OCTOBER 2019
Improving Your Overal l Health NATIONAL PHYSICAL THERAPY MONTH
Side Leg Raises
and strength, especially since October is National PhysicalTherapy Month.
1. Stand straight directly behind a table or chair with hands placed on it and feet slightly apart.
Many people think of physical therapy as a practice that helps them recover from an injury, but it’s much more than just that.This form of therapy touts benefits including pain relief from chronic pain, restoration of mobility, prevention of the need for surgery, improved balance, and smoother recovery from strokes. Physical therapy can also encourage people to pursue a physically active lifestyle. In light of National PhysicalTherapy Month, we are sharing a list of stretches and exercises that we routinely assign to patients.These exercises are specifically for increasing balance, which will prevent serious falls in later life. Here are four stretches we encourage patients to practice every day for improved balance.
2. Slowly lift one leg 6–12 inches out to the side while keeping your back and other leg straight.
3. Don’t point your toes downward. Keep them facing forward and hold this position.
4. Slowly lower your leg and repeat with the other.
5. Alternate legs until you’ve repeated exercise 8–15 times with each leg, before resting and doing another set of 8–15 alternating repetitions.
Calf Raises
1. Stand straight directly behind a table or chair with hands placed on it and feet slightly apart.
Single-Leg Balance
1. Standing straight behind a chair with hands placed on the back and feet slightly apart, slowly lift one leg and hold for 30 seconds.
2. Raise up on your toes as high as you can in a slow and controlled manner and pause for one second at the top.
3. Slowly return to your original position, then repeat 8–12 times for two sets.
2. Slowly lower your leg and repeat with the other leg.
3. Be sure to keep your back and knees straight throughout the entire exercise
Heel-to-ToeWalking
B eing physically active is an important part of our lives.Whether you play sports, take daily walks, or enjoy yoga, physical activity keeps your body and mind fit. One often overlooked form of activity is physical therapy. All of us at Superior Health Centers know how important physical therapy is for people.We want to take the time to talk about the significant impacts of this form of recovery
1. Position your heel just in front of your toes on the opposite foot each time you take a step.Your heel and toes should touch or almost touch.
4. Alternate legs until you’ve repeated the exercise two times with each leg.
5. As you become comfortable with the exercise, challenge your balance with a lighter grip on the chair.
2. Walk 15 feet, stop, turn around, and walk
back to where you started. Do this three times, twice a day.
6. Do these exercises daily for two weeks, and then increase from 30 seconds to 60.
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PATIENT STORY OF THE MONTH! The Recovery of Mr. Collins
This month, we want to highlight the story of Mr. Collins, who, after years of pain, is now blissfully pain-free.
For well over 10 years, Mr. Collins experienced excruciating pain in both his knees. “It was up around 9 or 10,” he explains the degree of pain.Though he sought a comprehensive solution, doctors only ever offered him short-term fixes that wouldn’t significantly ease or altogether remove the pain he was feeling. “The only thing my doctors would do is recommend knee replacements or to take anti-inflammatories.” To keep an active lifestyle, Mr. Collins tried to walk at least 1 mile a day. However, the pain in both his knees was so agonizing that he would be forced to stop. “I couldn’t walk,” he remembers. “I couldn’t do it, my knees would flare up, and I had to stop and rest during the walk. I couldn’t walk on uneven surfaces because I would trip a lot.” Through these daily frustrations, Mr. Collins found Superior Health Centers and began receiving treatments for his knees. In a little over two days, he experienced zero pain after over a decade of agony. “I can walk pain-free now.When I woke up the next morning [after my first injection] and my knees didn’t hurt, I could motor around the house and stuff like that.” For Mr. Collins, it was a surprise and delight to experience relief after only one visit. What made the biggest impression, Mr. Collins says, is our team. “This is an awesome office. Everyone here is so positive. I would absolutely recommend anyone who is experiencing pain to come to Superior Health Centers for treatments.” As a team, we are so excited that Mr. Collins can start down this new path and enjoy his life completely rid of the pain that once plagued him. We also want to encourage you, if you are experiencing pain, to call Superior Health Centers at 888-530-6465 today and discover how we can help you in your unique needs.
