Once a month your favorite therapists will take the time to post about helpful tips and tricks, these post will be their way of giving you advice or teaching you new things you may not know yet. We are super excited to see what they come up, if you have any recommendation or requests feel free to let us know! Tune in each month for new content and see if your request gets featured.
All About Posture from Dr. Reid Patterson 11/16/23 Posture, Posture, Posture - This concern has become the plague of today. Our current daily life style really promotes a forward and down positioning that has some pretty serious repercussions. To quote Joseph Pilates (founder of Pilates): "Because of poor posture, practically 95% of our population suffers from varying degrees of spinal curvature, not to mention more serious ailments. Good posture can be successfully acquired only when the entire mechanism of the body is under perfect control." Joseph passed in 1967. It was certainly true then, and it is even more of an issue now. Here are a few things to start with to try to battle the forward and down problem. 1. Chin tucks: in sitting or standing tall, draw your head straight back as though you are trying to make a double chin. 2. Scapular retraction: pull your shoulder blades down and back. 3. Tighten up your abdominals: think about pulling your belly button back towards your spine or bracing your tummy as if someone was going to hit you without holding your breath. These exercises can be done frequently throughout the day as you begin to re-train your body as to where it is supposed to be. This will take some time to overcome the huge forward training we do all day long. You can do this! Let us know if you are having trouble.
The Benefits Of Stretching from Dr. Jaylan Hibbard 12/18/2023 The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) endorses a one-minute cumulative stretch, which can be a powerful tool for gaining mobility. In my opinion, stretch to what’s tolerable and make sure that you can breathe into and through the stretch; a stretch should not cause sharp pain. If a stretch provides relief from pain, do the stretch often throughout the day. If you ever need help with finding stretches that are suitable for you, talk to one of our awesome clinicians on staff
What To Expect For Your First Visit from Dr. Kyle Maughan 01/03/2024 What is Manual Therapy? Therapy consisting of hands on treatment by provider with intent on improving blood flow and healing properties, reducing soft tissue and joint restrictions, and assist in pain management. Soft tissue/deep tissue mobilization
Joint mobilizations-performed by therapist directing energy of movement at the joint capsule
Strain-counterstrain-may be considered part of neuro re-ed as well; shortening movement of trigger point to allow soft tissue structures to allow irritated tissues to relax
Myofascial release-addressing the connective tissue restrictions
Cross friction-facilitate blood flow and healing properties
Passive range of motion-moving a joint through a range of motion by an external source
Therapeutic exercise Exercises directed at functional deficits and/or muscle imbalances
Endurance-low resistance, high repetitions
Strength-ability of a muscle to do work
Stretching-elongating soft tissue structures
Power-speed component in addition to strength
Neuromuscular re-education Improving mind to body control and awareness.
Motor control-body control, gross and fine motor control
Balance-reaction time, awareness of position of body in space
Positional resting and movement pattern awareness, posture
Gait-walking pattern
Modalities Treatment directed at pain reduction and/or improved blood flow for tissue healing
Interferential current-used for acute inflammation reduction/pain reduction; often times coupled with cold pack or heat
Cold pack-used primarily for acute pain management
Hot pack-used for conditions that have poor blood flow as a characteristic such as osteoarthritis
?Ultrasound?-not frequently utilized but can be effective for tendinitis
Dry needling Inserting monofilament needles into trigger points to stimulate reparative properties in soft tissue; utilizing electrical stimulation often increases the effectiveness
Electrical stimulation-increase blood flow to area to facilitate healing
Winding-wrapping collagen fibers around needle for localized stretch response
Tenting-manipulating of deep soft tissue in plane unable to otherwise
Fanning-changing angles of needle in a specific plane to affect more area and fibers
Coning-similar to fanning but addressing multiple planes
Pecking-Periosteal pecking (in and around bone) to ignite a fresh healing response
Trigger point-addressing trigger points within muscles that have adapted to dysfunctional state