pt Archives - Freedom Physical Therapy

1 in 3 Seniors Will Fall This Year. Physical Therapy Can Make Sure You’re Not One of Them!

Falls are a big deal.
They can cause injuries and make it hard to live on your own. They can also make you afraid of
falling again. This fear might make you less active, which can make you weaker and more likely
to fall. It’s a tough cycle to break. Falls aren’t a normal part of aging. Physical therapy can reduce your risk and help you stay
independent. Here are 5 ways your PT can help.

Creating a personalized exercise plan
Being active helps prevent falls. Your PT will make an exercise plan just for you, based on what
your needs and what you like to do. This should be fun! Think about going on walks, dancing,
aquatic exercise, or practicing yoga.
Making Your Home Safer!Many falls happen at home. Simple changes like removing tripping hazards and using night
lights can make a big different. Your physical therapist can help you with these and recommend
other modifications to make your home safer.

Strength and Balance Exercises
Strong muscles and good balance are key to preventing falls. Your PT will show you specific
exercises that help with both.
Addressing underlying health issues.
Falls are often the result of multiple factors. Your PT can work with your other doctors to address things like vision problems, heart issues, incontinence, or diabetes that might make you more likely to fall.
Help you find community programs
Staying active is easier and more fun with others. Your PT can help you find group exercise classes or other programs in your area that will help you stay strong and independent.
Take the first step.

If you’re worried about falling, or if you’ve already had a fall, don’t wait to get help. Talk to your
PT.

Falling isn’t a normal part of getting older. With the right help, you can stay strong, keep your
balance, and keep doing the things you love. Physical therapy is a great way to make sure you
stay on your feet and stay active and independent.
Take that first step towards better balance and a more active life. Your future self will thank you!

References
1. Exercise for falls and fracture prevention in long term care facilities: a systematic review and
meta-analysis. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2013;14(9):685-689.e2.
a. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23860265/
2. Preventing Falls in Older Persons. Am Fam Physician. 2017 Aug 15;96(4):240-247. PMID:
28925664.
a. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28925664/
3. The Effectiveness of Physical Therapist–Administered Group-Based Exercise on Fall Prevention:
A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy
36(4):p 182-193, October/December 2013.
a. https://journals.lww.com/jgpt/fulltext/2013/10000/the_effectiveness_of_physical.5.asp
x?casa_token=r5fLfvxztA0AAAAA:9yaeibFmZiCeIZiQcSOVcbWkWpA_8spTG-bNT2UFaD2Dc7tljHsv3VW5XfmnvIySLNwrJDd7aqnJTsfdHmRqK8
4. Exergame technology and interactive interventions for elderly fall prevention: A systematic
literature review
a. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003687016302265
5. Reducing the Risk of Falling and Injuries From Falls: Research on the Value of Physical Therapy
a. apta-handout-falls-research.pdf
6. Physical Therapy Guide to Falls
a. https://www.choosept.com/guide/physical-therapy-guide-falls
7. Fall Prevention Starts with a Conversation
a. https://www.ncoa.org/article/falls-prevention-conversation-guide-for-caregivers
8. Balance and Falls
a. https://www.apta.org/patient-care/public-health-population-care/balance-and-falls

Finding Balance: Dizziness and PT

Dizziness is common in people over 20 and it can be a big problem in your daily life. Feeling
unsteady, lightheaded, or like the room is spinning is alarming, and makes day to day tasks
difficult. The good news is that dizziness often has treatable causes, and your physical therapist can be the perfect person to help.

Understanding Dizziness

Dizziness isn’t a specific problem – it’s a symptom that can come from a lot of different issues. Feeling dizzy most commonly comes from issues with your inner ear, but it can also come from your vision, joint or muscle issues in your neck, migraines, changes in blood pressure, head injuries, or other neurological problems.

