Health Blog
Knee Pain: Surgery or Physical Therapy
Knee pain manual therapy performed by a Physical Therapist.
Patients who have chronic knee pain come into our clinic and think ultimately surgery is the only option. However, this isn’t always the case. Many orthopaedic problems can be solved through physical therapy. Recent studies on chronic knee pain such as this study from the journal of Age and Ageing confirms that older men should take preventative steps to address knee pain to avoid further injury in the future.
Read full blogPain Free Golf
Pain Free Golfing
Here are some simple changes and adjustments that you can make to help prevent golf injuries:
1) Proper Club Fitting
Proper fit clubs can decrease stress to your body during the golf swing, help avoid poor swing biomechanics and avoid altered postures.
2) Play Golf Consistently
I don’t think most golfers will have a problem with this one. Playing golf consistently will avoid long times of breaks and golf related activities
3) Push your Golf Cart
Pushing your cart instead of pulling will cause less stress and torque to your body and help prevent injury
4) Use a Longer Putter
This may decrease stress and strain while putting and avoid increased flexion when playing around of golf
5) Use a Dual Backpack Strap
Carrying a golf bag with a single strap may be hazardous to the low back, shoulder, and ankles.
Read full blogHow to Run Pain Free
Many runners ask how they should be running. Running training should be focused on 1 of 2 things: 1) injury prevention or 2) performance. So the main purpose of this post is to focus on injury prevention and treatment. I promote runners to avoid a heel strike and to try more of a mid foot strike when running with pain or recovering from an injury. Landing with a midfoot strike has been associated with decreases in peak impact loads and a decrease in knee pain (patellar-femoral symptoms).
Read full blogHeels in Shoes = Unhealthy Joints = Foot Pain
Wearing any kind of shoe with a heel is detrimental to our joint and muscle health. Even the heel in an athletic shoe can wreek havoc on the mechanics of our walking or running and it does this to a tune of millions of repititions throughout each step we take in our lives. I believe this has become a marketing technique to create the “most comfortable” cushioned shoe for consumers. For example if you put a shoe on that has a higher heel like a running shoe then you foot feels great, because it dosen’t have to work!
Read full blogPhysical Therapy Attendence. PRESENT!
My physical therapist says I need to have 2 to 3 treatments a week. Why?
Once you have been referred to a physical therapist, or you decide to see one on your own, the PT will perform an initial evaluation. At the end of this first session the therapist will most likely recommend that you set up some treatment times for the next several weeks, usually to the tune of 2 to 3 visits a week.
Read full blogPT and Rotator Cuff Pain/Tears
Most of us have heard the term “rotator cuff” and many people suffer from what is called rotator cuff pain. However, many people don’t actually know what that means. The term “rotator cuff” refers to a group of 4 muscles that connect the shoulder blade (scapula) to the arm bone (humerus). These four muscles are the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis.
The Shoulder and the Rotator Cuff
Problems start to occur when there is inflammation present in the tendons.
Read full blogHealthy Lifestyle a Physical Therapist’s take
A healthy lifestyle means maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet as well as engaging in sports or other fitness related activities. A healthy diet alone however is inadequate to ensure a healthy body as physical activity helps to keep one in shape and free of sickness and disease.
According to the World Health Organization, only one in ten people exercise regularly and a majority do not follow a healthy diet. This leads to obesity and obese people suffer from many health complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and even cancer.
Direct Access = Self referral to Physical Therapy
In my experience patients have much success with Direct Access. When patients see a Physical Therapist for musculoskeletal pain vs going through a physician referral they have a faster window for recovery. The literature is coming out with more and more evidence to support these personal anecdotal experiences. For instance here is and article that show Physical therapist’s have the expertise to see patients directly.
A recent article in Health Services Research looked at the comparison of self-referral vs physician-referral episodes to outpatient physical therapy.
Read full blog5 Hidden Benefits of Exercise
First of all, we know that exercise is good for us but few people in our society regularly perform an exercise routine. I believe we need something to motivate ourselves and something to keep physical activity in our regular routine. We all need to find something that motivates us as an individual. Your primary motivation to exercise is unique to you. Therfore your motivation might be a goal to play with your kids again, decrease the risk of falls, be able to lift things without difficulty, sit through a movie with your family / friends without pain, or return to playing sports.
Read full blogIs Sitting Slowy Killing Us? And causing Back Pain.
We all know the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting. I Hope.
There is no mystery behind it, we already have the evidence, as described in this past CNN article. Sitting increases our risk of premature death, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, orthopaedic injury or dysfunction and many other diseases. In fact, we don’t see ANY lumbar disease in any third-world country or in any country that toilets on the ground or sleeps on the ground.
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