Aquatic OT: How To Overcome Back Pain

Health & Wellness Newsletter by Aquatic Occupational & Physical Therapy

AQUATIC THERAPY Health &Wellness The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

Physical rehab is used to help people recover from serious injuries. It can take months or even years to build muscle tissue strength and range of motion, but there’s a way to increase training efficiency that is helpful to people of all ages. Performing physical rehabilitation and exercise in water utilizes several principles and has a number of benefits that will speed recovery, boost your muscle performance, and help to reduce acute and chronic pain. Some of the benefits of aquatic therapy might surprise you. Hydrostatic Pressure Because water is denser than air, it exerts more pressure on you as you enter it than you’re used to experiencing. This is because the water constantly adjust its shape to accommodate your movements. It compresses your skin, muscles, and joints via a concept called hydrostatic pressure. This concept forces the heart and lungs to work harder because the chest cavity is under direct pressure. In addition, it acts like a compression bandage for the entire body, helping to relieve chronic muscle aches when a person is submerged neck-deep. Water has multiple therapeutic benefits that stem from hydrostatic pressure. The primary benefit of aquatic therapy is increasing physical ability without joint impact. Aquatic therapy is often recommended to patients with arthritis, fibromyalgia, orthopedic pain and neuromuscular or neurological conditions, in order to help reduce pain and increase strength. Contact us today to start your aquatic therapy and gain a pain free life.

Health & Wellness The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

HOW TO OVERCOME BACK PAIN “Is Back Pain Slowing You Down?” INSIDE:

• How To Take Care Of Your Back • Have You Met Your Annual Insurance Deductible? • Relieve Back Pain In Minutes • Patient Success Spotlight

Is back pain causing you to move a little slower and more cautiously? If left untreated, chronic back pain can lead to long-term spinal, joint, and possibly nerve damage. Back pain is one of the most common physical complaints that people suffer from and more than 80% of the US population will experience back pain at some point in their lifetime. Back pain can interfere with your ability to bend, kneel, lift, reach, do work and enjoy time with your family. Not to mention, it can make you down right irritable and affect others around you. Why do I have Back Pain? Back pain occurs for a number of reasons, but has a few simple root causes: • Weakness in the spine and core muscles of the trunk • Poor posture and strain on the spine from slouched sitting • Repetitive injury to muscles and tissues around the spine from improper lifting • Limited flexibility of the spine, hips and muscles of the thighs • Poor coordination of the abdominal, pelvic and back muscles

Most people do not seek treatment soon enough and continue to suffer with a nagging ache or pain in their back.They may even feel symptoms travel to the buttocks and legs. Many people feel that not much can be done for back pain and use medication to numb the pain to get through the day. However, medication mostly masks the pain and does nothing to address the root cause of the problem. Solutions to Back Pain Treating back pain starts with determining the true cause. A thorough evaluation of your movement, strength, posture and joint mobility can tell a lot about the true origins of your pain. Only then, can the proper plan be formulated to get you out of pain quickly and back to the activities you love. Whether you just tweaked your back or have been suffering for a long time, seeing one of our spine specialists can help you return to a more active and pain-free life.

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HOWTO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BACK 1. Keep a Good Posture

When you are standing, imagine a string through the top of your head lifting you straight up. This puts your neck, shoulders, spine and hips in natural alignment. While sitting, make sure you sit back in the chair with your feet on the floor and your lower back supported. Your shoulders should not slouch when sitting. Avoid soft couches when you can. 2. Lift Properly Picking things up is a normal part of our day. Even if you pick up something light, your back muscles have to lift the weight of your upper torso and control that movement. Make sure you always face what you need to pick up, squat keeping your spine straight and push with your leg muscles. This helps reduce the excessive pressure on your spine. 3. Stay Flexible Flexibility is key to maintaining a healthy back. By keeping your body flexible, the normal forces of movement and lifting can be distributed across the spine, rather than focused onto a few segments, which can then fail. An easy stretching routine everyday can keep you feeling great and put a spring in your step. 4. Stay Strong You have hundreds of muscles, which control the movement of your spine. Major muscles that support the spine are called your core and include your abdominal, pelvis, spinal and hip muscles. By keeping your core muscles strong, you support your spine and have the ability to easily control lifting, quick movements, bending and a lot more.

5. Seek Treatment Our therapistsaremedicalexperts inevaluatingspineandbodymovement.By having a regular check up, you can make sure your body is in good condition to tackle the activities you love. If you have a history of back pain, injury or are currently experiencing aches and pains, we can analyze your problem and construct a treatment program that will work best for your individual problem. With soothing hands-on therapy and targeted easy exercises we can help you return quickly to feeling your best. Even if you suffer from severe pain we can help you get out of pain and living the life you deserve.

Call us today at 404-458-6139 to schedule an appointment!

Practice News

Health Fair Our clinic hosted the Health Fair October 14th, at the Epic Center in Austell, Georgia. Keitoria LaCount, OTR/L, our COTA, Allya Allaway and our receptionist, Annette Williams, performed free blood pressure checks and provided education about the benefits of aquatic therapy in conjunction with traditional physical and occupational therapy. The Community Health Fair was sponsored by Word of Faith.

