Lockdown has meant working from home has become the norm rather than the exception. It has curbed sport and physical activity, with gyms closed and group exercise outlawed. Only the highly motivated are maintaining activity at levels close to regular. This has had negative impacts on waistlines, mental health, and on musculoskeletal health. Even for those who are normally sedentary, the lockdown has forced a new level of inactivity. They have lost the movement associated with

As COVID-19 creates mayhem in our society and around the world, the talk has been about risks to our health, mortality rates, financial implications, and consequences for our mental health. Consider also, that with many people working largely or entirely from home, and with lockdowns curbing our outdoor activities, the coronavirus fallout has implications for our physical well-being as well. Workplace ergonomic set-ups have improved significantly over the past 20 years. And i

Cervical cord compression, or cervical stenosis, can develop due to degenerative changes in the discs and uncovertebral or zygapophyseal joints. It can also be present due to heredity factors. Occasionally it will occur acutely due to a significant traumatic event or the presence of a tumor. A structurally narrow cervical cord space identified on lateral x-ray, MRI, or CT scan is often asymptomatic. If it becomes symptomatic and results in dysfunction it is known as cervical

Neck pain is extremely common – affecting up to 70% of people at some stage of their lives, and up to 40% of people in any one year. It is second only to low back pain in annual workers compensation costs. Up to 60% of sufferers will have some degree of recurrence or ongoing pain*. Some neck pain is due to a traumatic cause (notably whiplash). However the majority has an insidious onset. The upper cervical levels – O-C1 to C2/3 will commonly refer pain to the head, while the

Neck pain is extremely common. It is possibly more prevalent than low back pain. The difference is that people are more likely to ignore their neck pain and let it become chronic. With the majority of people working at computers or spending substantial periods of the day sitting, postural stresses are always a contributing factor. I get the occasional patient who ‘slept badly’ and woke with pain. Even then, I will question whether previous days activities started the pain pro

Cervical cord compression, or cervical stenosis, can develop due to degenerative changes in the discs and uncovertebral or zygapophyseal joints. It can also be present due to heredity. Occasionally it will occur acutely due to a significant traumatic event or the presence of a tumor. A structurally narrow cervical cord space identified on lateral x-ray, MRI or CT scan is often asymptomatic. If it becomes symptomatic and results in dysfunction it is known as cervical myelopath