Health blog
Hip Problems Can Happen to All Age Groups
In physical therapy we see a lot of hip problems. These injuries range from bursitis to fractures to replacements. Some hip problems happen to healthy joints, while others occur in the elderly due to osteoporosis or because of congenital deformities. Either way, physical therapy can be beneficial and help strengthen the muscles around the injury, improve balance, and help patients return to normal function whether it is walking around without a cane or a walker or returning to their sport.
Read full blogFeeling Weak in the Knees?
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 weakness and 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 blogGet to the CORE of the Problem
The core must be one of the most complex features of the human body. Everything we do involves the core. A lot of people think the core is just the abdominal muscles. But that’s only a small component of the core. What else makes up the core?
- Your abdominal muscles
- Your hip muscles
- Your back muscles
- The muscles that surround your pelvis.
You need all those muscles to be working well together as a team in order to have good core strength.
Read full blogFrom the Sideline: Plyometrics or Jump Training
By Cierra Washington, ATC
Since our first ‘From the Sideline’, I’ve talked about proper warm up routines and how to build the stability of isolated and functional muscle strength. SO now it’s now time to challenge the athlete’s power. Plyometric exercises help improve an athlete’s power and, therefore, performance of their sport. This kind of training is know as “jump training” and requires the athlete to perform exercises that produce maximum effort with short, quick bursts.
Say ‘Good Bye’ to Knee Problems
Knee problems and injuries are common reasons patients come to physical therapy. The number one complaint we hear from someone experiencing any kind of knee problem is pain under or around the knee cap. As you can imagine, this kind of pain can greatly limit your functional mobility. Some people also experience stiffness in and around the knee making it difficult to move the joint. Others also have generalized weakness in that same leg. Any kind of knee pain or stiffness makes simple daily activities difficult:
- Walking
- Going up or down the stairs
- Squatting
- Trouble standing up from a chair
- Inability to kneel.
Poor Sitting, Standing and Screen Time Posture Can Lead to Discomfort
How good is your posture? If you spend hours driving, texting, typing or even just sleeping in the wrong position, the odds are you have either poor posture or neck pain. Spending extended periods of time in incorrect position can lead to incorrect movement patterns and increase your injury risk over time. Posture is extremely important, especially when it comes to preventing neck-related injuries. As a society, we tend to spend large amounts of time sitting at computers, reading e-mails and texts on our phones and watching TV.
Read full blog7 Tips to Stay Healthy this Holiday Season
Holiday dinners and New Year’s parties are right around the corner. As the temperature outside continues to drop and the holidays get closer and closer on our calendars, it’s important to keep healthy habits in mind or things can snowball in a hurry.
Two things typically lead to weight gain during the holiday season:
- A decrease in activity.
- An increase in calorie intake.
People tend to move less and eat more as it gets colder outside and the daylight hours become shorter.
Read full blogThree Common Hip Problems and How PT Can Help
By: Angie Austin, LPTA
Hip problems make daily activities like simply walking difficult and painful. When you talk to your physical therapist or doctor about your hip pain, it’s important to be able to describe exactly where your pain is located. This helps confirm that your hip is actually the problem. It’s not uncommon for us to hear a patient say ‘my hip hurts’ and then once we’ve done a full evaluation of their area of pain, we find they actually are having a back-related problem.
Don’t Turn Away from that ‘Crick in the Neck’
By Mike Bills, MS PT
A ‘crick in the neck’, neck discomfort, pain in the neck, knots in the neck. Whatever you call it, neck pain is not fun! So why do we get that discomfort in our necks and how can we take care of it?
There are some common causes for neck discomfort. It can stem from stress which causes tight muscles in this part of the body.
Don’t Walk Away From Foot and Ankle Problems
Foot and ankle problems can make daily activities very difficult. Experiencing a sharp pain in the bottom of our foot when we take our first few steps in the morning, an unstable or painful ankle when walking or running, and difficulty balancing on one foot without holding onto something are all signs to seek help.
These are all signs of common foot and ankle conditions that we often treat in physical therapy. Although there are many contributing factors leading to the aforementioned symptoms, here is a breakdown of the most frequent causes of foot and ankle pain as well as resulting ankle instability.