Rehab, Pre-hab, or both?

Rehab or prehab? Or both? 

 

Many people think that Physical Therapy is post-operative rehab for those who have undergone surgery, or maybe for someone who’s had a stroke or been hospitalized and has become weak. While it is all those things, it is also so much more.

       Will you or a friend or loved one be having surgery this year?

Something most people do not consider, which Physical Therapy does so well, is PREHAB. What’s that? If you are looking at having hip, knee, shoulder or back surgery, seeing a physical therapist for a course of treatment BEFORE surgery can greatly enhance your recovery after surgery by improving the strength and flexibility of the muscles and soft tissues surrounding the area to be operated on, thus teaching your muscles the motor patterns required for strengthening post-operatively, before you are dealing with the inevitable swelling and pain that surgery will cause which affects the ability of...

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The Price of Motherhood

The Price of Motherhood and Christmas

 

The popular Christmas song by Boney M rings in my head: “Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day….Hark the Herald angels sing”

It sounds like it was a glorious birth experience, doesn’t it? Yet Mary had just traveled a couple  days on the back of a donkey, at full term! Now that couldn’t have been fun or very comfortable, although maybe it did help to get labor started if there was any doubt that her son Jesus would arrive late to his divinely scheduled birthday. Hopefully Joseph and Mary had been to some kind of birthing prep class because I don’t see mention of any doula or midwife present at this birth…

 

Motherhood is truly wonderful for the most part, but it does have its challenges, which for some moms, perhaps like Mary, begin before baby is even born. As the baby grows, mom can develop back pain, pubic symphysis pain, which makes even getting in...

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Tips to keep neck & back pain at bay during the festive season

Tips to keep neck and back pain away during the Festive Season

 

The festive season can involve activities that we don’t usually engage in, such as climbing ladders, hanging lights, picking up heavy boxes, doing more sitting that usual, and may also involve travel, whether by car or plane in order to spend time with family and loved ones. 

 

Who wants to be bothered with back or neck pain when hanging out with family, right? Here are some tips to help prevent the onset or minimize back or neck pain if it’s something you already suffer with:

 

If possible, take your own pillow when traveling. A poor night’s sleep can ruin your day and a pillow that is too hard or too soft can cause you to wake up with an unhappy neck. If you struggle with a stiff neck, you can find my favorite neck stretches on the Vital Life Physical Therapy You Tube channel or go to my website for a comprehensive online course on how to heal neck pain with your own hands and...

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Myth Busters: don't believe the myths! PT can help

Editorial: Myth Busters

 

Myth: Urinary leakage is a normal part of being a mother

Fact: This is common but NOT normal and should be addressed as soon as possible for best results

 

Myth: once it starts, urinary leakage is here to stay

Fact: Urinary leakage can be improved or rectified with pelvic floor physical therapy

 

Myth: It’s too late for women over 40 to do anything about leakage except wear pads

Fact: It’s never too late to seek treatment with a pelvic floor Physical Therapist to make improvements in your pelvic floor strength and have better bladder control, even if you’re already 60.

 

Myth: If I just do Kegel exercises to strengthen my pelvic floor, my leakage will stop

Fact: if your muscles are already too tight and don’t have flexibility, doing Kegels will only make them tighter and your leaking could get worse. Many women do not know how to properly perform a Kegel. It’s best to be assessed by a trained therapist to...

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Living your Dash : Kobe Bryant 8/23/1978 - 1/26/2020

A week ago the sports world was rocked by news of the sudden death of the sports legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter in a helicopter crash.

He was 41 years old. I am not a big follower of sports myself, but was familiar with his name, so he must have been somebody big. As reports started rolling in, I learned more about this long time Lakers player and started hearing the same type of things over and over again....

Kobe was known for his relentless commitment to excellence in his craft, he was the epitome of a sports legend, always pushing himself to be better, his "Mamba Mantality" of never being satisfied with where he was, always striving for more. Fox News described him as having a zest for live, a "drive that was infectious". He inspired others to chase their own vision as he chased his.

Some, if not many, would probably say that Kobe lived life to the full. Even after retiring from basketball, it is said that he threw himself into being a great dad to his four daughters. My...

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I got lost on the subway in New York City!

My family went to New York City for a few days over Christmas. We had some fun and got exercise ice skating in Bryant Park, walking the streets of New York City and Central Park....although we were tempted to hitch a ride in a rickshaw at Central Park!

Ice skating with my girls :)

On our last day there we decided to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. it was only two stops on the subway from out hotel, so we calculated that we had more than enough time to go do that and still leave at 1:30 pm to get to the airport on time for our 5:30pm flight.

All went well until we got on the wrong train to come back to our hotel!

It makes a difference whether you enter the subway at one street corner or another sometimes if you aren't sure about what you're doing! In our haste, and thinking we could figure it out on our own, we got on the brown line instead of the green, and then found that we couldn't just go to the next stop because they didn't connect there.

We fumbled around looking at the subway app...

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