How Physical Therapists Help

To understand dizziness and how a PT can help, you have to know a little about how balance
works. Your brain uses information from your inner ears, your vision, and input from your joints about their position and movement to keep you balanced and stable. Typically all of this information paints the same picture for your brain. If your brain gets conflicting information – say your inner ear sends different information than vision and your joints – that often results in a feeling of dizziness, unsteadiness, or vertigo. Your physical therapist will ask questions about your history, then perform testing on all of the systems that help you stay balanced to figure out the cause of your dizziness.

Your treatment plan will vary depending on what your PT finds. Some typical examples include:

● Exercises: Your PT may prescribe specific exercises to improve your balance, strengthen or
stretch specific muscles, or to help retrain your brain to interpret sensory information. These can include gaze stabilization exercises which help your eyes and inner ears work better together, habituation exercises that help your brain get used to different types of input, and balance training on different surfaces.

● Canalith: repositioning maneuvers (CRM): If your dizziness is caused by benign
paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), a specific type of inner ear problem, your therapist
may perform maneuvers to reposition tiny crystals within your ear canal, alleviating your
vertigo. They can also teach you how to do these at home.

● Education: Your therapist will educate you about your condition, how to manage dizziness,
and exercises you can perform at home. They may also help you modify activities that cause
dizziness, or train you on ways to work through it. Dizziness doesn’t have to interfere with life. Physical therapists can help reduce your dizziness, improve your balance, lower your risk of falls, and improve your confidence in your daily activities.

How Does Physical Therapy Benefit Children With Autism?

What Is Autism?

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) describes a range of developmental conditions that affect how a person communicates, interacts, and behaves. ASD is called a spectrum disorder because the symptoms and severity can vary widely from one person to another.

Typical signs and symptoms of autism include:

• Having difficulty with communication and social interaction
• Restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior such as repeating words or phrases, lining up objects, or having intense and narrow interests
• Sensory issues, such as being over- or under-sensitive to sounds, lights, or textures

How Can PT Help?

Children with autism also often have difficulties with motor skills, which affect their daily functioning and quality of life. For example, they may have trouble with balance, coordination, motor planning, and body control. They may also have low muscle tone, which can make them appear floppy or weak. These challenges make it hard for them to participate in physical activities like playing games or on playgrounds with peers, which are important for both their physical and mental health.

Physical therapy can help children with autism overcome these difficulties and improve their motor skills. Using individualized and structured interventions, pediatric physical therapists help children with autism learn new skills and practice them in a fun and motivating way. Physical therapy can also help children with autism develop a positive attitude toward physical activity and enjoy the benefits of exercise, such as improved mood, energy, and sleep.

Improved gross motor skills and increased physical activity can also support the development of other areas that are affected by autism, like social and emotional skills. Physical activities can provide opportunities for children with autism to interact with their peers and family, express their feelings, and follow rules and directions. Physical therapy can also help children with autism cope with sensory issues, such as hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to touch, sound, or movement, by exposing them to different stimuli and helping them regulate their responses.

How Do I Find a Qualified PT for my Child?

If you think your child with autism may benefit from physical therapy, you should consult with your child’s pediatrician, who can refer you to a physical therapist who specializes in working with children with autism. You can also search for a physical therapist near you using the American Physical Therapy Association website.

References:
• Research (peer-reviewed)
o Physical Activities for Children with Autism – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32192008/
o Exercise for children with autism – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31615098/
o Physical activity effects on sleep and executive function – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30663324/
• Articles and Content
o Recognizing Autism in Healthcare – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34983217/
o Autism – diagnosis and management – https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg142
Supporting people with autism 19 or under – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34283415/

Have You Scheduled Your 2023 PT Exam?

Haven’t thought about having an annual PT exam? We’re biased, but we think you should. You see your optometrist and dentist regularly because your eyes and teeth are important. You get an annual physical from your family physician. You might even be getting ready to see your accountant to get your yearly taxes done.

