'Just a Fende CAN STILL BE A PAI As Chelsea mentions on this month’s cover, she was rear-ended last year and faced a long recovery process. We thought this would be a good time to remind readers that even “fender benders” like Chelsea’s can leave you with chronic pain and other injuries. ALL IT TAKES IS A JOLT Soft tissue injuries like muscle sprains are very common, even from minor car collisions. In particular, being rear-ended can easily cause neck sprain, as the sudden movement caused by the collision stretches the muscles and ligaments in your neck and upper back to a painful degree. The resulting injury can manifest as pain and stiffness, or could even include blurred vision, headaches, or cognitive difficulties. NOT ALL AT ONCE What can make these sorts of sprains particularly difficult from a personal injury claim perspective is they don’t always manifest right away. Often the adrenaline from a crash, coupled with
Leap Into 2020 FACTS ABOUT THE LEAP YEAR Like the Olympics and presidential elections, leap years only occur once every four years, which is why many people look forward to Feb. 29. But there’s a lot that you might not know about this quirk on the calendar. WHY To keep the calendar in sync with Earth’s orbit around the sun, an extra day is added to it every four years. Earth takes exactly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to orbit the sun. Those extra hours add up over time, so another calendar day becomes necessary. But a leap year doesn’t occur every four years. Adding that extra day still doesn’t quite keep Earth on track, so the calendar skips leap years that occur during century years not divisible by 400. For example, 2000 was a leap year, but 2100 won’t be. WHO The odds of being born on Feb. 29 are 1 in 1,461. That means that of the roughly seven billion people in the world, only about five million of them are “leaplings.” The number of leaplings currently living in the U.S. is roughly 187,000. Some famous leaplings include motivational speaker Tony Robbins, rapper Ja Rule, and singer Mark Foster of Foster the People. However, the most famous leapling is probably Superman. When you invent a super-being, you might as well give him a super-birthday. WHERE Anthony, Texas/New Mexico (a single town that straddles the two states’ borders), claims the title “Leap Year Capital of the World.” The city throws one massive birthday party for all leaplings but invites everyone to join the celebration. Two leapling neighbors from Anthony began the tradition in 1988, and it’s blossomed into a festival with thousands of participants every four years. It includes banquets, hot air balloons, a carnival, concerts, parades, and more. When you have four years to plan in between each shindig, there’s time to go big. Celebrate this leap year by doing something unusual or new. It’s a special day that doesn’t occur often, so make the most of it by doing something you’ll talk about for another four years.
Understanding Physical Therapy THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS VITAL CARE
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