THINKING WITH YOUR GUT
The Amazing Connection Between Your Stomach and Your Brain While it may seem strange to think about, the human stomach is truly a thing of wonder. Most humans only acknowledge its digestive processes, but the gut plays a much more influential role in our day-to-day lives than simply breaking down food for nutrient production; it is closely connected to our emotional states, as well. Think about it. Have you ever felt butterflies before a date, intestinal pain during moments of stress, or nausea before an important presentation? Have you ever told someone to “follow their gut” before making a big decision?These physical symptoms are not a coincidence; they are known in the scientific world as the gut-brain axis. Your gut is connected to the limbic system, the part of the brain that processes emotions.The brain sends messages to all other organs in your body, so it’s not surprising it communicates with your stomach, too. What is surprising, however, is that the connection goes both ways. Just as your brain can relay information to your gut about excitement and anxiety, your gut can have a direct impact on the way you feel. According to a recent study published by the National Library of Medicine, when a person’s microbiome — the diverse population of good and bad bacteria living in the GI tract — becomes significantly altered or imbalanced, psychological or neurological issues can arise. In response to these emerging findings, dietary approaches and probiotics are being explored to see how well they can modulate a person’s microbiome and address symptoms.While research is still being conducted to determine the extent of the stomach’s influence over emotional and mental states, plenty of evidence proves the connection is real. Your stomach “talks” to you all the time, and, if you didn’t have enough reasons to pay attention to the food you eat, now you have one more thing to keep in mind. If you start thinking a bit more with your gut, your health will thank you for it!
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HELPING OUR COMMUNITY
Doing Our Part for the People At Superior Health Centers, we do everything we can to ensure our patients are taken care of, but we don’t stop there. Our team is dedicated to helping the communities we operate from, and we do our best to give back in any way we can.
love can make on the lives of others and the way it permeates from our staff to others in abundance. Spending
When this damage occurs, the nerves fail to receive the proper blood flow needed to function, causing damage to the vessels and nerves.This results in pain, numbness, and possible amputation. Compression socks have exhibited positive results in improving overall blood flow in a person’s legs.The National Library of Medicine states that these socks “gently squeeze your legs to move blood up your legs. This helps prevent leg swelling and, to a lesser extent, blood clots.”They provide people suffering from peripheral neuropathy a noninvasive form of relief that reduces pain. We aim to provide long-lasting relief to people suffering from this degenerative condition without the use and need for surgery or drugs for everyone both in and out of our offices.
time with our patients and at local senior centers is invigorating and empowers our company mission of helping those suffering from chronic conditions.” In late August of this year, each of our locations across California took time out of their busy schedules and volunteered at local senior homes, such as Glen Park and Rosecrans Care Center.Team members from Placentia, Corona, Gardena, and Glendale got together at centers across our state to listen to the residents’ life stories, play puzzle games, and share helpful health tips. In addition to spending time with the residents, our team donated compressions socks to 150 seniors suffering from peripheral neuropathy.This condition refers to damage of the peripheral nervous system.
MelissaWilliams, our patient outreach coordinator, knows how essential it is to help and encourage people to live their lives pain-free. “At Superior Health Centers, we are always working toward enhancing the lives of others around us,” she explains. “Whether that means helping patients through our treatments or spending time with those in our community. We know the impact
be
INSPIRED
VEGAN OOZE SMOOTHIE
Inspired by ForkAndBeans.com
INGREDIENTS GREEN SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS • 8 oz almond or coconut milk
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1 cup frozen blueberries
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2 tbsp hemp seeds
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1 tbsp maple syrup
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1/2 cup fresh spinach
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1 cup ice
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1/2 frozen banana
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2 cups fresh spinach
PURPLE SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS • 8 oz almond or coconut milk
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2 tbsp hemp seeds
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1/2 frozen banana
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1 tbsp maple syrup
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1/2 fresh avocado
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1 cup ice
DIRECTIONS
1. In a blender, combine all ingredients.
2. Blend on high until smooth.
3. For added fun, serve in beakers and flasks with crazy straws.
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Vegan Ooze Smoothie
The Meaning of Dia de los Muertos
A Celebration of Life DIA DE LOS MUERTOS Ancient Beginnings Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations viewed death as a beginning rather than an end.This was likely tied to agricultural practices and the seasons, with crops dying in the winter and being reborn in the spring. Dia de los Muertos evolved from those roots and is now observed throughout Mexico and the United States. It’s a time of remembering your loved ones by celebrating their lives. Full of Life Though the name might lead you to believe differently, Dia de los Muertos is a joyous time. If you visit Mexico during the holiday, the air is filled with music, and the streets are full of dancing and color. Instead of a sorrowful mourning of the dead, it is a vibrant, joyous celebration of life. Intricate altar displays, called ofrendas, honor the spirits of relatives who’ve passed. Families fill them with photographs and the relatives’ favorite food and drinks. It’s believed that during Dia de los Muertos, the boundary between the living and the dead is lifted, and for one night only, spirits come back to visit and enjoy what their families have set out for them. Today, the multiday celebration takes place throughout Central and North America.As tiny Batmans and Skywalkers add the final adjustments to their costumes, other families clean their homes and prepare to honor the spirits of their loved ones.And in today’s beautiful blend of cultures, many families celebrate both holidays.
Despite the common misconception, Dia de los Muertos is not an offshoot of Halloween.While the two holidays often happen simultaneously, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday that originated with the indigenous people of Central America, including the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. Each year, they gathered and gave offerings to their dead.When the Spaniards came to Mexico, they fused the indigenous celebrations with their traditions of All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) andAll Souls’ Day (Nov. 2).
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