Accelerate PT - September/October 2020

Accelerate PT - September/October 2020

THE Recovery Review

TAKE YOUR HEALTH CARE INTO YOUR OWN HANDS

SEPT/OCT 2020

Physical therapy is for everyone! One of the biggest misconceptions about PT is that it’s something you only do after you’ve been referred by your doctor or other health care provider.

have the patient move around to get a sense of their motion. We also have them move in a way that triggers their pain. With this information, we can identify the real source of the pain. When we can go to the source, we can get the pain down to a 2 out of 10 —or 0 out of 10 — on the pain scale. When we can help someone reduce or eliminate their pain, we get to see a look of hope in their eyes. We find the muscle or joint that is causing trouble, and we free it up. When that tissue is freed, the pain melts away. We also have people come in after they’ve already seen a surgeon, but have yet to opt for surgery. They may want a second opinion or they just aren’t sure what to do next. Surgery is a big step. This is why it’s so important for us as PTs to work closely with surgeons and physicians — right alongside our patients. For instance, even if a patient has a confirmed rotator cuff tear and the surgeon has recommended surgery, that tear might not be the actual true source of the pain. When we work together, we can home in on the true cause of the pain and you achieve the results you are looking for. Plus, there’s a chance we may be able to help you avoid the surgery This process is all about feeling like yourself again or as close to it as possible. We all have the power to take more personal control over our health. When it comes to health care, there are many options out there. It’s just a matter of finding what works best for you. The bottom line is, you never have to live with pain, and you never have to wait until you’re in pain to be proactive about your health.

The truth is that physical therapy can be a part of your normal health care routine. Just like you go to the doctor for regular checkups or go to the dentist every six months, you can visit your physical therapist for routine care. They can be part of your personal

health care team.

One of my goals as a physical therapist is to change the way people think about going to a PT. I look at it as a collaborative and ongoing process. At Accelerate, we work with your doctor, surgeon, or anyone else in your health care circle. It’s all about providing a higher level of care that doesn’t end after only a few visits. People often don’t realize that regularly visiting your PT is a crucial part of a good health and wellness routine. Many people wait until they are already in pain to book an appointment. There’s a common mindset that aches and pains are just a normal part of life or a normal part of getting older. People assume that knee pain is supposed to be there. It’s not! One of the most satisfying things about my job is being able to show people they don’t need to live with pain, even as they get older. We call it the five-minute magic trick — but it’s not a

trick, and it’s certainly not magic! In about five minutes, we can show you how to live without pain.

“One of the most satisfying things about my job is being able to show people they don’t need to live with pain, even as they get older.”

Let’s say someone comes in with shoulder pain. It’s a

common issue. We’ll perform manual therapy techniques on the shoulder, neck, and spine to find what is causing the pain or restriction. We

- Delaine Fowler, PT, DPT

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And How You Can Stop It HOW STRESS CAN LEAD TO INJURY

While it’s pretty intuitive that physical stressors can cause physical injuries, you might not know that mental and emotional stress can also lead to musculoskeletal injuries that require physical therapy. That’s right — a lack of sleep, a busy workweek, and other stressful life events can make you more prone to injury. Why is this, and how can you prevent the stresses of everyday life from causing you bodily harm? When you experience stress, your body does a few things that naturally put you at an increased risk of injury. First, stress causes your nerves to function inefficiently. Second, stressful situations lead to higher levels of cortisol in the body, a hormone that inhibits muscle repair and immune system function. If you’re always dealing with stressful situations, then you’re constantly leaving your body open to physical injury. You can prevent injuries with all sorts of physical means, but if you fail to address your mental and emotional health, you’ll still be

at a heightened risk. While you might not be able to prevent every stressful situation from ever happening, you can control how you react when one does occur. A few simple things you can do to prevent mental stress are to get enough sleep, maintain a healthy diet, and drink plenty of water. If any of these basic stress inhibitors are absent from your daily routine, focus on incorporating them in to alleviate some of your stress. That said, practicing simple breathing exercises or another form of meditation can also be helpful, especially if you’re looking for a physical way to mentally unwind after a stressful day. While learning about how much stress hurts you can be even more stressful, you can find some peace knowing that with a few simple changes to your routine, you can prevent your stress from causing physical injury.

3 Tips to Keep Your Kids Healthy and Happy This School Year

School is back in session! While some schools are holding classes online this year, others have opened their doors, welcoming kids back for the 2020–2021 school year. But with every new school year, there’s one topic that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves: backpack safety. As kids return to the classroom, they carry backpacks full of binders, notebooks, textbooks, and countless other supplies. As kids get older, their backpacks can really weigh them down. Heavy and poorly fitted backpacks can cause serious health issues. They can put strain on a student’s shoulders, neck, and back. Here are a few things you can do to ease your child’s backpack burden and improve their overall health and happiness: Find a backpack with proper support. Not all backpacks are created equally. Some offer more support than others, and some are designed to better carry the weight of books. Look for a backpack that offers both shoulder and back support. Also look for bags that offer adjustable straps and adequate

partitioning inside the bag. Plenty of padding is helpful, but what’s more important is how the bag sits on your child’s shoulders.

