A case study to demonstrate how we work, using a patient we saw called Mary:
Mary, a 53 year old office worker, had been suffering from chronic right sided neck pain with occasional severe headaches.
She had a history of vertigo (dizziness) and occasional light headedness and had been diagnosed as suffering from positional vertigo (dizziness when she went from sitting or lying to standing). She had been using a variety of pain killers for some time but didn’t really feel that they were helping.
On advice from a work colleague she made an appointment with us and came to see us the next day. She was very nervous at first, but after reassurance that we wasn’t going to twist her head round sharply she became more relaxed.
A full examination of her posture revealed that her right shoulder was being pulled forward by a tight pectoral muscle hence there was a reduced range of movement in the right shoulder. The muscles in her neck and upper back were all very tight, more so on the right hand side. Her mildly curved spinal posture was adding to the tension in her neck muscles.
Following questioning about her work environment we discovered that she was sitting incorrectly. Mary’s work station was poorly setup and constant use of her mouse in this position was one of the causative and maintaining factors of her problem.
How were we able to help?
The initial session was aimed at identifying as many of the predisposing and maintaining factors causing her pain.
Treatment was aimed at decreasing the muscle tension in the right shoulder hence returning the muscular balance and improving Mary’s posture. This was achieved by stretching, soft tissue massage and postural advice. We did not manipulate the joints (the clicking sound often heard from increasing the joints movement) due to a medical condition that was discussed when her medical history was taken in the first treatment.
Together we formulated a plan to reduce the pain by altering the way she sat at her desk and improving the way her musculo-skeletal system worked. She had an ergonomic check of her work station which repositioned her computer and mouse, including a wrist guard, and a new lumbar supportive chair which all improved her sitting posture.
Mary was given exercises to begin to correct her poor posture including neck and chin repositioning exercises, stretches for the front of her chest and strengthening the muscles in the back, all of which she was able to do at home or work.
Within 2 treatments Mary was feeling much better. To combat Mary being sat all day at work she agreed to continue doing her stretches each day to keep her muscles looser and more balanced, Mary understood that by doing these exercises for a couple of minutes a day she could prevent the pain from returning and is now pain free.
