Barb saw the truck in the rear-view mirror and braced. Her hands gripped the wheel, every muscle in her body was tense when the truck hit. After three months, those muscles still haven’t let go-she feels a stiffness or tightness that no amount of stretching eliminates. When Barb saw the headlights, her nervous system’s natural response …
Most people don’t realize this, but off-the-clock physical therapists are diagnosing people all the time without getting them on a treatment table. It’s second nature to us. My kids remember walks along the Pearl Street Mall where I would notice a total stranger walking in front of us with a back or hip problem and …
The pain started as just a hint on the outside of the elbow. Leo was not even sure when or how he first noticed it, but within weeks the constant ache on the outside of his elbow went from a whisper to a howl whenever he had to lift anything. Forget pouring coffee in the morning …
Yes, we work on body problems. But we can never ignore how the mind – and some common myths – create a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think running is only for the under 50 crowd, or that a little noise in your joints portends future pain, it will be so. But it isn’t so simple …
“My posture is horrible“. It’s a common refrain from patients who are also thinking: – my bad posture is the reason I hurt. Myths like that are common, even among physical therapists. While many of us blame poor posture for our pain, research says NO. Yes, posture matters, but in ways that will surprise you. Here’s …
If you and your climbing buddies compare injuries, you almost always compare painful wrists, hands/fingers, shoulders or elbows. That’s because climbing places massive loads on the arms and can truly stress tendons. In fact, nearly half of all chronic climbing injuries involve the fingers, and over 80% are in the upper limbs. Having tendinopathy and fixing it …
Now that the weather is FINALLY cooperating and the sun is shining, it’s time to hike! You’re still in shape from ski season, so a long and strenuous hike sounds perfect. You wake up the next day with a stiff Achilles, but it goes away rather quickly. By the time you’re done with morning coffee, you’re …
I didn’t see it. I was hauling down the backside of Olde Stage for the 100th time, and I still didn’t see it. A large gouge in the asphalt jarred my whole body, causing my phone to fly out of my Bento box and land with a splat – shattered to smithereens in a split …
If every day from the time you were two, you squatted down low to “do your business”, you would have a felt sense of the value of using those strong, stable hips to do the work of bending. For better or worse (mostly better!) we started using toilets, and we stopped squatting as part of …
It started her senior year in high school – just a little bit of leaking during volleyball practice – but by the time she sought help, incontinence was impacting her whole life. She was miserable and she was not alone. Although urinary incontinence is a widespread problem, sufferers are reticent to seek treatment. On average, people …