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4 Ways to Quickly Relieve Sciatica

February 20, 2017 admin Leave a comment

Sciatica is a very common condition that affects 10% of the population. However, many more people suffer with sciatica like symptoms from low back pain to numbness in the leg. These symptoms can be signs of other back problems such as mechanical low back pain or even herniated discs.

How do you know if you have sciatica?

Tenderness to the deep gluteus muscles
Numbness, tingling or pain that travels broadly down the thigh
Constant pain that may originate in the low back, but travels mainly down the back of the buttock and thigh
Pain that feels better when lying down or walking, but worsens with sitting

Relieving Sciatica

Get properly diagnosed by a physical therapist. Other low back conditions can present as sciatica symptoms and it is important to determine the exact origins of your symptoms. Seeing a physical therapist sooner, rather than later means faster recovery and less potential for damage that can occur to the spinal joints and nerves.
Alternate heat and ice to the low back and buttock area. Ice helps to relieve inflammation, while heat helps relax muscles and improve blood flow. Try 10 minutes on, 30 minutes off when alternating. Make sure to check your skin frequently to prevent injury. Speak with one of our specialists if you have questions on what will work best for you.
Position yourself to relax your piriformis muscle. A simple position to relieve pressure on the piriformis muscle is to lie face down with a pillow under your hips. Slowly bend your affected leg up as far as you can comfortably to the side in a figure 4 position. Your knee should be ideally level with your hip or pelvis. Hold this position for 2 minutes, and then slowly bring your leg down, keeping your muscles as relaxed as possible. Repeat frequently throughout the day.
Stretch your hips, back and legs. Do exercises to gently stretch your low back, open your hips and stretch your hamstrings. Speak to one of our specialists if you have questions on which exercises you should do.

While sciatica can literally be a pain in the backside, it doesn’t have to stay with you. Simple strategies and seeing the right physical therapist early can make a big difference in quickly healing and returning to the pain free activities you love.

Shoulder Pain

3 Ways to Beat Achy Shoulders

February 10, 2017 admin Leave a comment

Do you find your shoulders aching at the end of the day or when having to lift your arms? Whether your pain is from an old injury or just from moving all day long, try these simple techniques to feel better and stronger.

Why Your Shoulders Hurt

Your shoulders are the most complicated joints in your body and one of the most easily injured. They have to move through an incredible 180 degrees of motion, while still maintaining stability and strength. Some of the most important muscles in the shoulder are actually the smallest.

The rotator cuff is a series of 4 muscles that form a cuff around the shoulder (glenohumeral) joint. Although they are small, they are vital to guiding how the shoulder joint moves. When these muscles are weak or injured, the head of the humerus bone can jam up into the socket of the shoulder blade, causing inflammation and pain.

Try these simple actions to improve the health of your shoulders and alleviate that nagging ache or sharp pain for good.

Keep your shoulders aligned by doing postural exercises – The number one reason for repetitive injury and pain in the shoulders is poor posture. With prolonged slouching, the shoulders protrude forward changing the mechanics of the way your shoulders move. This weakens your rotator cuff and shoulder blade (scapula) muscles. It predisposes you to injury.
Strengthen your rotator cuff muscles – By keeping your rotator cuff muscles strong, you help guide your shoulder joints throughout the day, lessening the chance for injury and inflammation to occur. A simple exercise to perform is lying on your side with your top arm straight up towards the ceiling. Now slowly lower the arm down towards your hip, but not all the way, then back up to the ceiling. Repeat 10-15 times for 2 sets every other day. Stay within a pain free range of movement. Stop if you have any pain or talk to one of our therapists if you have any questions.
Improve your scapula stability – The scapula (shoulder blade) is a part of your whole shoulder complex. It has many different muscles attached to it, pulling at just the right time for proper shoulder movement. Every time you reach, pick up or pull, you use your scapula. Improve the stability of them by performing scapula exercises. A simple exercise is standing against a wall and gently trying to pinch your shoulder blades together, while keeping your arms relaxed. Perform 10-15 repetitions, holding the contraction for 5 seconds.

By working on these 3 simple actions, you can dramatically improve the performance and feel of your shoulders. You should also consider making an appointment with a physical therapist, to evaluate your shoulder mechanics and prevent injury. Our physical therapists are experts at analyzing the complex movements of your shoulders to determine the exact cause of your achy or sharp pain. If your shoulders feel weak, achy, painful, or if you had previous surgeries, give us a call today. We will definitely get your shoulders feeling limber, stronger and allow you to get back to doing life’s everyday activities pain free.

