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

Neck Posture

The head is a large and heavy object balanced on top of a slender column of bone and ligaments which is known as the neck. Postural neck pain is very common as our mainly sedentary lifestyles mean that we spend long periods in one position often with our necks held in less than optimal postures. Gravity pushes us down all the time and the neck tends to move forward as the lower neck flexes for us to look down at books or computers. As our head is now looking downwards we don't want to look at the floor all the time so we tilt the head back up, extending the upper neck.

This position, when held long term, can lead to the head stuck forward posture and a .dowager's hump., a prominent bony area at the base of the back of the neck. This can lead to neck strain both at the top and bottom of the neck, causing neck and shoulder pain lower down and neck and head pain higher up. The head forward posture forces the neck muscles and the upper trapezius to work harder than normal to hold the head up in its abnormal position.

Muscle

Human muscle is classified into three types, smooth, striated and cardiac. Striated or skeletal muscle is the type we think about when we consider muscle, allowing us to contract with force, maintain posture and produce movement. Muscle is well supplied with blood and also with nerve endings which are able to continuously monitor the stresses and strains through the tissue. Pain nerve endings are present mainly in the fibrous sheaths which surround the muscle. The muscle is structured in bundles of fibres, each surrounded by a fibrous sheath which join together at the ends into tendinous tissue on its way to attachment to bone.

Muscle fibres can be orientated in various directions which gives the muscles different abilities as contractile structures. If the fibres are arranged longitudinally along the muscle it tends to be longer and to be able to contract more in length terms, while muscles in different configurations such as the fibres on a feather can generate higher degrees of force. Higher forces may be required in muscles which have to work against gravity and move the weight of the body. Muscles have three different types of fibres, named Type 1, 2A and 2B, with different functions.