But what about the rest of your body? Have you lost range of motion, or strength? How’s your balance and coordination? These all affect how you move. You might not notice small changes until you have problems like trouble lifting a heavy load, joint pain, or a sprained ankle from a stumble. An annual PT exam can catch problems early, then correct them before they lead to something bigger.

What to Expect

An annual PT exam is quick and easy. Your annual visit may include:
● A history of your injuries, as well as a health history
● Assessment of your strength, balance, flexibility, etc.
● A review of your movement goals (do you want to run a marathon? Get on and off the floor easily playing with your grandkids?)
● A review and update of your exercise program

How Important Is Moving Well?

There is strong evidence suggesting that movement is a valuable predictor of future health and resilience against disease. Moving well can keep you healthier and help you live longer. Here are some examples of the power of movement when it comes to predicting future health:

Gait Velocity

Gait velocity is how fast you walk. Studies have shown that if your typical walking speed is over 1 m/s or 3.3 ft/s, you’re likely able to complete typical daily activities independently. You’re also less likely to be hospitalized and less likely to have adverse events like falls.

Get On and Off the Floor

A series of studies suggest that if you can go from standing to sitting on the floor and back to standing without using your hands, you’re a lot less likely to die than someone who can’t. It’s called the sitting-rising test. You can find the instructions and examples with a quick internet search.

Notice that both gait velocity and the sitting-rising test aren’t specific to any one thing. The risk of hospitalization in the gait velocity studies was hospitalization for any reason. Death in the sitting-rising studies was death from anything. So science says that moving well is incredibly important to your overall health. It’s also important for your quality of life. We think moving well is just as important as your teeth, eyes, and taxes. If you agree, get that annual PT exam scheduled!

References
Why provide an annual physical therapy visit – https://www.apta.org/patient-care/interventions/annual-checkup

Physical Therapists’ Role in Prevention, Wellness, Fitness, Health Promotion, and Management of Disease and Disability – https://www.apta.org/apta-and-you/leadership-and-governance/policies/pt-role-advocacy

Ability to sit and rise from the floor is closely correlated with all-cause mortality risk — ScienceDaily

Gait velocity as a single predictor of adverse events in healthy seniors aged 75 years and older – PubMed (nih.gov)

A Physical Therapy Holiday Survival Guide

Keeping up with physical therapy during the holidays is tough. There are so many other things to do – cooking, parties, shopping, travel, and visiting with family and friends. But if you’re in physical therapy over the holidays, there’s a reason. You’re having pain, or not moving as well as you want to. These issues place limitations on your life, which are going to affect your ability to do things – like cooking, partying, shopping, traveling, or enjoying time with friends and family. So even though keeping up with your PT this time of year is tough, it’s important. That’s why we’re going to give you our best tips to help you through the holidays.

Plan

Some of what makes the holidays challenging is the crazy schedule. To survive this, you’re going to have to plan ahead. We’re not just talking about appointments on your calendar, either (although those are important). Here are some things to think about planning ahead:

Your PT appointments

Your schedule is busy during the holidays. So is your PT’s. Plan and schedule your appointments in advance. You’ll get the times and days that work best for you, and you’ll already have your PT appointments in your calendar to plan other things around.

Your exercise

Hopefully you have a regular time to exercise. With the holiday mania about to shake up your routine, that time may no longer work. Think about when you’re going to exercise ahead of time and you’ll stay consistent.

Your diet

Healthy eating often gets derailed during the holidays. Putting low quality fuel into your body won’t help you feel better. Think about planning what you’re going to eat ahead of time. We’re not saying to skip every holiday treat offered to you, but maybe think about which ones you really need to have, and which ones you can skip in advance. It makes saying “no thanks” to that third slice of fruitcake easier.

Modify

We’re realistic. We understand that life isn’t the same during the holidays as it is during the rest of the year. That’s part of what makes this time of year special! With that in mind, our next set of tips focuses on making modifications to help you get through the holidays successfully.

