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

Exercise for Neck Pain

Exercise is a good choice to manage neck pain and is a safe way to treat the neck. Simple neck exercises are useful and help reduce pain and maintain the ranges of motion of the joints. It is important to stretch out the muscles, joints and other structures in the neck which might be tight and stiff. A degree of discomfort and soreness is to be expected after beginning to exercise and this should not be a cause of concern. Concentration on repeating the movements until full range is achieved is the key and with this a reduction in pain is likely.

No particular exercise suits everybody.s neck problems so a bit of experimentation is often necessary to find the right combination for any individual. Neck exercises should be performed slowly and steadily to get the right result as quick movements may cause injury or aggravate the pain. All exercises should be performed to the end of the range of movement available with a steady push to go a bit further held for a few seconds each time. The neck itself is an obvious choice for exercises but the shoulder and the shoulder girdle are involved in the function of the area and should also be included.

Examination of the Injured Wrist

Initial examination of a person with a wrist injury involves visual inspection of the wrist compare to the other one, as some people have relatively abnormal wrist structure and limited movements. Bruising and swelling may be present as may be one of the typical deformities due to fractures of the distal forearm bones. Palpation of the bony anatomy systematically allows a closer determination of the location of any acute injury such as a fracture. The typical deformity of a Colles fracture is the so-called .dinner fork. deformity where the end of the wrist is angled upwards and the fingers form the prongs of the fork.

In the Smith fracture where the end of the wrist is pushed downwards the deformity is known as a .garden spade. deformity. It is important to examine the remainder of the upper limb including the shoulder, elbow and wrist to exclude other injuries or fractures, with the patient's report of where they have pain a very useful guide. The patency of the arterial systems in the forearm and arm are also assessed as vascular damage can occur from fracture fragments. The three nerves which pass down the arm and supply the feeling and muscles of the hand should also assessed for damage.