Everyone develops aches and pains from time to time. After a long day out in the sun, or after an afternoon of trying to keep up with household chores, sometimes the tasks that we expect of our bodies can get the best of us.
Health &Wellness The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body
TO ACHES & PAINS
Health & Wellness The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body
INSIDE:
• Say Goodbye to Aches & Pains • Why Physical Therapy? • Feel Better By Eating Better • Relieve Pain In Minutes • Patient Success Spotlight • April Fun In The Clinic
TO ACHES & PAINS
Everyone develops aches and pains from time to time. After a long day out in the sun, or after an afternoon of trying to keep up with household chores, sometimes the tasks that we expect of our bodies can get the best of us. Whether it is a lingering ache in your back, feet that feel swollen and tired after a long day in your shoes, or a crick in your neck that just won’t go away, dealing with aches and pains can really take a toll on your overall feeling of wellbeing. If you stopped and asked around, you’d be amazed to see how many people are struggling with aches and pains, just like you. What may surprise you even more is how many people are coping with those pains without doing anything productive about it. How to Deal with Aches & Pains Pain medications can reduce the severity of aches and pains for a little while, but they don’t do anything to resolve the issue. There are things that you can do at home that can alleviate your aches and pains, helping to reduce the severity of your discomfort while also reducing the likelihood that the pain will return. Don’t just complain about those aches and pains. Start doing something about them. Here is a quick rundown of things that you can do at home that can reduce your daily pain: 1. Use hot and cold therapy appropriately to reduce inflammation. After a good workout or a day of
doing chores out in the yard, your muscles will likely feel sore. Apply ice directly to the area that hurts on and off for 20 minutes at a time during the first 24-72 hours after the pain develops. After that, consider soaking in hot water, such as taking a warm bath, to further soothe your muscles. 2. Don’t underestimate the power of resting! Your body relies on sleep just as much as your brain. You need to get plenty of sleep to keep your stress level at a minimum—and that includes your physical stress level. Aim to sleep between 7-9 hours every night. The more activity you engage in, the more sleep you need. 3. Keep your body in good shape with regular exercise. It may seem counterintuitive to cut down on pain by moving more, but exercise is a really good way to reduce aches and pains. When you exercise every day, you are able to train your muscles for more movement, and thereby reduce aches and pains. Keeping active, staying rested, and being smart with hot and cold therapy create a trifecta for healthy management of aches and pains, but they aren’t going to solve the bigger problems. When aches and pains start to grow severe, or chronic, then it is time to reach out to a professional for support. Physical therapy is the best way to reduce aches and pains because it takes into account a combination of active and passive strategies to help tackle the cause of your pain.
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WHY PHYSICAL THERAPY?
There are a lot of different reasons as to why you may start feeling aches and pains. Muscle pain will occur whenever your muscles start to grow. To build more muscle mass, your muscles have to stretch, and lactic acid can pour into the lining of your muscles to cause a burning sensation. More movement will push that acid out, helping you to experience relief, and in time your muscles will develop increased elasticity, and the burning won’t be so severe. Build-up of tension from stress or overuse, and muscle pain from poor posture can also contribute to regular pain. A physical therapist can take a comprehensive assessment to help determine what may be the primary cause behind your aches and pains. Working with a physical therapist can help you develop a new approach to managing your aches and pains. Your physical therapy program will likely take into account strategies like hydrotherapy, deep tissue massage, guided stretching and targeted movements to help you experience ongoing relief from regular discomfort. Give us a call so we can help you say goodbye to your aches and pains. For more information about how physical therapy can help your aches & pains, call Blue Ridge Physical Therapy at (423) 262-0020!
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Relieve Pain In Minutes Try this movement to keep you moving.
Helps with Mobility
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LOWER TRUNK ROTATIONS Lying on your back with your knees bent, gently rock your knees side-to-side. Repeat 8 times on both sides.
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FEEL BETTER BY EATING BETTER
There’s no question that what you eat affects how you feel, and a healthy diet helps you feel better. The healthiest diet is one that emphasizes whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables and that includes lean protein and low-fat or no-fat dairy products. Combine a healthy diet with regular exercise, and you will find it helps your mood as well as your body. Here are some tips to help improve your mood and activity with the right nutrition: 1. Mix in Protein to Boost Mood. Like fiber, protein can help you to avoid blood sugar crashes. Some good sources of protein are chicken, fish, eggs, seeds and nuts, low- fat yogurt, low-fat cheese and milk, tofu, and peanut butter. 2. Don’t Worry, “B” Happy. The B vitamins, including B6, B12, and folic acid, play a role in the production of brain chemicals that regulate mood. Especially if you have depression, be sure to consume foods rich in these vitamins. Good food sources for
many B vitamins include shellfish, poultry, eggs, low-fat yogurt, and fortified breakfast cereals. Folic acid in particular is found mostly in leafy greens. 3. Drink Water. Sip water or other drinks with few or no calories to help maintain a healthy weight. Keep a water bottle in your bag or at your desk to satisfy your thirst throughout the day. 4. Be Active Whenever You Can. Set a goal to fit in at least 2½ hours of moderate physical activity in your week. Being active 10 minutes at a time also adds to your weekly total. Ask your friends or family to keep you company as you bike, jogg, walk, or dance. Don’t forget to do some muscle strengthening activities twice a week. 5. Enjoy Your Food But Eat Less. Use a smaller plate for meals to help control the amount of food and calories you eat.
