Worried About Slipping and Falling This Winter? A Trip to the Physical Therapist Might Help
When was the last time you slipped and fell on a patch of ice? If your immediate thought was “last winter,” then you’ve probably been dreading the arrival of this year’s snowy walkways and frozen parking lots. We don’t blame you! Slipping and falling can be dangerous, especially for older people. According to the National Council on Aging, emergency departments treat more than 2.8 million fall-related injuries every year, and falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries among older adults. Those are some pretty scary statistics, no matter your age. So, what can you do to protect yourself? Well, apart from wearing nonslip shoes and watching where you walk, one of the best ways to keep yourself safe from falls is by improving your balance, and a physical therapist can help. Usually when physical therapy makes the news, it’s because a therapist helped a famous athlete recover from an injury or assisted a car crash
victim in learning to walk again. These cases are inspiring, but they leave out half of the story about what PT can do. Not only can physical therapists help people recover from injuries, but they can also prevent them by guiding patients through exercises to improve their balance, strength, and flexibility. Physical therapists are movement experts with a keen insight into how the muscles in your body work together. Identifying your weak spots and strengthening them with targeted exercises can help give you the coordination and agility you need to stay on your feet in slippery or icy conditions. A licensed physical therapist can customize a workout specifically for you, but you can also start improving your balance today with simple at-home exercises. ChoosePT.com is a great resource and offers guides to easy workouts like marching in place, standing on one leg, and walking heel to toe. To learn more about which exercises will help you the most, reach out to a physical therapist for some advice.
A TOOTHBRUSH IS A USEFUL TOOL
Who Knew?
E very 3–4 months, we throw out our old toothbrush and replace it with a new one. This practice keeps our teeth healthy and strong. However, even when you stop brushing with your old toothbrush, it doesn’t mean that it is no longer useful. After sanitizing an old toothbrush, try using it in these ways! Household Hacks One of the best things your toothbrush can be used for is cleaning. The long handle and bristles make it perfect for cleaning hard-to-reach places where a cleaning cloth just won’t cut it. • Keyboard: A computer keyboard can catch dust particles, pet hair, crumbs, and other debris between the keys. While using a can of compressed air might clean some of it, going
over the keys with an old toothbrush can help remove those particles for good. • Jewelry: Over time, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings can become dirty, and what better tool to clean them with than a toothbrush? The bristles allow you to get into those tiny, delicate nooks. • Keurig: Don’t dread cleaning your coffee maker anymore! A toothbrush lets you reach the places a rag can’t go and scrubs away the hard stains. Beauty Hacks An old toothbrush can be used to help you achieve your perfect look. Just remember to disinfect it thoroughly first before using it on your face! • Mascara: One of the biggest issues when putting on mascara is clumping your lashes
together. By using a toothbrush to carefully brush out your lashes after you’ve applied mascara, you can remove any unwelcome chunks. • Eyebrows: When you’ve just woken up or finished washing your face, you might realize that half of your eyebrow is pointing in the wrong direction. Instead of using your fingers, simply pick up an old toothbrush and brush them out! No more need for an extra eyebrow comb. • Hair: When you want to give your hair a little extra texture, a toothbrush is the tool for you. Instead of having flat braids, give them some volume with a few quick brushes. You can also use a toothbrush and some hairspray to tame those pesky flyaway hairs! you sleep, and during the day. At the same time, I challenge you to drink more water. Make a goal to drink 8–10 glasses a day. I believe the better we treat our bodies, the better our bodies will treat us — and these are just two simple steps we can take for that healthier body. With that, we wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Let us know if you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to help this holiday season.
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absorbed into the bloodstream, which results in a more effective (and less tiring) workout.
After about 10 minutes on the climber, I would end up breathing through my mouth. So, I tried keeping my mouth closed to see what would happen. My heart rate was hitting 155 beats per minute while on the climber, when I was breathing through my mouth. When I kept my mouth closed, I only achieved 138 beats per minute — and I wasn’t out of breath. These results are anecdotal, but they tell an interesting story. I researched it further and found that nose breathing allows oxygen to be more readily
I also try to breathe through my nose more when I sleep. This, of course, is much harder to do, but I have noticed that when I’m able to do this, I end up sleeping more soundly, and I wake up with more energy. I just feel better. I encourage you to give it a try. Focus more on breathing through your nose rather than your mouth. Focus on it when you exercise, when
Kelly Campbell
2 • CampbellWealth.com
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