Your PT Plan

When you planned your PT appointments out well in advance, you might have run into some challenges. Talk to your therapist about how you might be able to modify your plan of care through the holidays to make it all work. Maybe you’re going to PT three times a week and you can only come twice a week for a week or two. Plan this sort of thing in advance with your PT and you can work together to come up with the best plan.

Your exercise

Exercise is so important, it made our list twice. Now that you know when you’ll exercise, you might have to modify your routine to make it fit. Again, we recommend talking with your PT to see what you can do. Maybe your home exercise program can be modified so you can do everything in the kitchen during downtime when you’re cooking up your holiday feast. Maybe you can reduce the number of exercises to focus on maintaining the gains you’ve made until things settle down.

Your schedule

In your planning in advance (see how important it is?) you might have found that your normal routine wasn’t going to work. If your PT appointments or exercise time is usually right after work and you’ve now got commitments during that time, maybe you can move them to the morning before work. If you’ve been exercising outside, the shortened days may move you into the gym. Be flexible and consider temporarily modifying your schedule and your routine to make it work better during the holiday season. You can always go back to your previous routine after.

The holidays are a special time of year. Keeping up with your health and your physical therapy can be challenging during this time. But you don’t have to fall behind. With some planning and flexibility, you can stay healthy, survive the holidays and head into next year with good momentum!

Physical Therapy Is For Everyone!

Physical therapists are highly trained health care professionals. They are experts in human movement who are trained to evaluate and treat all kinds of musculoskeletal issues with exercise and other techniques. Everyone moves and everyone can benefit from exercise, so physical therapists can help people through their entire lives!

Physical Therapy for Children

Physical therapists start treating some people very shortly after birth. Common reasons a baby might need PT include torticollis and cerebral palsy. Torticollis is a postural issue caused by a tight neck muscle. Babies with torticollis hold their heads tipped to one side. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that causes difficulty with movement and coordination.

As children get older, some have trouble hitting their motor milestones – think of these as the “firsts” – sitting up, rolling over, crawling, standing, and walking. Physical therapists can help here too, using their expertise to help develop motor skills and coordination to get these children back on track.

Physical Therapy for Adolescents

In adolescents, sports injuries become more common. Whether it’s an ankle sprain, or an ACL surgery, a PT can help. The rapid growth in adolescents can cause issues too. Things like growth plate fractures, growing pains, Osgood-Schlatter’s disease, and Sever’s disease are all common in adolescence and are related to the changes the body is going through.

Physical Therapy for Adults

As adults, a lot of us will have back pain – studies say up to 80% of us. Physical therapy is one of the first treatments recommended for back pain. Physical therapists also see adults for injuries – maybe from weekend warrior type sports injuries, overuse, or from an accident at work. Some adults also start to show symptoms of diseases like multiple sclerosis, or myositis which also benefit from physical therapy.

Physical Therapy for Older Adults

Later in life, people tend to have more health issues that impact their ability to move. Things like arthritis, joint replacements, strokes, and heart attacks are all things a PT can help with. Physical therapists also help people age better – keeping them moving with exercise programs that help reduce falls, or helping them make adaptations and modifications to keep them in their homes safely.

Movement is a constant in life. As movement experts, PTs can help people of any age. Some specialize in treating pediatric patients, and some specialize in treating geriatric patients, but all PTs have the expertise to help people move better.

References

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/facts.html
PT for pediatric ataxia – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31392562/
Adult in workplace – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32270086/
Adult myopathy (an example of something treated for adults, not geriatrics necessarily) – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31115788/
The Role of a Physical Therapist in Healthy Aging – https://www.ncoa.org/article/the-role-of-a-physical-therapist-in-healthy-aging
How Physical Therapists Can View Normal Versus Abnormal Aging – https://www.foxrehab.org/pt-impact-older-adults-optimal-function/

Don’t Keep Injury Secrets!

Physical therapists are experts in dealing with injuries, but your PT can’t help if they don’t know about your injury!

