Physiotherapists in Pontefract 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.

The Rotator Cuff

The rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder function to stabilise the large humeral head on the relatively small shoulder socket or glenoid cavity. The origin of the rotator cuff muscles is the large flat areas of the scapula or shoulder blade, but for the muscles to be able exert their forces the shoulder blade must itself be stabilised. The shoulder blade floats over the thoracic rib cage and is attached by various muscles to the trunk, the rhomboids, trapezius and serratus anterior. If there is a dysfunction in these muscle groups the stability of the scapula will be compromised, making it difficult or impossible for the rotator cuff group to do their work effectively.

The rotator cuff muscle all originate medially to the shoulder, i.e. further in towards the middle of the body. They pass outwards towards the head of the humerus, becoming tendons close to the shoulder itself and then inserting into the greater tuberosity, a bony protrusion on the outside of the head of the humerus. The primary pull of the rotator cuff muscles is in a directly inwardly direction, pulling the humeral head firmly against the glenoid. This counteracts the tendency of the deltoid muscle to pull the humeral head upwards.