How Your iPhone Can Help Decrease Your Risk of Falling
With advancements in technology, detecting a fall is easier than ever! Apple Watches have been able to detect a fall for some time, a feature automatically added for anyone 55 years and older. Emergency medical response teams may even be called based on one’s movement, or lack thereof, after the impact or fall. However, the latest feature – Walking Steadiness – available on the Apple iOS 15 update now allows the phone to send you a notification related to the steadiness of your walking. This update can help recognize your risk for falls before they happen.
What’s the Recovery for a Broken Bone?
As hand therapists, one of the most common injuries we see are broken bones (fractures) of the arm, wrist, and hand. These fractures often occur after a fall and can happen to anyone at any age. This blog will discuss what the recovery period could look like if you or a loved one experiences a broken bone.
Pain During Pregnancy?
Today is the day you find out you are pregnant. What does this mean for you, your partner, your life, and your body? The physiological changes that may arise are complex and depend on many factors.
Multiple scholarly journals estimate that 50% of women will experience low back pain during pregnancy. Do you have a history of low back pain? Did you sustain an injury to your sacroiliac (SI) joint due to a fall or trauma in the past? Have you ever experienced sciatica before? Even if you have never had an injury before, you can still develop pain during pregnancy.
Shoulder Pain through the Decades of Life
Shoulder pain can be a cause for concern for adults or teenagers. Shoulder pain accounts for 16 percent of all musculoskeletal conditions. Some shoulder pain can be from an apparent injury or fall, while others can creep in with no known event. Based on one’s age, occupation, and previous sports participation, shoulder pain can often be broken down into predictable categories based on one’s age.
5 Ways to Improve Your Balance
Balance is observed in many aspects of life. An elite running back, a waitress, and even Grandma Sally all need good balance. A running back uses balance to stay on his feet and avoid defenders, whereas a waitress uses balance to carry food and weave in between guests. Grandma Sally uses her balance to navigate the grocery store or to walk to her mailbox. Balance plays a crucial role in avoiding falling and completing tasks throughout the day.
How Can Physical Therapy Help You Avoid Back Surgery?
If you’re one of the many people who’ve been dealing with chronic back pain, you may think surgery is your only option to get better. Research shows that over half of adults will experience chronic lower back pain at some point in their lives. Recent data has shown that the rate of lumbar spinal fusions has increased 170%. Unfortunately, the data also suggests that the re-occurrence or worsening of pain 12 months after a back procedure can range from 30-40%. One study indicates that up to 80,000 patients per year have continued to experience back pain after surgery. Many factors can affect the success of these procedures, including accuracy of the diagnosis, socioeconomic status, psychological factors, smoking habits, and anatomical changes that can occur to the surrounding structures and tissues.
3 Ways to Use a Foam Roller
Foam rollers are one of the most widely used tools in the fitness industry. Everywhere you look, you seem to see either someone using one or touting the benefits of one of them, but does the evidence support the use of these therapeutic devices? A casual look into the research shows some positive benefits of using a foam roller, and I will give a few of my favorite ways to use one for your next workout.
5 Myths about Back Pain
60-80% of adults will experience low back pain at some point. Back pain is linked to increased health care costs and missed work. There is a lot of information out there about the causes of and best ways to treat back pain. It may not be easy to distinguish what is myth and reality amongst this abundance of information. Here are five myths about low back pain and more information about what is true.
