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FROM THE DESK OF Tom Thoman
Is Dry Needling Right for You? Recently, a treatment called dry needling has gained attention in the medical community for reducing pain and improving joint motion associated with “trigger points” or “muscle knots.” Trigger points are persistent, painful, tight bands in myofascial or muscle tissue that may develop over time. Although their exact cause is not known, they are often due to muscle injury or repetitive strain. Research supports the use of dry needling to improve pain, reduce muscle tension, and normalize nerve impulses. Dry needling is “dry” because no medication is involved in the process. Thin acupuncture needles are used, but the technique and locations of treatment are different for dry needling than for acupuncture. Patients typically experience little discomfort during treatment. At Foothills Physical Therapy, if you seek our care due to persistent muscle tension, we will provide you with a thorough examination that includes evaluating your strength and range of motion as well as performing a neurological screening. We use a variety of treatment techniques. Among your choices, we’ll see if dry needling is appropriate for you as part of your individualized treatment plan. Ultimately, we will help you reach your fitness and wellness goals!
THEWORLDTRADE CENTER H ow the T owers C ame to B e
On Sept.11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower of theWorld Trade Center traveling at 470 mph, ripping a hole in the building from floors 93 to 99. At 9:03 a.m., a second plane smashed into the south tower traveling at 590 mph, cutting a gaping hole from floors 75 to 85. Within an hour, the south tower collapsed due to the sheer weight of the building combined with the damage dealt by the impact and the burning jet fuel. At 10:28 a.m., the north tower followed. The rubble and debris from the collapsed towers caused fires and further damage to the surrounding buildings and areas. Within hours, nearly 3,000 people had lost their lives. The attack left the world in a state of terror and grief, and the United States was changed forever. Today, the twin towers’last day is remembered as the worst terrorist attack in history, but few people know how the buildings became part of NewYork City’s skyline in the first place. A world trade center pavilion was first hosted during the NewYorkWorld’s Fair in 1939 — the exhibit was dedicated to the slogan“world peace through trade.”The idea for theWorld Trade Center was then abandoned after seven years, until David Rockefeller revived the concept to reinvigorate lower Manhattan. Rockefeller took the reins and continued the project, finding premises near the Fulton Fish Market on the East River, and construction on the $250 million complex began. He also turned to the Port of NewYork Authority for financial support to ensure theWorld Trade Center’s completion, and the first real plans for theWorld Trade Center were put into action. It was then that the Port Authority decided the towers should break the record for the tallest building in the world, beating the 1,250-foot Empire State building. To do this, architect Minoru Yamasaki designed the towers to hold 110 stories each, but they would not have the traditional
-Tom Thoman
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glass-and-steel-box design used for most skyscrapers at that time. Instead, Yamasaki worked with structural engineers to come up with a revolutionary design that would disperse the weight throughout. The plan included two hollow tubes supported by steel columns spaced closely together and wrapped
plaza was finished. An estimated 10,000 workers labored to build theWorld Trade Center. The towers had 99 elevators, 43,600 windows, 40,000 doors, and 3,000 miles of electrical wiring, and each building weighed 250,000 tons. They were the tallest buildings in the world until Chicago’s Sears Tower was completed less than a year later. The towers were first attacked in 1993. Down in the basement of the north tower’s parking garage, a 1,200-pound bomb was set off. The attack cost six people their lives, and over 1,000 people were injured. The Port Authority wasted no time in renovating the building; over
battery-powered stairway lights and a separate emergency command center for each building. The towers remained an iconic part of NYC’s famous skyline for another eight years. Today, the towers are gone, but the peace they once symbolized lives on in the tranquility of Ground Zero, and every man, woman, and child who lost their life on Sept. 11, 2001, is memorialized on the stone monuments and through the annual reading of names. As Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl, said,“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”
in aluminum, while floor trusses connected this shell to the tower’s central steel core. Construction of theWorld Trade Center officially began in February 1967. The north tower was completed in December of 1970, and the south tower was finished in July of 1971, but construction continued for the next two years until the outdoor
the next eight years, the company spent $700 million on renovations, including added safety features such as
Why You Need to Incorporate Ghee Into Your Cooking
Butter makes it better, but ghee makes it grand.
While ghee hasn’t quite entered the mainstream yet, it’s on the verge of becoming a kitchen staple in the U.S. The reasons why are simple: It’s delicious and better for you than regular butter. In fact, for a food that’s almost entirely fat — ghee is 99.5 percent fat, and 60 percent of that is saturated fat — it boasts quite a few health benefits. Ghee is packed with healthy fat to help your body utilize fat-soluble vitamins and minerals more effectively. It’s also a great source of vitamins A, E, and K2. And ghee is a source of HDL cholesterol, often called the “good” cholesterol. In the kitchen, ghee is exceptionally versatile in all kinds of dishes. It has a high smoke point at 485 degrees (ordinary butter has a smoke point of 350 degrees), making it perfect for sautéing and frying. It makes an ideal replacement for
vegetable and canola oil in recipes. You can even use it in place of coconut oil.
You can find ghee at most grocery stores, though it’s most readily available at specialty grocers. You can also make it right at home. All you need is a pound of high-quality butter (organic, grass-fed is best) and a saucepan. Bring the butter to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and let it simmer. The butter should foam and bubble, and then the foam should disappear. Continue simmering the butter until it foams a second time. This means it’s done! The butter will be a golden color, and brown milk solids will sink to the bottom of the pan. Pour it through a fine wire-mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a heatproof and airtight container.
