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

Common Causes of Disc Prolapse

Spinal surgeons know that most disc herniations they are required to operate on are mostly made up of nucleus pulposus and rarely consist of much of the annulus fibrosis, which never occurs alone in a prolapse. Typical actions which risk prolapse are lifting and carrying, imposing flexion, side bending and compression loads on the lumbar spine at the same time. Combinations of these forces are what make a prolapse more likely, such as falling on the bottom whilst the legs are straight out in front, combining compression and bending. Other combinations could include tripping and so bending forward whilst carrying, reaching forward to catch a heavy object or lifting something heavy after a period when the spine has been in flexion.

If the upper body is pulled forwards suddenly and a force applied this is the most risky posture as the back muscles are contracting most strongly to resist the forward movement at that time and so increasing the compression through the spine. Due to fact that the discs are tighter and more swollen with water in the morning, it seems that disc prolapse may be more likely to occur at this time. Repeated bending in heavy jobs could also cause prolapse with time.

Simple Neck Exercises . Four

It is important to perform the neck exercises smoothly and slowly over a few seconds and to do each exercise on its own rather than combining two or more movements at once. Start with rotating the neck to the left as far as it will go and hold with a slight stretch at the end for a few seconds then return steadily to the starting position. Repeating this movement five or ten times can be followed by a short rest the practising turning to the right. This is the pattern for all the movements. Flexion involves letting the chin come forward until it rests almost on the chest as if someone is falling asleep in sitting up.

Extension involves looking up as far as one can although if that brings on dizziness it should be avoided. Side flexion is performed by allowing the ear to move towards the same side shoulder without rotating the head, with an accompanying firm stretch typical on the opposite side. Retractions or the .chicken movement. are more difficult to perform well. The face needs to be kept parallel to the vertical such as a wall as the head is drawn backwards with the chin pulled down slightly during the movement.