by stretchmobility | Oct 17, 2017 | Uncategorized
I hear this a lot from older clients. Heck, I’ve heard it from myself when I went through ACL rehabilitation. Once a high level athlete, always a high level athlete. At least in our minds we are. The fact is that muscle takes 1-2 weeks to lose strength if it is not going through a workout program. Muscle responds very specifically to the strains that are placed upon it. Unfortunately as we get older, people do not exercise as often as they should. I’m guilty of this as well.
We tend to forget all the practices and conditioning that we did in order to be prepared to play in these events. We just remember the games themselves. Then we skip all the preparatory exercising that is needed in order to perform at that level. We go straight to playing pick up games.
Unfortunately, our bodies change as we age too. Without properly exercising, the muscle fibers actually change composition. The muscles become more use to long term activation. They get used to just holding us upright because standing and walking are the primary exercises we do. The muscles we use in sport require more faster activating muscle fibers. That means if we try to do fast acting movement with slow moving muscles, we’re going to have a bad time.
This is why it is important to see somebody educated in the performance of muscles to better prepare us for our activities.
Dr. Mark Geise, PT DPT
by stretchmobility | Oct 12, 2017 | Uncategorized
A lot of times we hear clients say that a seemingly easy exercise is surprisingly difficult. The most common time I hear this is when I ask somebody to hold their balance while they stand on one foot. Seems like an easy enough task right? Go on try it yourself.
Chances are that if you don’t actively practice this then it’s going to be pretty difficult. Wobbling back and forth are normal as long as you’re not at risk of falling over. There are several different reasons for why this easy exercise needs to be practiced. Every time you walk, you should be standing on one foot even if for a moment. If you can’t stand on one foot, you’re at risk for losing balance while you walk. If you’re not standing on one foot while you’re walking, then you’re not taking long enough strides. An important factor in determining if a person is at risk for a fall was the speed they were walking. Slower walking was actually predictive of falling.
Several reasons could be why this exercise is difficult. One is that practice makes perfect. Not trying it occasionally will make it difficult. Secondly, there are 3 systems in play when you’re trying to balance. The musculoskeletal system will try to keep your bones and muscles in position to stay upright. Your muscles need to be strong enough to keep you in a proper position. Your inner ear provides a lot of feedback to your brain which tries to determine how your head is positioned. Lastly, your joints have joint sensors that send feedback to your central nervous system. This keeps your brain informed of where your joints are.
So this is why we provide this exercise to patients. It challenges several systems at once. It helps determine if there are more than one system with problems. If standing on one leg is too easy, try doing it with your eyes closed!
Dr. Mark Geise, PT DPT
by stretchmobility | Oct 11, 2017 | Uncategorized
Joints do snap, crackle, and pop at times and this is normal. However, if your knees click or pop EVERY time you do a motion such as going up/down stairs, standing/sitting, or squatting that is something that you need to address before it becomes a problem.
The clicking that you hear is your knee caps pushing against your knee while in motion. This happens due to muscle imbalances in your body, either your hip is weak and your knees are caving in with bending or the arches in your ankles are weak and your knee is again caving in and causing this sound. If you don’t start addressing these muscle imbalances soon the bones wear down and arthritis could begin to form.
Here’s a quick test for you, stand in front of a mirror or have someone watch you, and perform a squat. Watch (or have your friend watch) to see if your knees are staying in line with your feet, or if your knees are moving in between your feet, also listen for any clicking sounds. If either of these are the case you may have ankle instability or hip weakness. You should see your Physical Therapist for an evaluation to make sure that this problem does not get worse.
by stretchmobility | Oct 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
People often think, “Do I have to keep doing all of these exercises for the rest of my life?” after coming to therapy and performing weeks of exercises, getting hands on care from your therapist, then getting back to your pain free life. This is a great question, and the answer is both yes and no.
Let me explain: If you are performing 10-20 minutes of exercises on a daily basis, there is no need to continue to perform this many exercises. However, I have a question for you: Do you brush your teeth every day? Why? To prevent you from having cavities, would it make sense to perform a few exercises every day to prevent you from having your pain again?
After you complete your therapy there are most likely 2-3 exercises that you should be performing to keep your strength up and prevent you from having your problem return. This should only take 5 minutes or so 2-3 days a week. You want to keep the muscles that have a tendency to be weak strong to keep your pain away.
Dr. Christopher Aeschliman, PT, DPT
by stretchmobility | Oct 2, 2017 | Uncategorized
Today, I had another client come in today with lower back pain. She told me she had sciatica symptoms. She felt pain in her back initially however the pain that shoots down her legs is the most debilitating. She feels like sometimes she can’t stand up all the way.
Unfortunately for her, she’s been dealing with this for over half a decade. The pain limits her from walking, standing long periods of time, and at this point she’s afraid to return to work as a nurse. Nursing is a very active highly demanding physical job. The fear is completely understandable and the fear is very rational.
Dealing with chronic pain can be life consuming, altering our lifestyles in ways that people without chronic pain do not realize. I personally have had a ACL reconstruction on my R knee. I went to months of prehab and even more months of rehab after surgery. It still aggravates me to this day. I realized that my knee hurt when I was walking for prolonged periods, or sitting for prolonged periods. I never thought I’d be able to play soccer again so I would skip workouts. I would avoid any activity that may cause pain. I “knew” it would cause pain.
Recently, I came across an article on chronic pain and it helped enlighten my knowledge on the subject. They found that the pain signal to the brain not only was coming from the source of pain BUT was also coming from memory.
Another article was showing how pain pathways from the source of pain may actually interfere with motor output. This means that the pain is actually discoordinating muscles, which is going to lead to more pain.
Given these two thoughts, it makes sense why a client would need more than just strengthening to solve their problem. The client needs solutions that address these other factors as well. This is a common problem that needs to be addressed appropriately.
Dr. Mark Geise, PT, DPT