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Patient Success Spotlight

We Provide The Following Services:

SPECIALTITIES:

� Hydroworx 300 pool � Underwater treadmill � Aquatic Massage � Aquatic Athletic Training � Aquatic Therapy

� Scar Tissue Treatment � Manual Therapy � Low Laser Therapy � Balance Training Program � Kinesio Taping

“After my hip surgery in 2016, I tried other therapies and nothing helped until I came to HOPT for aquatic therapy. I was able to return to work as a referee. I’m back again for knee therapy. My knee has become much stronger and less painful within two weeks of therapy. I’m well on my way!” - Michael R. “I was able to return to work!”

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Take Care of Your Aches and Pains Before It’s Too Late.

HAVE YOUMET YOURANNUAL INSURANCE DEDUCTIBLE?

SUPPORTED BRIDGE Lie on your back with knees bent and feet hip distance apart. Place your feet close enough so they can be touched by the finger tips. Inhale and lift the hips, place a block under the sacrum. Keep the chest open. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 10 times. Strengthens Lower Back www.simpleset.net Relieve Back Pain In Minutes Try this movement if you are experiencing back pain.

An insurance deductible is the amount of money that you must pay before your insurance company pays for your medical services. If your deductible is met, your therapymaynotcostyouanything.Patientswith familyplansor thosewhohavehad major surgeries or have a chronic illness are especially likely to have a $0 balance remainingontheirout-of-pocketexpenses.Thismeansthatthecostoftherapycould be minimal or completely covered by the patient’s insurance plan. If you are close to or have met your insurance deductible for the year, then now is the time tocome in for therapy!Areyou feelingaches&pains?Need toworkonyour core? Let us help you get a head start for 2018. Contact us today to schedule your appointment.

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CALL TODAY! 404-458-6139

BEINGGRATEFUL ISGOOD FOR YOU! HowGratitude Can Improve Your Health

GRATITUDE AND HEALTH Feeling thankful can improve your health in both direct and indirect ways. Some research shows that the experience of gratitude can induce a sense of relaxation, improve the immune system, and decrease blood pressure. But grateful people also tend to cultivate better health habits, like eating more nutritious food, exercising, and avoiding risky behaviors. In addition, the optimism that stems from gratitude can create a healing attitude: research shows that people with optimistic attitudes have better outcomes after medical procedures. GRATITUDE AND JOY Robert Emmons, an internationally renowned scientific expert on gratitude, has found that acknowledging the good in life has a tendency to amplify positive emotions, such as joy and contentment, because it helps us slow down. “I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life,” he says. “We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life.” Consider the last time you had a good cup of coffee—did you pay attention to the warmth of the cup on your hands, or the feeling of pleasure as you took the first sip? It’s easy to ignore these small moments of positivity in our day

as we rush from one activity to another, but stopping to appreciate them makes them more powerful. GRATITUDE AND RESILIENCE Practicing gratitude can also make you better equipped to handle the difficulties of life that inevitably arise. In fact, according to Emmons, it’s an essential part of the process of healing from trauma. Even despair can be mitigated by the experience of appreciation for the good, however slight it might be. Many survivors of the Holocaust, when asked to tell their stories, remember most strongly the feelings of gratitude for food, shelter, or clothing that was offered to them. This sense of thankfulness for the small blessings helped them maintain their humanity despite experiencing a horrific tragedy. Many people with life-threatening illnesses also report decreased distress and increased positive emotions when they practice gratitude. Recent MRI studies have mapped the gratitude circuitry in the brain, which activates a sense of reward, fairness, and decision-making—all aspects that help facilitate survival and post-traumatic growth. Emmons, R. (2010November 16). Why gratitude is good. Greater Good. Retrieved from http://great- ergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good .Emmons,R.A.,Stern,R. (2013).Gratitude as a psychotherapeutic intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology; 69(8), 846-855. Excerpts taken fromhttps://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/10-ways-be-more-thankful-person

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Free Mobile Download Get Easy Relief For Your Pain With A Simple Click...

Do you or someone you know have back or neck pain? As a current or past patient you have access to this valuable information, at your fingertips. Start feeling better today in the privacy of your home. Go to www.spinebook.net/waterotpt for your free download. This is the easiest way to get this information to our patients. Download and share with friends and family today!

DOWNLOAD AT: www.spinebook.net/waterotpt

Eating Right Never Tasted So Good!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Pomegranate DIRECTIONS

INGREDIENTS • 1 1/4 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved • 2 tablespoons canola oil • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper • 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses • Seeds from 1 pomegranate • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts • Finely grated zest of 1 lime • 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the Brussels sprouts in a medium roasting pan; toss with the canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until light golden brown and a knife inserted into the centers goes in without any resistance, about 45 minutes.Transfer the sprouts to a large bowl and add the pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, hazelnuts, and lime and orange zests. Season with salt as needed.

Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay

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