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

Spinal Posture

Spinal posture can mean two main things, one being the shape and orientation of the curves in the spine and two being the angle that the whole spine is aligned to the vertical. The minimum of muscle activity occurs when the trunk is balanced directly above the pelvis and any deviation from this requires muscle activity to increase to maintain position. As the main moving muscles of the spine are orientated lengthways like the spine itself, when they contract they generate significant compression forces through the spine. Contraction of these muscles in easy standing or sitting still generates forces through the lumbar spine that are twice the body weight above the area.

In sitting it makes little difference to the degree of muscle activity whether the lumbar spine is held arched to some degree (lumbar lordosis) or flexed (bent), the key point is whether the spine is vertically aligned or not. So leaning back with a lordosis or forwards with a flexed spine both generate high muscle forces, whilst sitting upright in either posture does not. Sitting positions all flex the lumbar spine, with the lower two lumbar levels being significantly flexed in these postures, even to the maximum of their movement.

Skin Burn after Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy, also called cold therapy or ice therapy, is a common modality of self treatment and routinely used in physiotherapy for acute injuries. However, partial thickness skin burns have been known to occur after cryotherapy and this therapy needs to be carefully managed to prevent doing patients harm. When cold is applied to the skin it responds initially with vasoconstriction, reducing the amount of blood in the area to conserve heat. As the cold persists this is followed by vasodilation as the circulation to the area is increased to bring warmth to the area and prevent tissue damage.

If cold then persists for a long time the circulation may be withdrawn more permanently, allowing an area of skin to be exposed to cold for a time when it has no blood supply to keep it warm and alive. This can result in local death of the skin, an ice burn or frostbite. Physiotherapists are aware of this danger, assess the patient for skin sensibility and apply cold carefully with supervision. The use of cold packs taken from a freezer (at minus 18 degrees) is not safe directly on the skin and a wet towelling material should always be put between the pack and the skin.