Health blog Category: Physical Therapy
Shoulder Pain and How Physical Therapy can help!
Our shoulder is the most flexible and movable joint in our body, consisting of several bones, muscles, joints and tendons. This means there are several ways the shoulder can become injured and cause pain.
There are many causes of shoulder pain but there are steps we can take to eliminate the discomfort.
Causes of Shoulder Pain
Sometimes, a sudden injury can occur that causes shoulder pain. Other times, repetitive motions can gradually cause joints, tendons and muscles in the shoulder area to hurt.
Read full blogFour Common Disc Problems and What to Do About Them
Back problems plague much of our society today. You may know someone who suffers from back pain, or it may be you yourself. While several factors contribute to different types of pain, disc problems are a category of their own.
First, what is a disc?
A disc in your spine is a section of cartilage that resides between each vertebrae. It consists of thick fibrous tissue surrounding gel matter that allows for flexibility and shock absorption.
Read full blogWhat is actually the root cause of your shoulder pain?
By: Rachel Herrmann, DPT
The shoulder is a common region in which people complain of pain. It can often be a confusing region to have pain, too. Some people describe their shoulder pain along the top of their shoulder to their neck. Some people have shoulder pain about their shoulder blade. Others describe their shoulder pain along the front of their shoulder or the top of their shoulder or the back of the shoulder or radiating down the shoulder to arm, elbow and even all the way to the hand at times.
It Bears a Large Brunt of Our Weight
The hip joint is one of the most stable joints in the body, but unfortunately that does not keep this joint and region of the body from developing issues and producing pain.
There are multiple structures in and around the hip joint that can produce pain in this area of the body:
- Labrum– the ring of cartilage around the rim of the socket of the hip joint.
Why Problems in this Joint Should Be Handled Right Away
By: Alyssa Burke, PTA
Are you feeling weak in the knees, but not in a good way? There are many different factors that can cause people to experience knee pain. We often don’t think about how much we move our knee joints in a day but when we are experiencing knee pain we become more aware of how much we are moving. Some of the common knee problems that people experience are:
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinitis
- Ligaments sprains and tears
Unfortunately, we cannot control if we will develop osteoarthritis in our lifetime.
Read full blogStand up Straight, Don’t Slouch!
By: Alyssa Burke, PTA
These instructions sound familiar to anyone? I don’t know about you, but growing up, I constantly heard both of these and, “keep your shoulders back” all the time. Good posture is something that we are taught but don’t always think about as we carry on with our daily activities until we start to notice aches and pains. It’s often easy to see and point out signs of bad posture in other people. It can be harder to notice and break poor postural habits of our own.
How to Properly Start a Running Program
By: Angie Austin, LPTA
The start of the year often triggers people to start those New Year’s resolutions and improving physical fitness or exercising more are probably towards the top of most lists. A goal as specific as running can create dramatic changes to overall health and well being.
Benefits: Running is a great way for us to improve our cardiovascular health. As a form of aerobic exercise, running can reduce stress, improve heart health and alleviate symptoms of depression.
When is a fall serious enough to seek medical attention…
Whether you are young or old, a fall outside, or even in your own home can be serious. You might assume that medical professionals are busy assessing injuries from falls at certain times of the year such as winter when there is snow and/or ice on the ground. This is true, however, it is also very common for older individuals to fall in their own homes at anytime of the year. How do you know if your injury warrants medical attention, or if it something you can handle on your own?
Read full blogWhat does the IT band do and how do IT band problems start?
By: Mike Bills, MS PT
What is the IT band and how do problems start here? There are a number of muscles on the outside of your hip that attach to the IT band. The job of all of these muscles is to keep the hip joint structures open, help support the joint and then create the movement of the joint. Most commonly what happens in a patient who is experiencing some level of IT band problems is that the muscles on the outside of the hip that are working to hold the hip together while we move the leg are overworking.
Bone on bone friction in the joints?
What is arthritis and who can get it?
While arthritis may be very common, it is not always well understood. Arthritis is actually not a single disease, but rather an informal way of referring to joint pain or inflammation. One of the most prevalent types of arthritis, osteoarthritis, occurs as result of degenerative changes occurring over time within a joint. Osteoarthritis involves the wearing away cartilage, the smooth cushioned surface at the end of our bones, causing the joint to “bone on bone” leaving the joint unprotected.