For hundreds of years, cooks throughout the Middle East and India have known about the magic of ghee. They cook with it, spread it over bread, and use it as a sauce. Ghee is a type of clarified butter. The butter is simmered for a longer period of time than standard clarified butter in order to render out as much water as possible. Then the remaining milk solids are strained away. The resulting ghee has a rich, nutty flavor. Even better, ghee is shelf-stable, doesn’t need refrigeration, and can last a long time — though once you start using it, it’s unlikely to sit around for very long.
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Foods That Cause and Reduce Inflammation FINDTHE RIGHT FOOD BALANCE
The food you eat plays a major role in how your body functions on the cellular level. Some foods can wreak havoc on your body, while others canmake you feel great. This is especially true when it comes to that all-too-common ailment, inflammation.
those detox diets? They don’t work. In fact, the only way to detox is to let your liver do its job. When you consume alcohol, it’s harder for the liver to pump out the toxins in your body. When it can’t do its job properly, the result is inflammation.
Here are a fewexamples of foods that lead to inflammation:
Now, for the good stuff. Eat these foods to reduce inflammation:
SUGAR: One of the biggest culprits behind inflammation, sugar is far worse than eating fatty foods. It’s best to skip foods that have added sugar (and this includes sugar of any kind, including corn syrup, fructose, and sucrose). Many manufacturers now label food withmore specific kinds of sugar to hide the fact that they added sugar to their product. Be sure to read labels carefully! REFINED CARBS: Basically anythingmade fromwhite flour falls into this category, including bread, pasta, baked goods, and cereals. Research suggests that refined carbs may be a bigger contributing factor than fat in obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
BLUEBERRIES: Many studies call blueberries one of the best fruits you can eat to ease symptoms of inflammation. These blue orbs of goodness are packed with antioxidants, vitamin C, polyphenols, and somuchmore. Eat a handful every day! SALMON: As a source of healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is one of the best protein choices for people with inflammatory conditions, or for those who want to keep inflammation at bay. BROCCOLI: One of the most nutritious and easily accessible vegetables around, the little green buds that cover the tops of broccoli are loaded with anti-inflammatory compounds.
ALCOHOL: Toomuch alcohol puts a burden on your liver, an organ that helps flush toxins out of the body. You know all of
Take a Break!
LATE-SUMMER PANZANELLA
Ingredients
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1 small loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups) 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
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1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
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1 cucumber, sliced into rounds
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20 basil leaves, chopped
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Salt, to taste
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2 large tomatoes, cubed
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Vinaigrette
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2 red bell peppers, seeded and cubed
Directions
1. In a large sauté pan, set to medium-low heat and add olive oil. Add bread and 1 teaspoon salt, and toss often for 10 minutes or until toasted. 2. In a large bowl, mix vegetables and herbs. Toss in bread and your favorite vinaigrette and mix again. 3. Serve immediately or let sit 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together.
FOOTBALL TOUCHDOWN QUARTERBACK AUTUMN
EQUINOX LABORDAY BARBECUE SEPTEMBER
HARVEST APPLE STUDENTS HOMECOMING
Recipe courtesy of The Food Network
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Tom PAGE 1 The Hopeful Beginning and Catastrophic End PAGE 1 Start Using Ghee in Your Cooking PAGE 2 The Best andWorst Foods for Inflammation PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Late-Summer Panzanella PAGE 3 Why Labor Day Is Indebted to the Pullman Strike PAGE 4
THE PULLMAN STRIKE AND THE ORIGIN OF LABOR DAY How a Railroad Protest Laid the Foundation for a National Holiday Today, Labor Day mostly means a day off and the closure of public pools. But when it was first created, it was a president’s desperate attempt to curb the tension after one of the most violent strike breakups in American history. but he neglected to adjust the rent on the company-owned buildings in turn. As a result, life became untenable in the town, with workers struggling to maintain the barest standards of living for themselves and their families. Eventually, President Grover Cleveland sent in soldiers to break up the strike. Violence ensued, with soldiers making a great effort to quell the strike at its core. By the time the violence ended, 30 people had lost their lives and an estimated $80 million in damages had been caused throughout the town.
In the late 19th century, the workers of the Pullman Company, which manufactured luxury train cars, all lived in a company- owned town. George Pullman, the owner, lived in a mansion overlooking houses, apartments, and crammed-together barracks, all of which were rented by the thousands of workers needed for the operation. For some time, the town operated without a hitch, providing decent wages for the workers while netting the higher-ups millions of dollars. But after the economic depression of the 1890s brought the country to its knees, everything changed. George Pullman slashed his workers’ wages by nearly 30 percent,
In response, the workers began a strike on May 11, 1894. As the event ramped up, it gained the support of the powerful American Railway Union (ARU). But Pullman, stubborn as he was, barely acknowledged the strike was happening, and he refused to meet with the organizers. The tension increased when Eugene Debs, the president of the American Railway Union, organized a boycott of all trains that included Pullman cars. The strike continued to escalate until workers and Pullman community members managed to stop the trains from running.
A few months later, President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day a federal holiday. Many experts believe that this act was an effort to build rapport among his pro- labor constituents after handling the incident so poorly. This month, as you fire up the barbecue and enjoy your day off, take a moment to remember the workers who fought for labor rights in our country.
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