Make sure the backpack fits. Search for a backpack that is sized correctly for your child. A

large bag on a second grader is a recipe for trouble. Students have the potential to overfill their bags, which may strain a smaller child’s neck and back. Have your child try on a few bags. Make sure it doesn’t sag too far under the waistline or sit up too high on the shoulders. If you can find backpacks with hip or chest straps and buckles, even better! These straps help distribute weight more effectively. Make sure the backpack is organized. Adequate partitioning helps keep books and binders from shifting around. Avoid bags with only one or two large compartments. Backpacks with multiple zippered pockets are your best bet. Partitions also help keep the bag from being overfilled. Once you’ve picked out a backpack, organize everything from heaviest item to lightest. Place the heaviest items (textbooks) closest to the back for more support and better weight distribution. Need help fitting your child with the perfect backpack? Let us know! Give us a call or come in, and we can help get your child properly fitted into their backpack, giving them (and you) one less thing to worry about this school year!

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CELEBRATING 12 YEARS!

SAVE THE DATE

Bringing PT to You

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR TELEHEALTH DESK SETUP SCREEN • Online ergonomic desk setups Sept. 29th

Can you believe it? Accelerate Therapy & Performance is celebrating our 12th anniversary!

To register, call the office at 704-630-9656 or scan the QR code below!

It’s been a great 12 years, and we’re looking forward to celebrating with our many fans — the patients who have been with us all these years and those who are just discovering us for the first time. We wouldn’t have been in business this long if it weren’t for the fact that so many people know, like, and trust us. When you get down to it, that’s really why any business succeeds, by making an impact in their community. People get to know you, they like what you do, and they trust you to help them. With this newsletter, for example, we put ourselves in your mailbox. You’ll get to know us a little bit better, and hopefully, you like what you see! When people visit our clinic, they put their trust in us to find the problem or help them recover after an injury. We work with many people who have been in pain for a long time and people who have gone through traumatic injury. By the time they come to us, they may have been through a lot, and they may be out of answers. When they put their trust in us to help them over a hurdle, that’s a huge step, and it’s not something we take lightly. It’s great to be part of a community like the one in Salisbury that values what physical therapy has to offer. Not only do we want to help people recover from injury or surgery or find the source of their pain, but we want to be here for everyone. Our community means everything to us.

1. Open Photo App 2. Hover over QR Code 3. Open Link 4. Sign Up

W ant your spine to last 100 years ?

Would you like to get rid of your head, neck, and back pain in less than 10 minutes a day? Join Dr. Kim Kennerly, PT DPT to learn about ATP’s Posture Renewal Technique at our upcoming online workshop. Sept. 24 at 6 p.m.

With that, thank you for being a part of the Accelerate family! Here’s to the next 12 years!

Call our office today at 704-630-9656 to register.

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1508 West Innes St. Salisbury, NC 28144

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

704.630.9656

INSIDE

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• From Pain to Relief in 5 Minutes!

PAGE 1

• How Mental Stress Causes Physical Injuries • Back-to-School Backpack Safety

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• Accelerate Celebrates 12 Years in Salisbury • Want Your Spine to Last 100 years?

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• 3 Fun Family Activities for Fall

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GARDENING, GOLD, AND PHOTO SHOOTS

3 Fun Family Activities for Fall

It’s fall, which means social media will soon be saturated with pictures

hyacinths are all spring bulbs that need to be planted in the fall. Do a little research with your family to determine the best time to start planting in your area. Pan for gold.

of your friends enjoying “classic” fall activities. Photos of leaf peeping, apple picking, and the occasional scarecrow run rampant. But rather than following the herd, you can make your family the trendsetter of unique fall activities! Here are a few outdoor endeavors your family will love. Get gardening. Fall is the time for harvest, but if you want to enjoy flowers in the spring, it’s also a time for planting. The cooler autumn air is easier on plants, but the soil is still warm enough for roots to grow before the ground freezes for winter. Tulips, daffodils, and

Here’s one that’s really off the beaten path: Take your family on an adventure panning for gold! Start by planning a road trip out to an old ghost town. Many of themhave great tourist attractions that include gold panning. You probably won’t get rich, but it will still be a fun story. If you’re not able tomake the trip, you can always create a gold panning operation at home! Visit MessForLess.net/panning-for-gold-activity for a great step-by- step guide on how to go panning for gold in your own backyard. Plan a fall photo shoot. It’s time to freshen up those family pictures hanging around the house. The changing leaves provide a beautiful background for any family portrait. Better yet, the cooler temperatures mean that an outdoor photo shoot won’t be nearly as uncomfortable as it would be in the summer. You can take your pictures by the trees in the front yard or make a daytrip of it. What about pictures at the corn maze or pumpkin patch? It’s never too soon to start planning this year’s holiday card.

Spend this fall outdoors and create great new memories with your family!

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