By fitstoppt 04 Mar, 2016 Advice, Exercise, FAQ, Fitness, Health, Injury, Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Tips, Wellness avoid, decrease, exercise, how to, hurt, injury, pain, workout Most of us have been through the cycle before. You’ve come to realize you need to start working out regularly in order to get healthier. Your new workout plan is going great for a couple of weeks when suddenly – WHAMMO – something starts hurting that didn’t hurt before you started. You take some time off rehabbing this injury and after a couple of weeks it starts to feel better, but you fail to pick up your fitness routine where you left off. Suddenly you’re back to your same old ways – thinking maybe one day again you’ll try working out.
As a doctor of physical therapy I see a lot of patients for a lot of different reasons. Some of these injuries are traumatic; some develop slowly over time. But I can say with a certain degree of confidence that many (if not most) of these injuries could actually be avoided if people would stick to the following six tips:
More By fitstoppt 03 Feb, 2016 Advice, At Home, Back Pain, FAQ, Health, Healthcare, Injury, Low Back Pain, Pain Management, Physical Therapy back, decompression, health, healthy, injury, neck, pain, spine, traction You may have heard about non-surgical spinal decompression on TV or radio ads. You may have heard the claims that it can be a wonderful miracle which eliminates your back and neck pain. The truth is…it can be. If spinal decompression is the right treatment for you it can be a critical component in relieving your pain. It can also backfire and increase your symptoms. The question lies in whether or not it is the right treatment for you. As the experts in musculoskeletal treatment, your physical therapist is the best choice for learning if spinal decompression will help treat your symptoms. Today one of our spine care specialists, Cameron Garber, PT, DPT is sharing some insight into this treatment method so you can make an educated decision on whether or not it’s right for you.
More By fitstoppt 14 Dec, 2015 At Home, Exercise, Fitness, Health, Healthcare, Injury, Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Shoulder Pain exercise, fitness, frozen, injury, pain, physical therapy, rehab, shoulder Today on the Fit Stop Blog I would like to discuss one of the most painful conditions that I see regularly – the dreaded, miserable, absolutely debilitating – frozen shoulder (FS), (AKA adhesive capsulitis). Now, FS is truly a painful son of a gun. Growing up as the son of a physical therapist, I used to observe my father from time to time in the clinic. I remember watching him work with these poor patients who had FS, and they would be in tears from the stretching. I used to think to myself, well, that doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun, for either patient or therapist! I wondered if the field of PT was really for me after observing some of those treatments. Well, fast forward a few years later, and here I am blogging about this all-too-common condition. FS is a very interesting condition, and actually not very well understood. Today, I will discuss what it is, and why we think certain people actually get it.
More By fitstoppt 30 Nov, 2015 Advice, Back Pain, FAQ, Health, Health Tips, Healthcare, Injury, Knee Pain, Low Back Pain, Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Shoulder Pain cold, heat, injury, modalities, modality, pain, rehab, thermal Be sure to follow Fit Stop on Facebook to stay caught up on all our health advice and tips!
Should I put heat or ice on my injury?
We’ve all heard that you’re supposed to put ice on an injury. We’ve all heard that heat can help, too. But which one is it? And how do you know? As physical therapists, this is a question that we answer all day long from our patients, so today we wanted to share this knowledge with you! One of our sports injury experts, Jared Beckstrand, PT, DPT is here to answer your questions about the implications for heat vs ice when it comes to injury management. Keep reading for more!
More By fitstoppt 02 Nov, 2015 Advice, Exercise, FAQ, Health, Health Tips, Healthcare, Injury, Physical Therapy, Shoulder Pain best, injury, options, pain, physical therapy, rotator cuff, shoulder, treatment As a physical therapist, I enjoy hearing the different terminology for the rotator cuff (RC): “I think I tore my rotor cup” is one of my favorites. However, the thought of a torn rotator cuff is never amusing and with good reason conjures up fear and worry. In today’s post here on the Fit Stop Blog, our shoulder specialist – Toby Bluth, PT, DPT – is discussing the rotator cuff. What is it? Why is it so important? And finally, what should be done if you suspect or have been told that you have a torn rotator cuff?
