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IF IT’S PHYSICAL, IT’S THERAPY
www. omt apt . com Phone : (630) 637-1693 DECEMBER 2017
We are approaching the end of the year 2017. Time flies! I wish you all happy holidays! Enjoy your time with your beloved family during the holidays. We at OMTA Physical Therapy wish you all a happy and prosperous 2018! We have launched our new website: www.omtapt.com. This new site has a library of all musculoskeletal injuries (muscle, bone, and joint), including their causative factors, common symptoms, and available treatment options. It also has recommendations for how to correct your posture while using your computer (yes, we spend several hours in front of the computer) to avoid neck and back pain and other injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, the website has sections for snow shoveling (choosing the correct equipment, the proper way to stretch before shoveling, etc.). This library collection is located in the patient section of our new site. The snowy season is approaching. Do follow a proper technique when manually shoveling snow to avoid any injuries. Feel free to call us at (630) 637-1693 if you have any questions. FROM THE DESK OF Kaarthick Mani, DPT
THE SECRET ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS How Stockings, Caroling, and Black Friday Came to Be
If you celebrate Christmas, odds are your family observes a number of rituals that commemorate the holiday season. While some of these might be unique to your household, there’s no doubt many of them are part of the holiday’s long cultural history. Part of what makes the holiday season so festive is the collective participation, from shopping to leaving out milk and cookies for Santa. Many of these timeworn traditions have surprising origins. Dig into them, and you’ll find that Christmas truly is a global holiday. Stockings Have you ever considered how strange stockings are? We all leave them above the fireplace, often without wondering why Santa is so interested in filling up socks with gifts. Their origin is actually a touching story that reminds us of the spirit of Christmas. Legend has it that the tradition began with the story of one family. A poor man, recently widowed, had three daughters. While they were all beautiful and intelligent, the man had no money for marriage and worried about what would happen to them after he died. St. Nicholas heard of his plight, and knowing that the family would not accept charity, he devised a way to provide for them. He snuck down their chimney one night and found the girls’ stockings hung by the fireplace to dry. He filled them with gold coins before disappearing into the night. While we don’t know the exact date of this legend, stockings have been a Christmas tradition for centuries. Today, stocking stuffers are a treasured gift category all their own, second to the big-ticket items under the tree. If you’re dismayed at the prospect of Santa having to fill massive stockings for your kids this year, take solace in knowing that you won’t need to stuff them with solid gold.
Yours truly,
–K. Mani
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Cover story, continued ...
Caroling Stockings go back hundreds of years, but that’s nothing compared to the millennia- old tradition of caroling. The earliest roots of singing seasonal songs actually predates Christmas itself. During the winter solstice celebration, pagan cultures belted out winter classics while dancing away the longest night of the year. As Christianity grew in popularity, these songs were replaced by the first Christmas-themed hymns. While songs created in honor of the nativity began to appear around the fourth and fifth centuries, Christmas carols didn’t take on their familiar shape until 800 years later, when St. Francis of Assisi began including upbeat hymns into Christmas services. It didn’t take long for composers from countless countries to begin crafting their own specific carols. As with all change, not everyone appreciated these joyful songs replacing
to secure once-a-year deals, but sometimes the savings are just too good to pass up. Why, you might ask yourself, have retailers made this the norm? Well, unlike the other traditions on this list, we can pinpoint the start of Black Friday shopping at a particular time and place: Philadelphia in the 1950s. The term was coined by police officers to describe the influx of suburban shoppers who flocked to the city, causing havoc and forcing them to work long hours. It took only a few years for Black Friday to become an unofficial city holiday. It wasn’t until the ’80s that Black Friday became an integral part of the holiday season in all 50 states. Intrepid retailers figured out a way to turn the negative connotation into a day of sales. During this time, many people believed the holiday was named after retailers going from “red” (loss) to “black” (profit). Now, when you hear that story, you’ll be able to dispel the myth.
