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

Simple Neck Exercises . Three

Whilst simple neck exercises are extremely valuable to correct postural abnormalities, lengthen shortened structures and relieve painful neck problems it is important to use the correct technique to get the best from them. Incorrect technique can make the exercises effectively useless or even worsen the problem or cause injury. There are four basic directions of neck exercises: front and back (flexion and extension); side to side (side flexion); rotation; retraction (tucking the head in a bit like a chicken does when it walks). All these movements need to be performed to put the cervical structures through their full movement.

The structures which make up the body do not respond well to fast movement or great forces applied in very short time periods. The aim with simple neck exercises is to get the joints to the extremes of their movement and give a gentle end range stretch to the anatomy. To achieve this the movement needs to be steady and slow, without jerking, and held at the end with a bit of extra effort for a few seconds. It is also useful to do just one movement at a time, the common behaviour of rotating the neck in large circles being both more likely to aggravate the joints and not getting the full movement of any of them.

Meniscal Tears

Each knee has a pair of interesting structures inside it known as the menisci, more commonly called the knee cartilages. They are cartilaginous structures a bit like banked tracks and attached to the top of the tibia on each side of the knee. Their upper curves surfaces accommodate the large curved condyles of the end of the femur which otherwise would have to articulate solely with the flat upper tibial surface. The function of the menisci is not entirely clear but they may have to do with distributing synovial fluid around the joint, giving the brain feedback on where exactly the knee is during activities or easing force transmission across the joint as it fills in the gaps between the two joint surfaces.

During movements of the knee the large femoral condyles can pinch the menisci against the tibial surfaces and cause tears in the substance of the meniscus. A small tear from the outside of the structure can cause a flap which is called a .parrot beak. tear. If the tear is horizontal along the plane of the meniscus and does not reach the edge then a flap can be produced which is known as a .bucket handle. tear.