Health blog Category: physical therapy
Why Cross Training is Important to Prevent Injury
By Xavier Thompson, ATC
Cross training. What is it and why is it important? If you follow the headlines of any sports’ stars in the off season, you’ll likely see multiple stories about how an athlete is doing something besides their professional sport to prepare for the next season. You can find videos on the internet of star basketball players boxing or doing core work. Articles are written about football players taking up ballet or yoga.
Flip flops or ‘Flip Nots’?
It’s 90 degrees outside, the suns is beaming and you’re ready to head out and enjoy the day. As you’re heading out the door though, you’re faced with a dilemma: sneakers or flip flops? Of course, you want to choose your flip flops. They keep your feet cool, you can put them on and take them off quickly and let’s be honest, they’re just plain comfortable! However, along with that comfort comes some structural sacrifices.
Read full blogDiscomfort or Difficulty Reaching Up to Grab Dishes
You’ve probably just spend the past month or so sprucing up your garden, putting mulch out around your home, and/or performing other projects while the weather was a bit more tolerable. Now it’s summer, and you get to look at all of the sweat equity that you just finished putting in. You may also notice that your shoulder is talking to you.
It’s pretty common that different joints become sore after repetitive use over a short period of time. The shoulder is no exception. Your shoulder is a joint that is very mobile and is made up of multiple muscles which attach to the bones via tendons. Those muscles and tendons, the rotator cuff, are notorious for getting inflamed and becoming painful with overuse. In addition, as we get older, usually in our 50’s and 60’s, it is common to find arthritis in the joint. This is just from “wear and tear” over time. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is it painful to reach overhead into the kitchen cabinet or to change a light bulb?
Joint Stiffness Impacting Plans?
By Alyssa Burke, PTA
Joint stiffness is a common ailment that affects many people. It can affect any joint and can vary in severity and duration. It can make a simple task like getting up from a chair or walking a challenge and painful. You may only experience temporary stiffness first thing in the morning or it can bother you after being stationary for a long period of time. Here are some questions to consider if you have joint stiffness:
- What is joint stiffness?
Discomfort sitting, standing or exercising?
By Kate Zanoni, LPTA
If you’ve experienced pain behind your kneecap or in the front of your knee, you may be suffering from patellofemoral pain syndrome or ‘Runner’s Knee.’ Runner’s knee is often characterized by pain behind the knee (retropatellar pain), pain around the kneecap (peripatellar pain) or pain in the front of the knee (anterior knee pain). It is associated with activities that put stress on the knee joint, such as running, sports and recreational activities.
Have you ever fallen asleep in an awkward position?
By: Cierra Washington, ATC
Raise your hand if you’ve ever fallen asleep in an awkward position and had the unexpected pleasure of waking up to a “crick in your neck”. For years, I’ve used the phrase “crick in my neck,” and yet I never really knew what it referred to other than general neck discomfort. When most people complain of a “crick” in their neck, they’re referring to either pain or stiffness, most likely in the form of a cramp or spasm.
Feeling Unsteady or Having Trouble Balancing?
Balance problems and having trouble balancing might not be what first comes to mind when you think of conditions physical therapy treats. However, balance impairments are something we see and treat in patients of all ages, young people and older population.
First, let’s clear up any confusion there may be about balance issues and vertigo. We do also treat vertigo, which is condition involving the inner ear. Vertigo causes symptoms such as dizziness and can impact balance but it’s not treated the same as balance issues that are unrelated to vertigo.
Ever had trouble bending down to reach something
“Why are we focusing on my core if my lower back is what’s hurting?” This is a question that is often heard in the physical therapy world. To answer this question, let’s talk spinal anatomy, muscular imbalances and posture.
When patients come in with lower back pain, one of the very first muscle groups assessed is the core. Most lower back injuries occur from unbalanced abdominals and poor low back mechanics. Over training “core” muscles, while leaving the back muscles to fend for themselves, ultimately sets you up for injury.
How to Get Moving Safely and Effectively
It’s no secret that regular exercise is important to your overall health. Many of us are probably trying to move more to get in shape. Exercise is defined as planned and structured physical activity with the purpose of training a specific part of the body. So how much do you really know about exercise and why it is so important?
Exercise has many proven health benefits:
- Exercise can help control weight to keep your BMI (body mass index) in a healthy range.
Planking Our Way to A Full-Body Workout
It’s true! You can get a full body workout with one exercise. It may sound like a myth, but there is one legendary strengthening and stabilization move that will simultaneously work your arms, shoulders, chest, upper and lower back, abdominals, gluteals and quadriceps: the plank!
Physical and Mental Challenge
Holding a plank is certainly a physical challenge, but it’s often just as much of a mental workout. It’s easy to psych yourself out and quit when you start feeling “the burn” before you truly reach muscle fatigue.
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