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Patient Success Spotlight
April Fun In The Clinic!
I am able to sleep, work, and play again.
See What the Easter Bunny Has in Store as He Hip-pity Hops Around the Clinic! Every bunny needs a work out! Call (423) 262-0020 today to find out how physical therapy can help you this April.
“Ihavehadneckpain foryearsbut it rapidly progressed to being severe. I could only sleep 2 hours per night. With the help of Dr. WilesandBlueRidgePhysicalTherapy, Iam able to sleep, work and play again. I’ve met some of the nicest people that I have ever workedwith inthehealthcarefield. Iamback and feeling better.” - James Myers, M.D.
THE NO. 1 THING YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE YOUR PHYSICAL THERAPY EXPERIENCE
Dealing with the pain and limited mobility associated with an injury or illness can be stressful for so many reasons. You might have questions like, “How long will I be sidelined?” and “What do I need to do to get better?” Or maybe you’re worried about how you’ll pick your children up from school, walk to the train for your commute or prepare meals for your family. These are all perfectly normal concerns. Luckily, there are some ways that you can gain control over the situation and ensure that you return to the activities you care most about—especially if physical therapy is part of your plan. What you can do before your very first appointment—and during physical therapy—to take control of that injury- related stress? First and foremost, it’s important to come prepared for physical therapy. And no, I’m not talking about dressing appropriately and arriving on time (or even better, 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled appointment). That stuff is important, of course, but there’s one thing you can do in the days leading up to your appointment that will set you up for success.
Any guesses? I’m talking about starting a list. What kind of list? Well, every time that you feel pain in the affected area or notice an activity that is harder than it was pre-injury, add it to the list! And the more specific you are, the better. Here’s an example to help drive this point home: Let’s say that you’re recovering from a moderate meniscus tear and you have an appointment with your physical therapist in three days. Take notes on how your knee feels first thing in the morning after you’ve been off your feet. How does your knee react when you stand up from a chair—does it feel unstable? Or do you find that you need to clutch the back of the couch on your way to the bathroom? Sharing each of these details helps your physical therapist understand your limitations beyond the injury printed on your intake form. Now let’s take that list a step farther and add some details about the activities that you typically participate in on a regular basis. Let’s say that you normally play a weekly round of golf, spend your mornings weeding your garden or meet up with friends for a four-mile walk two evenings a
week. These activities have become an important part of your life so let’s make sure that they’re factored into your list, perhaps in the “what you hope to get out of physical therapy” category. Painting a clear picture of how active you are—and what types of activities and sports you participate in—can help your physical therapist design an individualized treatment plan and to better help you on your road to recovery. Have you been to physical therapy lately for an injury? Did you find anything else that helped maximize your time in rehab or that improved communication with your physical therapist?
3915 Bristol Highway, Suite 301 Johnson City, TN 37601-1403 Phone: (423) 262-0020 Fax: (423) 262-0057
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The Importance of Healthy Knees
WHEN USING THE STAIRS
The complex network of bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the knee joint are vulnerable. Knee pain can result from many problems, from sports injuries to arthritis to gout. And when knee arthritis or a torn knee ligament strikes, climbing stairs, walking, and even standing can be painful. Strengthening the knee is one way to prevent knee trouble and deal with a knee condition you already have. One exercise that’s simple to do is stair climbing. Stair Climbing Benefits Strengthening the muscles around the knee will decrease the stress on the joint itself. These muscles include the quadriceps at the front of the thigh and the hamstrings at the back of the thigh. Both of these large muscle groups get a workout when you climb stairs. Your own weight is enough to make stair climbing a challenge. Stair climbing also benefits the knees indirectly by helping to manage your weight. By walking up steps for five minutes, you can burn about 45 calories. If you do that five times per week, that’s 225 calories. Doing it 50 weeks a year can burn 11,250 calories. A pound is about 3,500 calories, so with a little stair climbing most days of the year you can lose more than 3 pounds.
Ready for a little more math? If you’re 10 pounds overweight, you’re adding 30 to 60 pounds of additional pressure on your knees with every step. Climbing stairs can help you take pressure off the joints by burning calories and dropping pounds. If you have knee pain for any reason, don’t ignore it. Rehabilitation such as exercise can often ease the pain and make walking enjoyable again. See a physical therapist at Blue Ridge Physical Therapy to learn what we can do to relieve your knee pain and improve your quality of life.
Eating Right Never Tasted So Good!
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil • 1 small onion, diced • 2 tablespoons minced garlic • 2 jalapeños, finely diced
• 3 chicken breasts, boneless • 2 limes • Salt & black pepper • 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves • One 8-inch flour tortilla • 1 avocado • 1 cup shredded Monterrey cheese
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth • One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes • One 14.5-ounce can black beans
Directions In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalapeños and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, grilled tortilla strips, avocado slices and cheese.
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