During this time of year, we see quite a few folk who are preparing for vacations. They often are nervous that traveling in a plane or an automobile for extended periods of time will cause them pain. Many of them suffer from chronic back or neck pain that makes travel uncomfortable. For more information read Paul’s article Take The Pain Out Of Travel (27).
In conjunction with the American Physical Therapy Association, Cedar Hill Physical Therapy has also created a brochure filled with exercises to prevent pain while traveling. The exercises are simple, seated exercises to keep the blood flowing, the joints mobile, and the muscles relaxed. They are also helpful for prevention of deep vein thromboses (blood clots) that can develop due to poor circulation in the legs and feet. For more information download our In Flight Fitness Guide (24).
The McKenzie Method is an individualized self-treatment program tailored to your lifestyle. It puts YOU in control safely and effectively.
Through the McKenzie approach, you gain an experiential education and learn to self-treat your back and/or neck pain.
Remember, not all therapists are created equal. It is important to seek out a well-trained McKenzie practitioner.
For more information on the McKenzie Method and how it works, check out this link to Paul’s article, The McKenzie Method Works (49) which can also be found in the June/July edition of The Guilford County Women’s Journal.
As a physical therapist, I help people get moving. My best tools are exercise instruction, biofeedback, manual therapy, and patient education. In my approach, I focus on empowering a patient to help themselves. The benefits to this are a faster recovery with less treatment needed. This requires patients to take an active role in their rehabilitation.
Everyone t
hat I have the opportunity to work with is unique. I constantly find myself trying new techniques in order to bring about the desired results. In this blog I’m going to talk about those techniques which I use to improve follow through with the exercise prescription which is tailored to help the individual to reach his or her goals.
Reflecting on my life, I owe a lot to my mom. She instilled in me values that over the years I have come to greatly appreciate.
Among these was a talk I think of as the “Plant the Seed” talk. When I was in elementary school, I was a good student, albeit not the most motivated of kids. We talked about a fellow student, a bright young man who excelled in his studies. Mom told me that if I applied myself, I could do just as well. She described my potential as a gift, a seed that needed to be planted and nurtured in order that it would grow.
Lifting and carrying a child, picking up toys off of the floor, and pushing a stroller are normal daily tasks for mothers and other child care providers. Cedar Hill Physical Therapy, in conjunction with The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), offers these tips to help moms and other care-givers accomplish these daily feats without aches and pains.
Download: Posture Tips for Parents
Join Cedar Hill Physical Therapy at
NewBridge Bank Ballpark
The Greensboro Grasshoppers
vs
The Lakewood BlueClaws
April 24th, 2010 @ 7pm
To register for your chance to win 4 reserved seat tickets, email Angie at angie@cedarhillpt.com. Put “ballpark” in the subject line. Drawing will take place at noon on Monday, April 19th.
Come out and support your Hoppers! Be sure to drop by our concourse table the night of April 24th and say hi!
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a teenager who is an avid horseback rider. She was great to work with. It was evident that she took an active role in her rehabilitation. When I gave her something to work on, she would return for follow up demonstrating her proficiency and improved performance in what she had been shown. She simply is the type of person that a physical therapist loves to work with.
During her course of therapy she corrected the deficits she had demonstrated at her initial evaluation. With that, I encouraged her to resume activity as tolerated. Towards the end of her treatment she reported resuming horseback riding. So much so that the activity was limited more by the horse’s fatigue than her own! With that, I recommended to her physician a full return to horseback riding as tolerated, including participation in an upcoming horse show.
You may know that tissues can become inflamed due to irritation, injury or infection, but did you know the foods you eat can increase or decrease inflammation as well? 
Inflammation is often accompanied by pain, swelling, redness, and often times loss of movement or function. Inflammation plays a huge roll in many common diseases such as arthritis, heart disease, strokes, cancer, and dementia.
Treatments for inflammation include rest, light exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and stretching. There are medications, including steroids and non-steroidal, designed to reduce inflammation and control pain. We’ve heard of the adverse side effects of steroids. Unfortunately, even the non-steroidal medications have side effects including stomach irritation, ulcers, and with prolonged use, possibly kidney problems.
“Following an anti-inflammatory diet can help counteract the chronic inflammation that is a root cause of many serious diseases, including those that become more frequent as people age. It is a way of selecting and preparing foods based on science that can help people achieve and maintain optimum health over their lifetime.”
- Andrew Weil, M.D.
The recipes that follow qualify as anti-inflammatory due to their ingredients and or method of preparation. Check back each month for new dishes. Enjoy!
Black Bean & Corn Salad
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
2 limes, juiced, and as much fruit as possible
1/3 cup minced red onion
1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
(As seen in Guilford County Women’s Journal, February/March 2010)
Surgery and a cart full of drugs aren’t the only solutions for back pain.
Low back pain is the second most common reason that people see a physician. (Colds and the flu are number one.) In some cases back pain will resolve with time. Unfortunately once someone has had an episode of low back pain, it tends to recur and can often become an ongoing problem. In 2006, more than ten percent of North Carolinians reported chronic low back pain.
From 1997 through 2005, health care costs for low back and neck pain increased dramatically. This would be okay if the increase in spending were met with an improvement in the condition, but such an improvement did not occur.
