JOURNEY TO THE GREAT BACKYARD FINISH THE SUMMER WITH A FAMILY CAMPING ‘TRIP’
Summer is drawing to a close, but there’s still time to make some great memories. Camping trips are a summer staple. Fortunately, you don’t have to drive hours into the mountains to find the perfect campsite. Your backyard is right there waiting for you! Here are a few tips to help your family say farewell to summer with a perfect backyard camping trip. PACK FOR AN AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE. Your back door is literally a few yards away, which can be great in the event of an emergency. But if the kids are running in and out of the house all night long, they might end up deciding they’d rather be inside playing video games after only an hour. Be sure to pack everything you would need if you were really going into the woods for the night so no one is tempted to go back inside. This means tents, sleeping bags, flashlights, pajamas, books, binoculars, a compass, water bottles, and a cooler of food with snacks and dinner. Treat this like a “real” camping experience right from the beginning! FIGURE OUT THE CAMPFIRE. Don’t have an in-ground fire pit? No worries! You can still enjoy hot dogs and s’mores with a charcoal grill or a store-bought fire
pit. If you have enough room in your backyard, you could even try building a bonfire. Just make sure to check your city ordinances and get any necessary permits first. You can find advice for building the perfect campfire at REI.com/learn/expert- advice/campfire-basics.html .
REMEMBER: IT’S OKAY TO CALL IT A NIGHT. For kids, the most exciting part of camping in the backyard is getting to sleep in a tent — that is, until they actually have to sleep. After stargazing, some kids will want to stay up all night whispering and giggling in the tent, and that’s great! But other kids might decide they’d rather sleep inside, and that’s okay too. Your camping trip isn’t a failure because everyone spent the night in their own beds. It’s not about where everyone sleeps; it’s about how much fun your family had together before bedtime. The best part of backyard camping? It doesn’t take a lot of planning. Just grab your gear and your family and hike out into the great backyard.
SITTING ON THE PAIN WON’T MAKE IT STOP SEEK TREATMENT EARLY FOR LOWER BACK PAIN
For those suffering from lower back pain, waiting to take action is about the worst thing you can do. In general, when you are having aches and pains, that’s your body’s way of signaling that something is wrong or needs to be corrected. Left unaddressed, the root cause of your pain can worsen, requiring more extensive treatment. That’s why it’s important to consult a physical therapist sooner rather than later. But don’t take it from us. A joint study by the University of Washington and George Washington University found that early physical therapy treatment for lower back pain gives patients the best chance of avoiding the need for more drastic treatments. Published in May of this year and drawing on four years’ worth of insurance data from around the country, this study concluded the following: “When LBP [lower
back pain] patients saw a PT first, there was lower utilization of high‐cost medical services as well as lower opioid use, and cost shifts reflecting the change in utilization.” This is just the latest in a long line of academic research that highlights the role physical therapy plays as a proactive form of care. Given the high cost of surgery and the addictive nature of opioids, a trained therapist should be your first line of defense when it comes to back pain. They can get to the root cause of your discomfort and find a holistic solution to actually treat the problem rather than mask it. If you or a loved one has been suffering from lower back pain, sitting on the problem will only make it worse. Our expert team of therapists at M3 PT have a deep knowledge of back pain treatment and would be happy
to help you get back to feeling and moving great! Don’t wait for the problem to worsen. Give us a call today!
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