PostPartum Back Pain: How to Get Relief
You’ve made it through the 9 months of pregnancy and now you can interact with your adorable little one face to face!
With all the time spent snuggling, rocking, carrying, and feeding your infant, your back is feeling tense and sore. Wait! This is not how you imagined this special time would be!
Caring for an infant creates new stresses on your lower and upper back. You now are carrying your little one frequently during the day in your arms or perhaps in their infant car seat. To soothe your baby, you may be standing and rocking or bouncing them for an extended period. You bend over frequently to pick them up from the crib or change their diapers. Even feeding them for an extended time puts stress on your upper back.
What can you do about it now? (more…)
One Sport Specialization May Increase Your Risk of a Knee Injury
In my last post on ACL injuries, I posted that overtraining can predispose someone to an ACL injury. Overtraining (spending too much time training without proper recovery) can have some serious health consequences. Overtraining is becoming an increasingly common problem as athletes are starting to specialize in one sport at younger ages. Discussing solutions to overtraining and specialization is always tough since it usually involves telling someone to play less of the sport they want to excel at. Having said that, research and anecdotal evidence both make a strong case for how varying up the sports you play through the year can lead to a healthier and more successful athletic career. (more…)
Benefits of Getting a Functional Movement Screen™ in 2014
As a new year begins, have you begun to revise your personal goals or New Year’s resolutions for 2014? A top choice for many people usually includes something to do with exercise, health, fitness, or sports. As a physical therapist, I am fully on board when individuals, friends, families, players, coworkers, or teams want to get up and get moving. However, before you start that ramped up exercise program, fitness routine, physically demanding occupation, or competitive sport, make sure your movement is up to par for your activity. I’m sure “going to physical therapy” is not on your short list of 2014 goals. An excellent way to accomplish this is to get yourself, your workplace, or your team a Functional Movement Screen™. (more…)
5 Tips for Safe Sledding
With the cold temperatures and snow arriving, cabin fever may not be far off. Despite the weather, it is important to get out, get some fresh air, and have some fun during the winter months. So why not bundle up and go sledding?! Sledding can provide hours of entertainment for all ages. Not only is it a fun activity for the whole family, but it burns calories as well. So find that snow-covered hill in your neighborhood and start your adventure. Here are five tips to help you have a safe and fun time. (more…)
Chicago Commute Cervicalgia: What To Do For Your Tight Neck and Shoulders After Sitting In Traffic!
We have all had those moments driving down the busiest of the Chicago expressways: tight grip, shoulders up to our ears, and a feeling of growing tension in the neck and shoulders. It is rush hour in Chicago and you know that this tension is progressively getting worse day after day, month after month, year after year. Here are my top 5 exercises to ease those post commute aches. (more…)
7 Components for Effective Balance Training
As the winter season approaches, people collectively tend to become apprehensive and cautious of potential slips and falls. It is common to see an increase in slips and falls in the winter because:
Ice makes surfaces slippery so our feet do not have solid purchase when on the ground.
- Snow makes the bottom of our shoes wet so when we transition from outdoor to indoor surfaces the potential for slipping and sliding on tile, linoleum, or hardwood increases without proper precautions.
- Snow and ice cause uneven ground surfaces so we are no longer standing on a level base which is more challenging to control.
- Snow can camouflage or hide potential tripping hazards or dangers buried beneath.
- Things like black ice are not visible to our eye and therefore our body is not prepared to react when we step on it. (more…)
Suffering from Sciatica? Physical Therapy Can Help
Pain, numbness, and tingling down the leg is both something I treat daily and something I myself have experienced. Feeling concerned that these symptoms are here to stay and there is little you can do about these symptoms is common. Fortunately, physical therapy can be very effective in treating these symptoms most of the time. I am pain free and many of you suffering with sciatica-type symptoms can be too. (more…)
Groin Injuries in Athletes
Week 7 in professional football brought about multiple injuries to high profile players across the league, including Bears QB, Jay Cutler who suffered a groin injury. Interestingly enough, Joakim Noah with the Bulls is being held out until the season opener with a similar injury.
When doctors talk about true groin muscles, they’re referring to the group of muscles on the inner part of the leg near the hip also known as the adductor group. The main responsibility of these muscles is to move your leg towards the midline and across the front of your body (adduction). They also play secondary roles in helping to flex the hip (hip flexors) and control hip & leg rotation, making them extremely important muscles for people that run and scramble in unpredictable directions for a living. (more…)