Health and Wellness

How to relieve pain and prevent injuries with better balance

January 20, 2017 admin Leave a comment

When we think of poor balance, we typically think of seniors using canes or walkers to get around, because they may fall. However, poor balance is actually a big contributor to sports injuries, common backache, neck pain, and headaches in younger people. In order to walk on two feet, adapt to bumpy surfaces such as grass, quickly run, turn, recover from a trip and more, we need a finely tuned balance system at all stages of life.

Whether you are an active runner or just your average Joe, your balance systems are used thousands of times a day. How well tuned they are, dictates whether your muscles have to work too hard to do ordinary tasks or whether you can adapt to the strains of running, jumping and more. Most of the common declines in balance we experience are not noticed until they are quite severe.

Common problems that occur because of poor balance systems:

Back pain
Neck pain and headaches
Hip and knee pain
Shoulder pain
Sports injuries
Vertigo and dizziness
Trip and falls

Important balance systems you use everyday:

Visual systems – Your eyes work with your vestibular system to keep your head level, track objects and determine distance / speed of objects. Just try to balance with your feet together and close your eyes to see how important your visual system is with balance. Your vestibuloccular reflex (VOR) is an important reflex for sports and everyday life. This naturally declines after your mid 20’s, and can cause dizziness, headaches or even vertigo when it is not functioning properly. Want to do better at sports? Improve your VOR!
Vestibular system – This consists of special fluid filled canals in the middle ear that help your brain know which direction your head is tilted or moving. Problems with this system can cause dizziness, vertigo, poor balance and headaches.
Your joints – There are nerve endings within the capsules surrounding all of your joints. These give you the senses of proprioception (sense of where your body is in space) and kinesthesia (sense of which direction and speed your joints are moving). These senses decline with inactivity, sedentary lifestyles and old or new injuries. The decline in these senses is a major factor for most joint pain, back pain and neck pain.
Touch – You use the sensation of touch everyday, especially on your feet to give your brain feedback about the surface you are walking on, even through shoes. Common problems with poor circulation in the legs, diabetes and more effect the functioning of sensory nerves in your legs and feet, affecting your balance.

Use it or lose it

The wonderful thing about your balance system is that you can always improve it. Most problems are caused by lack of use of your balance system when you don’t live an active lifestyle. Whether you want to get rid of ordinary aches and pains, or are a high level athlete, focusing on proper balance and postural exercises can make a dramatic difference in your overall health and function.

The experts in balance

Physical therapists are the medical experts in evaluating and treating balance. We treat patients everyday for their balance. Whether you need help with back pain, neck pain, headaches, knee pain or dizziness, our physical therapists will address your balance systems. By testing what systems you are using, we can determine where there is a weakness and then provide comprehensive treatments that will fix the problem. To learn more about how we can help you balance and move freely without pain, call us today.

Headaches

5 Powerful Steps to Relieve Headaches

January 10, 2017 admin Leave a comment

The World Health Organization determines that 47% of the population will suffer from headaches at least one time this year. For many, headaches become a way of life, having to take over-the-counter medication on a frequent basis just to get through the day. However, it does not have to be this way, if you understand some of the fundamental concepts that trigger headaches.

While a headache is in itself a complicated condition that involves the misfiring of thousands of nerve endings, the most common causes of headaches are actually problems with the function of the muscles in the upper neck. The upper neck is one of the most complicated areas of the body with many muscles, complex joints, major arteries, spinal cord, and balance sensors.

What can go wrong

With our everyday chaotic lives, huge stress is demanded on our body, not only mechanically, but mentally also. Mental stress changes hormone production in the body, increases muscle tension, and decreases the threshold for pain tolerance. Mechanical and mental stresses go hand in hand to set you up for common neck pain and headaches.

