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

Treatments for Acute Neck Pain

A collar used to be recommended for neck injuries but are only suggested now if the injury is very severe or the spine is unstable. Keeping the neck in collar over a long period can increase the stiffness and pain, although wearing a more flexible .beanie. type collar at night only may improve a patient.s sleep. Overall, collars are to be avoided for the best chances of a quick recovery. Using cold on the area over the first forty eight hours or so may be useful to reduce pain, with the best technique to use a packet of frozen peas inside a wet tea towel for ten minutes or so, repeated regularly.

Placing a frozen object on the skin could give a cold burn so a wet tea towel should always be used between the cold and the skin. After 48 hours heat can be used for pain relief and to relax muscles, and many people prefer this at any stage, using a hot water bottle or heat pack or having a bath. Heat can burn the skin so the same precautions should apply, putting something between the object and the skin if needed, and limiting the time initially.

Fatigue or Tiredness with Musculoskeletal Conditions

Tiredness or fatigue is an extremely common accompanying condition to a large number of musculoskeletal conditions. Patients may rate fatigue just as important and severe as their pain problems but there is little consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of this distressing condition. Fatigue has been studied in good quality trials of people with arthritic conditions. If fatigue is an issue it is commonly present in varying degrees from a low level of weariness to complete exhaustion. Fatigue may also be shattering and force the person to lie down and rest or sleep, is not necessarily related to activity at all and can involve cognitive faculties such as thinking and memory.

Tiredness interferes with all aspects of a patient.s life including employment, personal relationships, normal daily chores, looking after children, social life and leisure. Patients often save energy for essential activities such as work or chores at the expense of a social life or any kind of recreational activity. Typical consequences of this forced inability to participate in normal life are frustration, anger, resentment and depression. Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome overlap in their presentation of pain and tiredness symptoms, with fibromyalgia typically exhibiting pain as its main symptom but accompanied sometimes by high fatigue levels.