suit the condition best.

Falls and Healthy Bones

Falling in adults is an important matter with involvement of around 30% of people over sixty-five years old and half of those over eighty-five years. There are significant risks to falling for elderly people, with many much older people dying and or suffering loss of mobility or other problems. Ninety percent of hip fractures are caused by falling and this comes with a very high cost both personally and financially. Only twenty percent of people who fracture their hip recover well enough to attain their previous level of functional abilities which includes walking. There may be many reasons for a person falling and the evidence for the many interventions proposed being effective is not very good.

Physiotherapists prescribe exercise programmes as part of their main arsenal of skills, with good evidence that well designed programmes which include training balance and strength can be effective at reducing falls in the community. Patient access to assessment and treatment by a physiotherapist is however variable in the UK, with hip fracture patients likely to receive this (due to admission to hospital) but patients with non-hip fractures are much less likely to receive this even when admitted. Physios have a much greater role in this matter which they have not taken up.