more somber hymns. Many churches banned them, which may account for why caroling became a door-to-door activity. Another theory suggests that the traveling nature of carolers owes its lineage to feudal societies in which peasants would literally sing for their supper. These days, many groups keep the philanthropic spirit of caroling alive by asking for donations to various charitable groups. So if you hear some folks stopping by your neighborhood to offer a rendition of “Silent Night” or “The 12 Days of Christmas,” consider spreading a little cheer to them. Black Friday While certainly not as beloved or long- standing a tradition as stockings or carols, there’s no denying that Black Friday is here to stay. You may hate having to stand outside around 4 a.m. (or, as is more common every year, dipping out on Thanksgiving in the early evening) in order
inT. Colin andThomas M. Campbell’s nutrition study“The China Study,” not for short-termperformance gains. Since then, his typical daily diet has included a smoothie for breakfast made with bananas, blueberries, coconut, essential oils, brown rice protein, and lacinato kale. For lunch, he eats a simple green salad. For dinner, he digs into a Vietnamese vermicelli bowl with tofu, cucumbers, pickled daikon and carrot, andThai basil. Scott occasionally struggles with his mid-run snacks, but he’s found a handful of foods to enjoy on the go, like vegetarian sushi. He is always on the lookout for new foods and flavors to“keep food frombecoming a chore.”Scott even helped Clif Bar develop Clif Organic Energy Food, a line of mid-run snacks for runners that includes interesting, exotic flavors. As it turns out, all that healthy eating has worked. Scott won theWestern States 100 Mile Endurance Run seven years in a row, the Spartathlon thrice, and the Badwater Ultramarathon— the world’s toughest foot race— twice. On top of that, he logged the fastest time ever on the AppalachianTrail, finishing it in 46 days, 8 hours, and 7 minutes. That’s about 50 miles a day for a month and a half straight. He did all that without ingesting any of the animal-based food products —eggs, chicken, fish, etc. —most world-class athletes eat daily. And he genuinely enjoyed it. “I love food,”he says,“andmost people find that the transition (to plant- based eating) can be done quite easily.” How Scott Jurek Raced Into the History Books Eating Only Plants ALL-TIME ATHLETE, AND AVEGAN
During the Summer Olympics in Rio, McDonald’s opened a pop-up restaurant that offered athletes unlimited fast food. These competitors had trained for years, and yet, there was a line out the door every single night. The rush for free McDonald’s meals highlighted a trend. Many athletes are less concerned about where their calories come from andmore concerned with howmany they consume. In the past, Michael Phelps’ famous 12,000-calorie diet has included chocolate chip pancakes, energy drinks, and pizza. Does he really need that much sugar and sodium to fuel his body? One world-class athlete proves you don’t. Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, considered one of the greatest runners of all time, accomplishedmore than any runner before himwhile fueling his body with nothing but plants. Scott, born in 1973, became a vegetarian at the age of 24 and a vegan at 26. Before that, he was a self-described“meat and potatoes”guy. “I grew up hating vegetables,”he says.“When I was in college, I started readingmore about different diets… It became clear tome I needed to change.” Scott went offmeat for the long-termbenefits, which include the prevention of chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer, as described
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Santa Tracking Goes High-Tech
It’s almost Christmas, and if you have small kids, you know what that means: prepping for the arrival of a jolly man in a red suit and his confusingly named reindeer. Some of us may remember spending Christmas Eve curled on the couch with a cup of hot cocoa as radio reports tracked Santa’s trip around the globe. But these days, kiddos have gotten a little more high-tech in their search for up-to-date, GPS- driven Kringle updates. First, there’s the Google Santa Tracker (santatracker.google.com), a full-fledged holiday hub for your browser powered by Google Maps, including, of course, an up-to-the-minute GPS tracker for the big man. The application arrived in 2004, and it’s been updated every year since.