5 Steps to Relieving Headaches

Improve blood chemistry with proper breathing –Without knowing it, daily stress causes you to breathe shallower. This increases the carbon dioxide concentration in your blood, changing the pH of your blood slightly. This can throw off the delicate balance of thousands of normal chemical processes in your body. Take time throughout the day to stop what you are doing and focus on taking breaths in for 6 seconds and out for 8. Use your diaphragm muscle instead of your shoulder muscles, by making your belly expand.
Stretch your chest and neck – In sitting positions at a computer, the tendency is to slouch, bringing the shoulders forward, weakening the upper back muscles, while tightening the chest and neck muscles. Take time to stretch your chest by squeezing your shoulder blades together gently, while keeping your neck relaxed. Hold for 30 seconds and do at least 5 repetitions repeating this exercise throughout the day.
Strengthen your mid and lower back muscles – With prolonged sitting the mid and lower back muscles weaken. This causes additional strain on the neck muscles and makes you prone to cervicogenic headaches. There are specific exercises to help you build these weakened areas. Talk to your physical therapist about which exercise program can help you target and strengthen these areas.
Hydrate – The vast majority of Americans are chronically dehydrated. Many sodas, coffees and teas are diuretics, which cause your body to eliminate water. The brain requires a certain level of hydration to function properly and remove normal wastes. Being dehydrated causes these toxins to back up, increasing the tendency for headaches. Don’t wait until you are thirsty, as this is a sign of severe dehydration. Drink water consistently throughout the day in adequate volumes for your weight and size.
Improve your posture – The further protruded your neck becomes, the greater the weight and tension on your neck muscles. In proper posture, your head is balanced on your neck at about 10-12 pounds. With forward head posture, this can actually increase to the equivalent of 60 pounds of strain on your neck muscles throughout the day. No wonder you get a headache at the end of the day! Physical therapists are trained to examine your posture and work on specific hands-on techniques and exercises to restore normal alignment of your spine.

These 5 steps can go a long way to prevent your headaches from starting, and the need for taking medications that have long-term side-effects. To learn more about how we help relieve headaches and neck pain, while improving your neck mobility and strength, call us today.

Physical Therapy

How to De-Stress Your Body For Better Health

December 20, 2016 admin Leave a comment

We live in a fast paced world filled with deadlines, endless hours staring into a screen, sleepless nights and battling traffic. What does this do your body and most importantly, what can you do to change it? Ultimately, your health is in your hands. Depending on pills to handle aches, pains and stress is not a long-term solution and the many side effects can have a debilitating effect on your body.

Here are natural solutions that you can work on to feel your best:

Regulate your breathing
When you are under a constant state of stress your autonomic nervous system operates on a flight or fight response for extensive periods of time. This is not good for your body, dumping in adrenaline and other stimulant hormones. While this is good for handling quick situations, it hurts your body long-term with complications such as chronic pain, heart disease, diabetes and more.

Breathing is one of the easiest ways to calm down your autonomic nervous system and activate a part of it call the parasympathetic nervous system. This sends out endorphins and other soothing hormones to calm your body down. Try the technique of breathing in through your nose for the count of 6 and out with your mouth for the count of 4. Place your hand on your upper abdomen and try to gently expand that, being conscious of not using your shoulders or upper trapezius muscles to breathe. Try this multiple times a day, especially times when you feel stressed. It will help you relax.

Improve your posture
Posture is key to the proper functioning of your breathing, digestion and musculoskeletal systems. How is the setup of your workstation, home computer and other daily areas you sit or stand in? Do you find yourself slumping and slouching throughout the day? Take time to lie on the floor in the morning or evening and stretch your hands over head, stretching your back. Do upper and mid back strengthening exercises to strengthen your postural muscles. Be conscious of how you hold yourself in the day, bend down to pick up objects or reach overhead.

Exercise regularly
Even going for a walk 10-20 minutes a day, can make a big impact on your stress levels and overall health. However, try to perform more regular aerobic exercise and also incorporate strengthening exercises of your arms, torso and legs to help you cope with daily activities. The number one reason that people stop exercising or don’t keep it up is that they get bored. Make it fun, participate in a class, be with others, try sports and set goals for yourself.

Eat better
We all know we should eat better, but it takes discipline and making meal preparation a part of your routine. Incorporate more vegetables, fruits and nuts into your diet. Make sure you prevent hunger by eating small snacks though out the day to keep your blood sugar levels normalized. Maintain portion control and eat slower to feel full and not crave a large meal. Drink more water to keep a feeling of being full and help your body operate properly. At restaurants, cut your portions in half and ask for a to-go box right away so you don’t eat the whole meal in one serving.

These simple actions can go a long way to helping you lead a healthier life, managing your stress levels and making you feel better. If you want to feel better, get rid of pain, walk and move better, then talk to one of our physical therapists today. Think of us as the mechanics for your body, keeping you running at your best shape. Just like you need routine tune-ups at your dentist, you should see your physical therapist every 6-8 months. Call us today.