More By fitstoppt 28 Oct, 2015 Advice, Back Pain, FAQ, Fitness, Health Tips, Injury, Knee Pain, Low Back Pain, Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Shoulder Pain, Strength Training, Wellness advice, chronic, decrease, faq, injury, management, pain, physical therapy, PT, treatment We’ve all been there before. You have an injury that, for some reason, is hanging around a lot longer than it should. You’ve “tried everything” including ice, ibuprofen, rest/taking time off, and every rub/salve/pain patch you can find, and yet your pain persists. What gives? How come you just can’t heal like when you were younger (we get that question A LOT!)?? Well chances are you’re doing a lot to treat the SYMPTOMS of your pain, but nothing to address the CAUSE of your pain. Today one of our specialists, Jared Beckstrand, PT, DPT, is discussing why you might be hurting for longer than necessary and what you can do to start to feel better. Keep reading for more!
More By fitstoppt 14 Oct, 2015 Advice, At Home, FAQ, Fitness, Health Tips, Healthcare, Injury, Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Wellness injury, neck, pain, physical therapy, rehab, rehabilitation, treatment What a pain in the neck!
At some point in life, your neck will likely cause you pain. Neck pain is right up there with pain related to the low back as far as how common it is. According to some sources, the burden placed on the economy because of neck pain, is second only to low back pain. In fact as many as 54% of individuals have experienced some neck pain in the past 6 months. Once this neck pain comes, it is very likely to stay for a long time and to come back again after it has initially resolved. So you can see that neck pain truly is a pain in the neck for a lot of people (including myself). My job as a physical therapist is a physically active job, requiring physical exertion at times that puts a bit of stress on my upper back and neck. By the end of my work week, I go home with a pretty tired, and sometimes outright painful neck. So what is the deal? What is typically causing our neck pain and why is it so common after all?
More By fitstoppt 02 Oct, 2015 Advice, FAQ, Health, Health Tips, Healthcare, Injury, Pain Management, Physical Therapy, Tips, Wellness healing, injury, physical therapy, PT, recovery, rehab, rehabilitation As physical therapists we frequently see patients who are recovering from some kind of surgery. Knees, hips, shoulders, backs, and necks are among the most popular post-surgery issues that we work with. In the United States joint related surgeries are increasing at a rapid rate. For example, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in the USA between the years 2000-2010, total knee replacement surgery (TKA) rates doubled. In fact, the TKA is the most common inpatient surgery being performed nowadays. From shoulder surgery (which is the most common in our clinics), to knee and back surgery, there certainly is a time and place for these surgeries. However, the cost, time away from work for recovery, and risk associated with these surgeries is significant, and I often remind my patients of these factors when considering surgery. Most of the time, my patients seem pleased with the outcome of their surgery. However, as the obviously biased PT that I am, I often wonder – could this surgery have been avoided using conservative physical therapy? Well today, I am going to answer that question.
More By fitstoppt 28 Sep, 2015 Advice, Exercise, Injury, Physical Therapy, Shoulder Pain, Wellness advice, arm, exercise, fitness, health, home, inflammation, injury, pain, physical therapy, PT, rehab, shoulder, symptoms, tendinitis, tendonitis, treatment “Shoulder pain” can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. For some it means rest, don’t use it for three days, and maybe it will go away. For others it might be a signal that “I just need to go work it out and it will feel better”. But how do you really know which treatment is right for you? Today on the Fit Stop Blog, Tyler Bluth, PT, MPT is sharing his thoughts on shoulder tendonitis = what if is, why you get it, and some simple steps you can take to help it to feel better. Keep reading for more:
More By fitstoppt 17 Aug, 2015 Advice, Back Pain, FAQ, Health, Health Tips, Injury, Low Back Pain advice, avoid, back, back pain, correct, faq, healthcare, how to, injury, lift, lumbar, pain, physical therapy, posture, strength 4 Tips To Protect Your Back While Lifting and Carrying
Did you know that 9/10 people will experience some form of back pain in their lives?! As a physical therapist I have literally seen just about everything – from heavy lifting and falls to simply “I bent over to pick up my toothbrush”. Some of the most-common injuries that we encounter are a result of lifting and carrying objects. This is a frustrating situation that sets the patient back quite a bit, often resulting in missed days at work or play. The most frustrating part for me is that this situation can be avoided altogether with a little bit of education and exercise. Today one of our back pain specialists, Toby Bluth, PT, DPT will discuss proper lifting mechanics – what’s right, what’s wrong, and what you can do to avoid injury:
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