Health blog Category: Physical Therapy
Top 5 Things to do to Start Your Year Off Right

The New Year is here which means we are planning our resolutions and setting goals. Here are 5 things you should do to start your year off right!
Get Moving
Even if you just go on a short walk, try to get moving everyday. Exercise is not only good for your physical health, but it plays a huge role in mental health as well. When you exercise, your brain releases happy chemicals that improve mood.
Read full blogSeasonal Injuries for Fall or Winter

With the gorgeous seasons comes seasonal injuries, due to outdoor responsibilities like:
- Raking leaves
- Bagging leaves
- Shoveling snow
- Cleaning snow off our vehicles
How often have you or someone you care about moved the wrong way or lifted something and all of the sudden had significant back pain that was never there before?
Many people have a tendency to push things like this aside until they negatively affect our activities of daily living.
Read full blogWhat Activities Cause Elbow Injuries?

Elbow injuries are a common thing we see in the clinic. It can be caused by many activities but most of the time it is from doing repetitive movements or by suddenly stressing the elbow joint. Often, elbow pain is ignored with the thought that it will just go away with time. However, this will cause the pain and injury to flare up and could prolong your recovery time.
There are many injuries that could be causing you to feel pain in your elbow.
Read full blogGrip Strength and Rock Climbing

What is Grip Strength?
The ability of your hand to hold an item. It is the force created by the muscles of the arm including the fingers, hand, forearm and upper arm.
Why is it important?
Grip is relevant to activities that are performed everyday, including but not limited to holding utensils/pen, turning a key, opening a jar, holding your cell phone, rock climbing, etc
How is grip related to the forearm?
Read full blogLow Back Pain and Radiating Symptoms

Many people suffer from low back pain of varying levels and usually don’t take measures to resolve or work on it until the pain becomes debilitating on some level to where it becomes limiting in day to day activities.
There is also a common theme in today’s society where people feel going online and doing just a few minutes researching a topic; all of the sudden have gained enough knowledge about a that topic to be able to treat it.
Read full blogTravel Tips

Whether you’re going to the beach, out West, to another country, or even only a few miles away to visit friends and family, these traveling tips can help you avoid lower back and neck pain!
Try to not remain in the same position for long periods of time.
Stiffness and soreness tend to occur the most after not moving out of one position for extended periods of time.
Driving to your destination?
- Stop at rest stops when you start feeling stiff to take a few minutes to stretch out.
Healing Our Heel Pain

The heel, also known as the calcaneus, is located on the bottom of the foot directly below the ankle joint. The heel bone has many muscles and ligaments attached to it. When injuries or irritation occur to the attached muscles or ligaments, it can create pain in the heel. This pain can lead to many other additional issues in your daily life.
The pain can be described as:
- Tight
- Spasm
- Burning
- Numbness
- Tingling
- Dull
- Achy
- Sharp
Why Does Heel Pain Occur?
Read full blogRock Climbing Injuries to Lower Extremity and Ankle

Rocking Climbing can lead to many different types of musculoskeletal injuries. Some of the most common injuries to the lower body include;
- Meniscal tear
- Stiffness, swelling, feeling like the knee is going to give out, catching in the knee.
- Knee ligament tear
- Swelling, instability, loss of range of motion.
- Morton’s Neuroma
- Sharp burning pain with standing and walking between two toes, tingling in foot.
Running for Beginners

You see people running every morning out your window. You’re wishing you could be that person. Well, you can!

Here are some tips before you begin your new running journey:
Ease Into It!
I learned my lesson in college when I set a goal for running 3 miles and achieved it in the first day. I wasn’t in the proper shape to be running even though I considered myself pretty active and fit.
Read full blogRole of Strengthening in Physical Therapy

You’re getting dressed in the morning, something you’ve done every day of your waking life, and all of the sudden it hurts to:
- Put on a shirt and get dressed while reaching behind your back.
- Lift a cup to drink
- Put on a seatbelt or hold the steering wheel when driving
- Getting in and out of a car
- Pain trying to fall asleep or waking up from pain
- Walk up or down steps
There are options available; some short term with short term results, or those that take longer but have lasting results and improved quality of life.
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