Nebraska PT_Don't Let Spinal Stenosis Stop You

Spinal Stenosis refers to the narrowing of the canals in your spine that are formed by the vertebrae. This narrowing can impinge on the nerves exiting your spine or the spinal cord itself. Symptoms can vary, but often include radiating pain to the back, buttocks and even legs. Furthermore, weakness and poor balance in the legs can often occur, making it difficult to tolerate walking long distances and prolonged standing.

Nebraska Orthopaedic Newsletter Stand Tall Without Pain RELIEVE SPINAL STENOSIS

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, spinal stenosis is a silent epidemic. It is estimated that 2.4 million Americans will suffer from spinal stenosis by 2021. Spinal stenosis occurs mostly in people 50 and over, but can occur in younger adults with a history of arthritis. This month’s newsletter is about how you can relieve spinal stenosis pain and how we can help.

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Nebraska Orthopaedic Newsletter

INSIDE:

• 4 Natural Ways To Relieve Stenosis

• Exercise Essentials

• Patient Success Spotlight

• Practice News

• Healthy Recipe

Stand Tall Without Pain RELIEVE SPINAL STENOSIS

“As an active dairy farmer, I have had a lifetime of back problems. Nebraska Orthopaedic Physical Therapy helped me gain strength and improve so that I can stay active.” - Larry M. Patient Success Story

What is spinal stenosis? SpinalStenosisreferstothenarrowingofthecanals in your spine that are formed by the vertebrae.This narrowing can impinge on the nerves exiting your spine or the spinal cord itself. Symptoms can vary, but often include radiating pain to the back, buttocks and even legs. Furthermore, weakness and poor balance in the legs can often occur, making it difficult to tolerate walking long distances This is the most common form of spinal stenosis. It refers to the narrowing of the foramen canals on either side of the spine formed by the vertebrae above and below the segment. In each canal, spinal nerves exit the lower back to supply different parts of the pelvis and legs. With age and deterioration of the discs between the spine, the canals shrink in size and may also have bone spurs.This irritates and prolonged standing. Foraminal stenosis

the nerve roots, especially when the spine is extended. Sitting typically feels better, but standing and backwards bending increase pain. Is surgery needed? There is a big push towards fusion surgery for spinal stenosis and back pain. However, studies show that surgery should be a last resort, before conservative measures such as physical therapy areperformed. Inthevastmajorityofcases,surgery is not needed and people will have significant if not complete relief of their symptoms with physical therapy. Physical therapy targets the muscles and joints of the spine to build strength, improve stability of the spine and maintain the foramen as open as possible. If you believe you have spinal stenosis symptoms, then call us today to speak with one of our expert physical therapists. Our SPINE program has helped thousands of patients successfully relieve their back and stenosis pain.

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4 Natural Ways To Relieve Stenosis

3. Strengthening Your Core Your core muscle groups are the spinal muscles, abdominal muscles, pelvic and hip muscles. By doing exercises that combine these muscle groups together you can develop an internal corset that supports your spinal column. Gentle Pilates and core strengthening exercises are good, however, be sure to consult your physical therapist before starting exercises you are unsure of doing. 4. Manual Physical Therapy Hands on specialized manual physical therapy techniques restore the natural movements of the spinal, hip and sacroiliac joints. This helps to open the foraminal canals in the spine. Physical therapists are the unique medical professionals who are trained extensively in these types of techniques. If you are suffering with back pain or spinal stenosis, don’t put off getting help as your condition weakens the spine further and can set you up for more extensive injury in the future. Call us today to speak with one of our physical therapists and see for yourself, what a difference our SPINE program can make for your back.

Spinal stenosis is a mechanical problem of movement in your body. While medication may help to numb the pain, it does not fix the underlying mechanical problem. Here are tips on how you can improve your stenosis and back pain symptoms: 1. ICE Icing at the low back area on the affected side helps to decrease the inflammatory process. Use a flexible ice pack with a moist thin towel to make it easier to tolerate the ice. Use for 10 minutes and off for 30 minutes. Make sure to check your skin often and stop if it becomes painful. Apply 2-3 times a day, especially after repetitive bending or standing activities. 2. Improve Hip and Spine Flexibility Restoring natural movement to the spinal joints, hip joints and sacroiliac joints, helps to relieve abnormal pressures on the sciatic nerve. It allows your body to move freely when doing normal everyday tasks and prevents injury and strains. Care should be taken when stretching to be gentle and work with your breathing. Never push through pain and avoid exercises that aggressively extend the spine.

Helps Strengthen Back LATERALWEIGHT SHIFT Sit with arms out in front. Shift weight side to side. Use your arms as a counterbalance. Repeat 20 times. Exercise Essentials Try these simple exercises to keep you moving... Share this with a friend or family member to help keep them healthy too!

Practice News

If any of you know me, you know I love my dog, Tucker. Tucker is a mini Goldendoodle, and we loved him so much that we thought we should probably get him a friend. Well Zach and I are getting married in May, which entails a lot of time away from home and doing various things on the weekends and ideally probably isn’t the right time for a puppy. We both agreed that we would wait until after the wedding to get one. I couldn’t help myself and just had to look anyways. The place that we got Tucker had some puppies and of course she had to send pictures. I took one look at the pictures and knew we HAD to have one. The breeder usually has a waitlist, so we thought we would just ask when the next available puppies are. As it turns out, she didn’t have any mini’s available, but she did have the cutest full size available. We fell in love, but it wasn’t the right time for a dog. So I went on with my life and went to work the next day. When I came home, I had a little surprise waiting for me. Zach got the puppy! He remembered the email of the breeder, and emailed with her the previous night and arranged to get the puppy as a Valentine’s Day gift. I know we said it wasn’t the right time, but we are so glad we got her. Her name is Paisley and her and Tucker get along so well. Zach sure did good on that decision. By Amy Hoffman, PT, DPT

Healthy Recipe: Honey Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients • 1/3 cup honey • 1/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium) • 1 Tablespoon minced garlic • 1 teaspoon minced ginger

• 1 lb medium uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined • 2 teaspoons olive oil • Chopped green onion garnish

Directions 1. Whisk the honey, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger (if using) together in a medium bowl. 2. Place shrimp in a large zipped-top bag or tupperware. Pour 1/2 of the marinade mixture on top, give it all a shake or stir, then allow shrimp to marinate in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or for up to 8-12 hours. Cover and refrigerate the rest of the marinade for step 3. (Time-saving tip: while the shrimp is marinating, I steamed broccoli and microwaved some quick brown rice.) 3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place shrimp in the skillet. (Discard used marinade.) Cook shrimp on one side until pink-- about 45 seconds-- then flip shrimp over. Pour in remaining marinade and cook it all until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more. 4. Serve shrimp with cooked marinade sauce and a garnish of green onion. The sauce is excellent on brown rice and steamed veggies on the side.

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