You might be wondering who would keep an injury secret. The answer is – lots of people!

The first thing that comes to your mind might be an athlete, like a football player, or maybe a baseball pitcher. But athletes aren’t the only ones that keep injury secrets. Performers like dancers keep injury secrets, and so do workers in all types of jobs.

Why would anyone want to keep their injury secret instead of getting it treated and letting it heal? Read on…

Stigma
Although there have been big improvements in the culture around sports, performing arts, and worker’s comp, some people still have the old “no pain, no gain” attitude. To some people, reporting an injury is an act of weakness, or a way of letting the team down.

There can also be external pressure from coaches, parents, teammates, supervisors, or fans to keep playing or working.

Fear of Loss
With the focus on head injuries in recent years, athletes that get hit in the head know if they report concussion symptoms, they’re coming out of the game. Workers who get hurt on the job fear loss of pay, or loss of their job. Performers who get hurt might fear that their replacement will outshine them on the stage and take their place.

Competitive Advantage
While the first two reasons can apply to athletes, performers, workers and most any other group that might be hiding an injury, this one is limited to athletes. If an opposing team knows a player is injured, and what the injury is, they might be able to take advantage of it. For example, if a football team has a running quarterback that has an ankle injury, it will change how the opposing defense plays.

These reasons all make some sense, but they’re also all shortsighted. Finishing a game, dancing tomorrow night, or working one more shift are never worth your long term health. Hiding a minor injury can turn it into a major one. It’s never weak to report an injury and you’re not letting your teammates, or coworkers down. If you’re not up to your best, you owe it to the people counting on you to let them know. Letting a healthy player, performer, or worker take your place is the right thing to do. If you’re injured, don’t hide it! Let the right people know, then go to the right person for help – your physical therapist!

PT – Not Just For Adults

When you think of physical therapy you might think of an injured athlete, someone recovering from surgery, or someone with a chronic medical problem. We’re here to let you know that you should think of kids, too. Physical therapists are trained to work with patients of any age. Some even specialize in pediatrics. Here are a few things PTs can help kids with:

Coordination Disorders and Gross Motor Delays

Some children are delayed in hitting their gross motor milestones – things like sitting up on their own, rolling, standing, walking, jumping and running. Other children show difficulty with coordination – activities like hand motions to “wheels on the bus”, feeding themselves with utensils, moving awkwardly or slowly, or even tripping or bumping into things a lot. Physical therapists can help encourage development of gross motor skills and coordination to help these kids get back on track.

Cerebral Palsy

This is the most common motor disability in childhood. The symptoms can vary from moving a little awkwardly to being unable to walk and needing assistance for almost all activities. There are also different types – the most common causes stiffness in the muscles, but other types affect control of movements, balance or coordination. No matter the type or severity of cerebral palsy, a physical therapist can help with things like stretching, exercise, bracing, and equipment like a wheelchair if needed.

Torticollis

Torticollis is a postural issue that usually becomes noticeable shortly after birth. Babies with torticollis typically hold their heads tipped one direction and rotated towards the opposite side. This is caused by a tight neck muscle. Research has shown that early referral to a physical therapist is a very effective treatment. The PT usually shows the baby’s caregivers ways to gently stretch the neck, and activities to encourage the baby to move his or her head into a more neutral position.

Pelvic Floor Issues

People don’t commonly think of pelvic floor issues in children, but you might be surprised at how common they are. The most common symptom is chronic constipation, but pelvic floor problems can also show up as urinary incontinence, bed wetting, or needing to go to the bathroom frequently. A physical therapist can help with education for the child and their family, exercise, and sometimes even the use of biofeedback to help the child learn to better control their pelvic floor muscles.

Pain and Injuries

Although kids have a list of problems specific to them, don’t forget about regular old pain and injuries. Your physical therapist can treat an ankle sprain, painful joint, or athletic injury in a child just like they can an adult.

Sometimes kids and even babies need some help with movement. From now on, when you think of your physical therapist, don’t leave kids out of the picture!

