Physiotherapists in Barry 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.

The Development of Chronic Neck Pain

Long term neck pain and disability is a difficult and perplexing problem, leading to high degrees of pain, suffering and loss of function in some patients. There are a serious of beliefs which may go with a higher risk of developing chronic pain after neck injury such as: the belief that the pain is due to a serious injury or tissue damage; resisting reassurance; equating hurt with harm and believing the pain will lead to disability; avoiding activities and movement due to the fear of damage; resting and remaining inactive whilst waiting for the pain to settle; expecting someone to cure the pain rather than taking on the responsibility oneself; withdrawing from social contact and becoming depressed.

These tendencies are referred to as .yellow flags. and predict to some extent the likelihood the person will suffer work loss and disability from their pain condition. These problems may develop steadily and without the person being aware of them, so they need identifying and dealing with as soon as possible. If a person is off work for a month with their neck pain then there is a risk of developing long term problems and a ten percent chance of still being off in a year.