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

Severe Arm Pain and Physiotherapy

Neck pain is very common but, like sciatica in the leg, severe arm pain is uncommon but distressing for the sufferer. Nerve root conditions are caused typically by compression or inflammation from a disc protrusion near to the nerve exit in the spinal column or by bony encroachment on the same areas in older people. Patients complain of severe pain in the arm, often worse below the elbow and into the hand, with a surging quality which is very unpleasant. Typically patients are not able to sleep with this so appear tired and miserable due to the loss of sleep and constant severe pain.

Physiotherapy management starts with a careful assessment of the neck and arm but this may be severely limited by the severity of the pain and the irritability, the ease by which the condition can be stirred up by minimal input. Initial treatment is aimed at pain relief with analgesia, restriction of aggravating activities and a collar at night to restrict neck movements. Once the pain begins to settle the patient is encouraged to start gentle exercises or the physiotherapist performs mobilisation techniques to put mechanical stresses through the joint to start the process of restoring the area's capacity to cope with stress.

Rotator Cuff Tears

The rotator cuff is the stabilising group of muscles which maintain the precise relationship between the head of the arm bone and the shoulder socket. They travel from the shoulder blade and pass towards the head of the humerus, become more tendon like as they go until they insert into the bony protuberance on the outside of the humeral head, known as the greater tuberosity. Rotator cuff dysfunction is common and can be secondary to trauma but is much more commonly due to the effects of age. .Grey hair equals cuff tear. is a surgeon.s saying when an older person presents with shoulder pain.

The rotator cuff tendons change with time and may suffer from areas of reduced blood supply due to anatomical and impingement factors, increasing the likelihood of tears developing and reducing its ability to heal. Tears can vary from small splits in one tendon to huge tears in the whole of the tendon sheet of the combined rotator cuff with complete dysfunction of the shoulder complex. Pain can be considerable apart from the inability to raise the arm against gravity and sleep can be badly affected. Rotator cuff repair can be performed for most tears but the process is painful and takes many months to rehabilitate.