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

Discs and Height

Physical activities change the nature of the intervertebral discs throughout the day and night. The volume and the height of discs can change by up to twenty percent, with a person.s height varying by anything from fifteen to twenty five millimetres. Most of the change in height happens during the first hour after getting up as the body weight loading is applied to the spine. During the night the opposite happens with the disc being unloaded so it sucks in water from the tissue around it until it reaches a balance of pressures on both sides.

This daily cycle of pressure variation changes the water content of the disc regularly and may be part of the explanation as to why back pain sufferers have more pain in the mornings due to the increased tension present in the disc complex. Resting or performing heavy work can cause changes in the hydration of the disc, carrying a twenty kilogram backpack for three hours has been shown to reduce the volume of the discs by 4.5 percent. The amount of water content in the disc does not achieve a specific resting level; it depends on how much loading is going on and for how long.

Physiotherapy and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a common and important chronic condition which affects about 1.5 million people in the United Kingdom. Hospitalisation is common as around 25% of COPD sufferers are admitted each year with a worsening of their condition. Chest physiotherapy is routinely employed in an attempt to improve air entry or to assist in the removal of secretions, using various techniques including manual treatment, treatment with equipment and walking programmes. Two techniques, positive expiratory pressure (PEP) and intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV), have shown an ability to increase the amount of sputum brought up in patients where sputum retention is a problem.

One treatment which physiotherapists routinely use with respiratory patients is to get them walking again, as fitness declines quickly with best rest when sick and getting up and about promotes clearing of secretions naturally by coughing. This improves blood gases, shortness of breath and physical stamina. Moderate scientific evidence exists that this treatment is effective in respiratory patients and most physiotherapy techniques have been shown to be safe rather than particularly effective. Percussion, the hitting of the chest with the hands, has not been shown to be effective and is used less and less also for safety concerns.