References

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/facts.html
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29087112/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30277962/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31096249/
https://pediatricapta.org/consumers/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq62vwyrcXs

Elevate Your Heart Rate With Physical Therapy

Heart disease is a leading cause of death and disability. This shouldn’t be a surprise – it’s been at the top of the list for years. You know that taking care of your heart is important. That means doing things like eating right, avoiding smoking, and exercising regularly. While all of those things can be difficult, today we’re going to focus on exercise.

How Physical Therapy Can Help With Your Heart Health

Cardiovascular exercise is anything that makes you breathe harder and your heart pump faster. That could be walking, running, dancing, biking, swimming or hiking. It strengthens your heart and blood vessels. It can help control weight, lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and prevent heart disease.

If you’re regularly going for a run or swimming laps, you don’t need help from your PT. But 3 out of 4 adults aren’t exercising regularly. If you’d like to get started, your PT may be just the person to help you. It’s not uncommon to get injured, then never get back to your old routine. Your PT can help you deal with the old injury and design a plan to get you safely back to regular activity.

It’s also not uncommon to try to be more active on your own, only to stir up pain somewhere like your back, hip, knee or shoulder. Your PT can help with that too. They’ll figure out why you’re having pain, help you correct it, and get you a plan to reach your goals.

Physical therapists can also help you safely increase your activity levels after major medical issues like a heart attack, stroke, or even cancer. Recent research has shown improvements in cardiovascular fitness, fatigue levels and even pain in cancer patients who participate in a personalized physical fitness plan from a PT.

Whatever your barriers to physical activity are, your PT can likely help you overcome them. As movement experts, physical therapists are trained to deal with a variety of conditions. They’ll help you work around whatever issues you have so you can safely elevate your heart rate and keep cardiovascular disease away.

Stay Connected With Your PT Through Telehealth

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for a lot of bad stuff. But, if you look really hard and maybe squint just right, there are a few less-than-terrible things to be found. The pandemic forced society to quickly adapt. It pushed forward the adoption of new technologies like Zoom and new ways of doing things, like working from home. There were changes in rules, regulations, and payment related to telehealth. A lot of patients and providers experienced their first virtual health appointment in the past 2 years, and many of them see the benefits. The pandemic forced the telehealth genie from the bottle. Now that patients and providers have seen the benefits, it’s not going back.

Why telehealth is here to stay

Telehealth isn’t going to replace in-person rehab, but it’s likely going to complement it heavily. Research has shown that telehealth is as effective as in-person rehab for a lot of conditions. It’s also shown high satisfaction rates from patients – up to 94% in some studies. For a lot of people, telehealth makes sense. Think about people trapped at home because of a snowstorm or those who are at high risk of falling on the ice. Before the wide adoption of telehealth, these patients didn’t get to see their PT during the winter. Now, they can stay connected virtually and continue healing through the bad weather. Telehealth can also work well for busy people. Patients can check in or have a visit with their PT on their lunch break, or while their kids are at practice.

Where telehealth could go

Even though there have been big advances in telehealth, we’re still in the early phases. It’s hard to predict how telehealth will be used in the future and how it will evolve, but expect it to look a lot different in 5 years. The software being used for telehealth will continue to get better. Expect a more engaging user experience with educational content and maybe some gamification – levels to achieve, points or badges to collect, or some other metric. Hardware will also continue to advance. Maybe the fitness tracker you already have will integrate into your telehealth app, letting your PT track your activity, heart rate, and other metrics. Remote stethoscopes, scales and other medical equipment already exist and will continue to become more common as prices decline.

While telehealth has certainly seen a big advance because of the pandemic, most people still see it as an adjunct to in-person visits. Right now, telehealth tends to be used because it’s more convenient than a visit in real life, not because it’s better. With advances in software platforms and hardware options, telehealth could evolve into something just as good as in person rehab that makes high quality rehab available to everyone.