Move to Live Newsletter by Choice Physical Therapy
Move to Live Y O U R R E S O U R C E T O M O V I N G W E L L A N D L I V I N G L I F E
We’ve heard it a million times. No two people are the same, everyone is an individual. This holds true in many areas of life...taste in mus i c , c lothing style, are you a Price Chopper or Hannaford person? Stewart’s or Cumber land Farms? The list is endless and your Physical Therapy plan is no different, it needs to match you as an individual. (continued inside)
ARE YOU ADDRESSING ALL 4 PHASES?
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Move to Live Y O U R R E S O U R C E T O M O V I N G W E L L A N D L I V I N G L I F E
INSIDE: • Stand Taller with Physical Therapy • #ChooseToGiveBack
• Choice Physical Therapy News • Patient Success Story
ARE YOU ADDRESSING ALL 4 PHASES?
(continued from outside) After discussing where you’re having trouble, how it came on, what makes it better/worse we begin gathering information. How is your body compensating? How does that line up with the symptoms you’re experiencing? Once we have all the data we can get down to business... designing your individual program based on the particulars of your evaluation. At Choice PT we use a simple illustration to give some insight into our decision making process. We call it the 4 Phases of Recovery: PHASE 1: Goal: calm down pain and inflammation This is usually the tissue that has been irritated due to other areas of the body not working efficiently and this injured tissue has taken the brunt of the stress for too long, resulting in pain. PHASE 2: Goal: restore range of motion, muscle flexibility, isolated muscle strength At this point pain should be subsiding in terms of intensity (not as painful), frequency (not coming on as often), and duration (not lasting as long when it does come on). Here we address all of your body’s individual compensations that were resulting in extra stress being placed on the area that was injured. PHASE 3) Goal: Return to normal function and ability This is the exciting phase (I mean, let’s be serious, this is Physical Therapy we’re talking about, isn’t it all exciting?!). Phase 3 is where
we’re designing your exercises to specifically get you back to the things you need, want, and love to do in your life!
PHASE 4: Goal: maintain the results you’ve achieved and strategies to prevent future injury It’s graduation time! You’ve put in the majority of the hard work. We want to make sure you’re set up with the strategies you’ll need to maintain the results you’ve achieved. I like to give the analogy of the gas light in your car. When the light comes on, you don’t need a new car. Heck, you don’t even need to call your mechanic. Just put some gas in your tank and life will be good. There’s no “gas light” for our bodies and historically, as healthcare professionals we’ve been very reactive...waiting for your car to run out of gas on the side of the road (aka pain to set in and stop you from doing the daily things you need, want, and love to do...for those of you not following my crazy analogy) before we try to help you feel better. I would argue that Phase 4 is the most important part of a Physical Therapy program. Unfortunately, after being a PT for 11 years in three different states I consistently see that this is the phase that gets the least attention. We need to continue to push for a more proactive healthcare system as opposed to kicking the can down the road and scrambling to react after tissue injury has occurred.
Happy September everyone! Joe
www.choiceptny.com
STAND TALLER WITH PHYSICAL THERAPY
Did you know that over 80% of people across the world will suffer an episode of back pain at some point in their lifetime? If you are suffering from back pain or sciatica, you know how hindering it can be. With chronic back pain, radiating leg pain, or stinging sensations across the sciatic nerve, it can be difficult to live your life to the fullest. If you find yourself in pain when bending down, standing up, or lifting objects, it’s time to see a physical therapist. The Differences Between Back Pain And Sciatica: It can be difficult sometimes to determine the differences between general back pain and sciatica. Sciatica is a specific type of back pain that is caused by a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve. Your sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in your body – it is approximately 2 centimeters wide, extending all the way down your back, your buttocks, underneath the piriformis muscle, and to the backs of your legs and your feet. It is made up of several nerves that exit your lower back from the lumbar and sacral levels (L4-S3), transmitting sensation and muscle control. Common culprits of sciatica development include weakness in the gluteal muscles or tightness in the piriformis muscle, as they can compress and irritate the sciatic nerve. Common sciatica symptoms: The sciatica symptoms reported from patients tend to vary. Some may experience a deep ache in the buttocks, while others experience a severe pain radiating down one of their legs. It is also possible to feel a tingling or numbness in the back of the leg, calf, or foot. If left too long without proper treatment, irritation can become more severe and affect the strength of your leg muscles.
Common sciatica treatment: The safest, easiest, and most effective mode of sciatica treatment is through physical therapy. Physical therapy examines the root cause of pressure on the nerve and works to quickly alleviate that pressure. Our licensed physical therapists will analyze the movements of the muscles surrounding the sciatic nerve, in addition to the back and hip joints. They will design an individualized treatment plan based on the specific needs of each patient, in order to strengthen the affected muscles, improve joint flexibility, and prevent problems from occurring again in the future. AT CHOICE PHYSICAL THERAPY, WE ARE FULLY EQUIPPED TO TREAT ANY BACK PAIN YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING. CONTACT US TODAY TO SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW OUR SERVICES CAN BENEFIT YOU!
PAT IENT SUCCESS STORY
EXERCISE ESSENT IALS
HELPS BACK PAIN
www.simpleset.net
TRUNK FLEXION | TO FLOOR Sit in a chair with good posture. Hands on thighs. Let your trunk sag toward the floor use your arms to control the movement. Let your arms dangle to the floor. Now use your arms to push yourself up.
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CHOICE PT NEWS
BABY NAPOLEONE #3 ON THE WAY!
Joe and Erin are happy to announce Dominic and Cora will be big brother and big sister to a new baby in January.
Want to join in on the Date of Birth and Gender guess competition? Emai l Erin@ChoicePTny.com with your thoughts... Closest wins an awesome prize TBD!!
(due date is 1/23/21)
www.choiceptny.com
#CHOOSETOGIVEBACK: AUGUST SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE
Throughout the month of August we collected school supplies and donations for custom Choice PT masks to benefit Hope 7 Community Center on Pawling ave in Troy and the Lansingburgh City School District . Again, you all knocked it out of the park with our biggest donation yet!! Thank you so much for everything that you do month after month to let your community know they are cared for!
Gratefully, Erin
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