Health blog Category: physical therapy
Are you Sticking your Neck Out?
How often do we use computers and phones throughout the day? Now think about your posture. Are you sticking your neck out or down when using any of of these devices. Posture plays a large role in maintaining neck health and can negatively impact your ability to complete and enjoy your daily activities.
Issues with your neck are commonly associated with pain, headaches, and general stiffness. Stiffness will cause difficulty looking over your shoulder, and up and down.
Having Trouble Lifting Your Arm to Brush Your Hair?
Some of the most common ailments related to the shoulder include tight/overworked muscles, tendonitis, impingement and, joint stiffness. All of these can cause pain, weakness, and decrease ability to perform everyday activities. It can limit our ability to get dressed because it may be difficult to raise your arms in order to pull a shirt over your head and brush your own hair.
Common Causes of Shoulder Injury
- Traumatic injury/dislocation
- Poor shoulder mechanics
- Post Surgery Posture, and muscle use imbalances can contribute to micro trauma and tendinitis, spasm, or the development of trigger points of the shoulder muscles.
Can We Stand Straight?
Back problems can affect many people for different reasons. Back pain can creep up on us after:
- Simply sitting too frequently and for long periods of time
- A bad night’s sleep
- Strenuous activity such as repeated lifting, or participating in leisurely sports
Back pain could prevent you from:
- Standing straight
- Bending over to tie your shoes
- Bending over while doing laundry
- Other everyday activities
What would you do if you could not walk, run or participate in your favorite leisure sports?
Read full blogMuscle Weakness can Cause a Neck Issue
A neck issue or stiffness is a very common condition that most people experience at some point in their lives. Initially, it may come from sleeping in an awkward position, and may only last for a day or two, so we tend to ignore it. However, neck pain can fast become a chronic condition. If it lasts too long it can become very frustrating and, if not treated early enough, may even become debilitating – so much so that we are unable to turn our heads without severe pain. This makes driving impossible. When pain becomes this severe it is difficult to do most of our favorite hobbies like reading or knitting as well.
Read full blogWhat our walking says about our muscles and joints
When an expert assesses your walking they are looking at what referred to as your gait. This term “gait” takes into account what all of the joints in your legs and also your trunk are doing when you move one leg and stand on the other for support. Any change in your walking pattern can cause a problem in any part of your body, even if that problem seems to be isolated to just one body part.
Read full blogFlat Feet: How Physical Therapy Can Help The Pain
Flat feet is caused by many things, genetics, age, weight, etc., and can create painful body issues. A physical therapist can treat and suggest simple lifestyle changes like exercises to lengthen and strengthen muscles, shoes and insoles that will lift the arch and posture builders to engage and strengthen the core. But those with flat feet should understand what happens to the body when there is no arch in their feet.
What Does The Arch Do?
The arches add elasticity and flexibility causing the middle of the foot to spread and close.
Read full blogGrab Arthritis by the Horns and take Control of Life
Are you tired of your joints being stiff and joint pain dictating the activities you are able to do? Although there is no cure for arthritis, as it is a degenerative disease, there are ways you can manage the pain and also increase your activity level.
Osteoarthritis involves the degeneration of the joints, more specifically the cartilage that lines a joint. When this smooth material is worn down, the joint no longer will move like it’s supposed to.
Ankle Sprain Symptoms
An ankle sprain is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries and can have long-lasting effects on daily living and recreational activities. Initially, ankle sprains will present with pain, swelling, bruising (bleeding under the skin), and loss of function, which can mean time off from work, without being able to stand, walk and possibly no driving depending upon the ankle that is injured.
Once taut ligaments are stretched out beyond their normal limits, they may become loose, or lax, leading to instability. Often times, after an initial ankle sprain, the ankle will continue to feel loose or unstable for months or even years so it is very important to address an ankle sprain or strain as soon as possible. Waiting could cause further loss of mobility and keep your from running in that 5K you have been training for the past few months.
Computers and Phones causing your Neck Issues?
Is your computer and phone causing your neck issues? One of the biggest contributors to neck pain and stiffness is our poor posture. A lot of us sit at a desk for work or school for several hours throughout the day. We’re often not aware of our posture. We might not have a workstation that is set up ergonomically; our computer screens are too high or too low; we’re on our phones or our tablets and looking down.
Read full blogProtect Your Shoulder when Swimming and Gardening
More and more of us are planning to spend an increased amount of time outdoors. This also means that we need to be more cognizant of our bodies when participating in outside activities such as gardening and swimming. It is important to protect your shoulder when enjoying outdoor activities such as swimming and gardening this summer.
Some common injuries that are associated with the shoulder is due to overuse or improper lifting techniques. A great example is when working outside in the yard or swimming for competition or everyday exercise during the summer months. Whether it’s picking up heavy bags of mulch or planting flowers, or preparing for the upcoming swimmers meet, it is important to be mindful of your body mechanics as well as repetitive movements.