During the countdown to Christmas, there’s a colorfully animated advent calendar of sorts, where buildings around Santa’s village “thaw out” and reveal a host of fun games and activities. There’s even a section titled“Santa Tracker for Educators,”which includes kid-friendly coding games, information on international holiday traditions, and a translation app to“learn the Santa lingo from around the world.” When the eve of the big day finally comes, Google promises a showcase of Santa’s “dashboard, the technology that powers his sleigh during his around-the-world journey.” Featuring“the latest and greatest … in sleigh engineering,” the app displays a Google Maps window that tracks each of Santa’s stops, gives status updates from Old Saint Nick, and tells kids how far he is from their city. It’s a colorful, fun adventure for the whole family. Of course, Google’s not the only kid on the Santa-tracking block. There’s also NORAD Tracks Santa, operated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the same organization that tracks nuclear missiles for the government. Similar to Google, noradsanta.org includes a variety of fun games and activities leading up to Christmas. But unlike Google, NORAD has a dedicated Santa-tracking app for your phone, where you can see a 3-D view of Santa’s location during his trip. The app also features videos, so you and your little ones can see clips of Santa flying around major landmarks and world cities. Just don’t stay up too late watching them. You don’t want Santa to skip over your house!
Take a Break
CHRISTMAS STAR COOKIES
Looking for something a little lighter to leave for Santa this Christmas Eve? Try these star cookies! And, as an added bonus, they’re paleo-friendly!
Ingredients
¼ cup coconut oil, melted 5 tablespoons agave nectar or honey 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal) ½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt ¼ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. 2. In a small bowl, mix coconut oil, agave, and vanilla. 3. Mix wet ingredients into dry. 4. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until ¼ inch thick. 5. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Directions
6. Remove top piece of
parchment paper and dust dough with almond flour. 7. Cut out cookies with a small star cutter. 8. Using a metal spatula, place stars on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 9. Bake at 350 F until edges are lightly browned, 5–8 minutes.
Recipe courtesy of elanaspantry.com/star-cookies
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Phone: (630) 637-1693 Hours: M, W, F (10 AM - 8 PM) Saturday: 10AM - 3 PM www.omtapt.com
10 W. Martin Ave # 240, Naperville, IL 60540
INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of Kaarthick Mani PAGE 1 The Evolution of Christmas Icons PAGE 1 An All-Time Athlete — and a Vegan PAGE 2 Santa Tracking Goes High-Tech PAGE 3 Take a Break! PAGE 3 Christmas Star Cookies PAGE 3 Physical Therapy for Diabetes Treatment PAGE 4
HAVE YOU TRIED Physical Therapy for Diabetes?
glucose record and examines them for skin wounds, the therapist will then conduct an assessment of the individual’s strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance. The physical therapist will then choose specific activities, treatments, exercises, and stretches to help restore normal movement, strength, flexibility, endurance, balance, coordination, pain levels, and healthy blood glucose levels. The therapist will also discuss activity goals and prescribe at-home exercises to speed up recovery. Diabetes is a condition with many serious complications. However, physical therapy can reduce those complications while simultaneously improving physical fitness and lowering blood glucose
Diabetes is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or does not react normally to insulin. When these conditions occur they cause levels of glucose in the blood to become too high, which can lead to health problems. Physical activity and exercise are important and effective in lowering high blood glucose levels, and physical therapists can help people with diabetes improve or avoid related problems. They can also teach sedentary people how to increase their daily physical activity in safe, effective, and enjoyable ways. Individuals with diabetes are at risk of complications like heart disease, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, eye disease, kidney disease, nervous system disease, peripheral vascular disease, skin issues, cell death, amputations, and premature death. Once someone has been diagnosed by a physician, a physical therapist can evaluate their symptoms and the physical problems associated with the condition and provide individual, specialized treatment. Physical therapy for diabetes is meant to help those with the disease participate in safe, effective exercise programs to improve their ability to move, perform daily tasks, reduce pain, and lower blood glucose levels. After a physical therapist reviews an individual’s blood
levels. Talk to your physical therapist about diabetes treatment today.
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