Health blog
The Why and Where of Arthritis
Pain due to arthritis is often chronic, and can cause very dull, achy and stiff feeling joints. Often times, the stiffness and achiness is worse after staying in one position for a prolonged period of time. For example:
- Sitting
- Sleeping
- Standing
Why does arthritis happen and where?
Arthritis commonly happens due to normal joint changes that occur from moving and being under gravity, but can also happen in people who have been sedentary.
Read full blog“Un-Freezing” That Shoulder
What is Frozen Shoulder?
Adhesive Capsulitis, or “Frozen Shoulder” is a condition in which the shoulder and the surrounding tissues thickens, which ultimately leads to:
- Stiffness
- Decreased range of motion
- Inability to move one’s arm
Frozen shoulder often prevents you from doing everyday activities or the things you love to do.
How Does Frozen Shoulder Occur?
Generally it occurs as a result of another injury.
Read full blogFacets in Our Neck
Are you having neck pain but are not sure why? You notice you can’t turn your head as far as you used to and you are having pain and muscle spasms. If this is true, you could be experiencing cervical facet dysfunction.
What is a facet?
Facets are joints in your spine. They are located on the back and side of the bones in out spine, or vertebra. These joints play an important role in allowing our necks to move.
Read full blogThat “Locking” of Our Knee
Before we get into information about meniscus tears, we must first learn about what a meniscus is, as well as its purpose inside of the knee joint. The meniscus consists of two rubber-like pieces of cartilage that provides cushioning between the thigh bone (femur) and the shin bone (tibia).
What exactly causes Meniscus Tears?
Meniscus tears can be a result of many different causes, ranging from:
- Twisting awkwardly when getting out of a chair
- Athletic injury that involves being tackled by another player
When one normally injures their meniscus, they have experienced an excessive amount of pressure or twisting at the knee joint that resulted in one of the many classifications of a tear.
Read full blogEngaging Our Core Muscles
Have you heard anyone tell you that you need a stronger core? This is because the core is the body’s support system, it helps to stabilize and transfer forces from the upper body to the lower body. This does not mean you need six pack abs, but the deeper muscles that support your spine need to get stronger.
What makes up the core?
- transverse abdominis
- obliques
- rectus abdominis
- erector spinae
- diaphragm
- multifidus
- hip musculature
- pelvic floor
When your core is not strong you are more prone to injury.
Read full blogPersistent Knee Discomfort and the Road to Relief
Don’t let persistent KNEE PAIN hold you back…
Knee pain is something that everyone will experience at some point in their lifetime. Having knee pain can be the result of many factors and affects all ages. We as physical therapy clinicians work with patients to educate them about their problem in addition to how it can be corrected. So don’t sweat it! We are here to help!
About the Knee
The knee is a large hinge joint that gives you the ability to bend and straighten your knee which is necessary for day to day functional tasks like getting up from a chair or going up and down stairs.
Read full blogThese Musculoskeletal Injuries
Ankle sprains are some of the most common musculoskeletal injuries, with approximately 25,000 people spraining their ankle every day (1). An ankle sprain occurs usually when the ankle is forced into an extremely inverted or everted position, meaning rolling in or out respectively; rolling your ankle inwards being the most common type of sprain.
How do I know if I sprained my ankle?
Some common symptoms of an ankle sprain are:
- Pain or soreness when moving your ankle into the position in which you sprained it,
- Pain with walking
- Ankle stiffness
- Mild localized swelling and bruising along the outside of your foot/ankle.
Everyday Tasks and Why They are Causing Discomfort
Golfer’s elbow is also known as medial epicondylitis which involves an injury on the inside of the elbow caused by excessive and repeated stress placed on the tendon. The muscles that bend your wrist travel up and attach to the inside of the elbow with a tendon. A tendon attaches muscles to bone and are easily aggravated by overuse of the muscles over several days.
Who experiences golfer’s elbow?
You don’t have to be a golfer to feel the effects of this issue. It is common with anyone who performs repetitive movements such as:
- Lifting
- Throwing
- Jobs (Examples: construction or plumbing)
- Racket sports and of course golf
What are some of the symptoms that you may have if you have Golfer’s Elbow?
Read full blogEveryday Tasks and Why They are Causing Discomfort
Golfer’s elbow is also known as medial epicondylitis which involves an injury on the inside of the elbow caused by excessive and repeated stress placed on the tendon. The muscles that bend your wrist travel up and attach to the inside of the elbow with a tendon. A tendon attaches muscles to bone and are easily aggravated by overuse of the muscles over several days.
Who experiences golfer’s elbow?
You don’t have to be a golfer to feel the effects of this issue. It is common with anyone who performs repetitive movements such as:
- Lifting
- Throwing
- Jobs (Examples: construction or plumbing)
- Racket sports and of course golf
What are some of the symptoms that you may have if you have Golfer’s Elbow?
Read full blogLow Back Pain can be Draining
So you have been experiencing pain in the low back that could be due to facet dysfunction.
What is a facet?
Facet joints are located in the spine at the posterolateral aspect of the vertebra. These are joints that allow motion of the spine and also restrict hyper mobility.
How does the problem present?
- Pain, stiffness, or soreness over facet joint, across low back, into the hip groin, or buttock
- Pain with extension (bending backward)
- Pain with prolonged positions such as sitting or standing
- Worst in the morning and gets better throughout the day with movement
Causes:
- Trauma – car accidents, sports, etc
- Abnormal postures that put strain on the joint
- Constant repetitive motions resulting in wear and tear of the joints
- Degenerative changes that increase the load on the joints (May have increased pain due to disc injuries, decreased height at the disc may put more stress on the facets causing increased inflammation and pain)
