MOVEMENT IS MEDICINE
But that’s not all… check out the end for a new technology update. Have you run across anyone who isn’t ready to leave 2020 behind? I haven’t. Traditionally, this time of year we set expectations and goals to improve our lives by making changes over the next 12 months, however, if the events taught us anything it’s that we might
Luis Zuniga PT, DPT, CHT, MTC
consider our overall health as one of those changes.
So, what do we do to change our overall health for the better? One size fits all solutions are rarely helpful. I’m not a fan but I’m going to offer one we can all use. Let me first apologize for the words, diet and exercise. Wait don’t stop reading it’s going to get better. For me to throw that out there, I must have a solution anyone can follow. Simple! If it’s in a box or a bottle its likely high in sugar and its processed. If you can drive through and get it, same story. Start here - whole foods - veggies, fruits, along with whole grains and nuts. Set some realistic patterns you can follow. Patterns are the key to a long-term success. How much? 5 servings of each, every day. Fiber from this stuff helps you get full, so you don’t eat as much and its tasty! Movement, exercise and food are the triple threat, but you absolutely will be frustrated and quit your program if you try and work off those pounds at the gym. The math doesn’t work. We need a balance between all three. Most of us are completely unaware of how much we take in. We are equally unaware of how much output we expend in a workout session and that’s a recipe for loosing track of our strategy. Its nearly always not enough. That’s why so many people fail. Choosing PT. We often view Physical Therapy as a solution for bones, muscles, and joints but our training goes well beyond that. Physical therapists are experts in influencing a patient’s overall health, not just their physical impairments. Movement impairments can lock you down. We must move past those while we chart our course to better health. Patients come to therapy sometimes when they finally put two and two together and realize “Hey, I can’t successfully treat myself,” or “Wow, this medication really does not seem to be doing its job.” So often, our good health takes a back seat to a set of symptoms. A great case to point out here, is that of a patient we treated a while back. This patient had been in the ICU for weeks due to a severe virus (not Covid, there are other viruses!). This virus dramatically affected this patient’s equilibrium -- on a scale of 1 to 10, he was a 9! When we started, he had a history of vestibular problems, before his illness, as so many people do. He called it motion sickness. We initiated our balance program including all our testing. We blended balance, strength and movement using all our technology, and we got to the point where he was able to walk again without assistance. He could drive, too. But this wasn’t his end goal, so we kept going. He was very focused on his overall health.
arms and legs to increase his strength. In just 90 days, we’d completely reversed all of the weakness he’d experienced in the ICU and made him 20-30% stronger than he was before he’d gotten sick. His vestibular problems completely disappeared. He tests now, better than his peers for his age. Not only did physical therapy help him achieve success in terms of getting back to his previous fitness levels (before he was sick), it also helped him achieve his overall health goals. The best medicine you could ever have. A key point in this occasion is that this patient was prescribed medications to combat the effects of this virus and save his life. None of them restored or improved his active life. What helped him was an exercise program specifically administered by a physical therapist who had assessed his condition and knew what needed to be done. His goal was, be better than before he was sick, lead to his laser focus on his health. Movement is the best medicine. Our team was able to take a seemingly hopeless situation, and completely turn it around. The same can be true for folks out there who were unfortunate enough to either come down with COVID-19 themselves or know someone who suffered through it. We can help. No matter the impairment or situation we have the tools to make a difference. So, this year let’s make a commitment to pay attention to our overall health. If there’s one thing we have learned from 2020 is that it really matters. We know we can help all you gotta do is ask….. P.S: Be sure to check back next month to learn more about the KneeKG, a new examination tool that identifies the cause of knee pain, and measures movements of the knee that aren’t detectable to the human eye. This is cutting edge technology, and we’re excited to be able to educate our patients on how it works! P.S.S: Check out the sports illustrated person of the year. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and NFL Superbowl champion and MD. He’s a beneficiary of our new technology. You can use the same amazing tech used for elite athletes.
WEST SIDE OFFICE 4646 N. Mesa El Paso, TX 79912 P: (915) 313-6331 F: (915) 533-9672 Best! - Luis, FYZICAL El Paso
You can imagine how weak you’d become from being in a hospital bed for weeks, so we started using blood flow restriction therapy in his
NORTHEAST OFFICE 4758 Loma Del Sur El Paso, TX 79934 P: (915) 755-0738 F: (915) 593-5187
EAST OFFICE 8111 N. Loop
JOE BATTLE OFFICE 2270 Joe Battle Blvd
El Paso, TX 79907 P: (915) 593-4985 F: (915) 593-5187
El Paso, TX 79938 P: (915) 855-7780 F: (915) 855-7781
www.fyzical.com/northeast-el-paso www.fyzical.com/east-el-paso www.fyzical.com/west-el-paso/ www.fyzical.com/joe-battle-el-paso
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker