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

Simple Neck and Shoulder Girdle Exercises

Slow performance of the exercises is important, taking up to five seconds to get to the end of each individual direction of movement. The neck should be moved in each of the standard directions which are: turning the head left and right; side flexing left and right (ear down to same shoulder with face facing forward); bending head forward and back; tucking the head in (a bit like a chicken). It is important to do each movement separately so the maximum range is obtained as the ends of the movement are where the value is in exercising.

Shoulder movements are useful as they may be stiff or the shoulder girdle may not be moving well, and shoulder movements stress the neck to some extent. Shrugging shoulders and rolling them backwards are an example of this movements as are circling of the arms either backwards or forwards. Once the movements are easy then some auto-resisted neck strengthening can be performed with the neck being held in place as one of the hands tries to push it out of position. Holding this for about ten seconds forces the muscles to work hard to maintain the neck position.

Neck and Thoracic Posture

The spine is designed to be highly mobile but also to be stable and cope with the very large forces put upon it by movement of the body. At certain points in the spine a stiffer and more stable spinal area meets a mobile and flexible area and in these areas problems can develop. The neck and upper thorax have to manage the weight and movement of the head which is considerable and must be closely controlled so we can use our eyes effectively and interact with others. With time a typical posture develops in the neck and thorax where the head is carried forward of the body and a lump can develop where the neck and thorax meet.

The upper thoracic spine is a stiffer area of the spine and the neck is flexible, causing extra strains on this area which can become painful. The lower part of the neck is flexed more than usual and because we don't want to look down at the floor we lift the head up to look at the world and this extends the upper neck more than appropriate. With time this can develop into neck and arm pain from the lower neck and neck and head pain from the upper.