Advanced Wellness_3 Easy Steps To Healthy Knees

Advanced Wellness_3 Easy Steps To Healthy Knees

Health &Wellness The Newsletter About Your Health and Caring For Your Body

3 EASY STEPS TO HEALTHY KNEES RUN PAIN FREE! Vol 2. Ed. 12

For many people, knee pain can be a way of life, limiting their ability to climb stairs, squat down to get something off the floor, enjoy long walks, shop and a host of other daily activities. The knee joint is one of the most complicated joints in the body and has to bear up to 6 times your body weight with running or jumping. This incredible joint has to move over a million times each year and over 80 million times over a lifetime. This is also the reason why things can go wrong, causing injury and pain.

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Inside:

• 3 Easy Steps To Healthy Knees • Clinician Spotlight • Improve Sports Performance • Healthy Recipe

Weak Knees Can Slow You Down! Health & Wellness The Newsletter About Your Health and Caring For Your Body 3 EASY STEPS TO HEALTHY KNEES

Just like taking care of your heart is necessary for cardiovascular health, your joints need attention to maintain a healthy state. Here are some easy tips that can help you take care of your knees, increase flexibility, and alleviate joint problems: 1. Stretch your hamstrings, quadriceps and adductor muscles each day. By keeping these muscles flexible, you can balance the forces on your knee joints. This allows your knee joint to bend and rotate while your patella (kneecap) tracks properly. 2. Keep the muscles around your hips and knees strong. Especially the gluteal and quadricep muscles. Studies show that adults, especially over 55, who have stronger gluteals and quadriceps tend to have less back and joint pain and more ability to do daily activities.

especially need exercise to keep their cartilage healthy. The cartilage does not have much blood supply and requires its nutrition from joint fluid. Most of the joint fluid absorbs into the cartilage only through movement and compression of the knee. Therefore, it is important to do weight bearing exercise such as walking, running and other sports. However, if you have arthritis, it is advised to do lower impact activities such as biking, elliptical machines, aquatic exercises, etc. Having a regular physical therapy checkup ensures that your joints are working at their peak performance. In addition, any problems will be discovered early, preventing the onset of arthritis and joint injury. If you do have arthritis or have had surgery, then a regular physical therapy check up is especially important. If your attention is on that sore knee, then it is time you called us for a free knee joint analysis. Talk to one of our expert physical therapists today and see how life can be with freely moving knees.

3. Exercise regularly. While this is good for the whole body, the knees

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ADVANCEDWELLNESS CLINICIAN SPOTLIGHT LAURA DEVANEY, DIPL. O.M., L.AC Meet Our Experienced Team Of Experts

Laura Devaney is a Licensed Acupuncturist who specializes in the treatmentofmusculoskeletaldisorders, sports injuries, pain management, gastrointestinal conditions, and women’s health. Board certified by the NCCAOM and licensed in NJ and PA in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine, Laura is dedicated to the continual health and wellness of each of her patients. Laura graduated from the AOMA Graduate School of IntegrativeMedicine inAustin,TX,whereshewasawarded a Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine degree. While studying in Austin, Laura completed over 3,500 hours of theory and clinical practice. She is trained in the traditional Chinese style of acupuncture and regularly utilizes Master Tung acupuncture techniques, including the balance method. Laura is trained in the NADA protocol for acupuncture detoxification and has worked extensively with patients recovering from drug, alcohol, and nicotine addiction. Laura has experience treating patients of all ages, including pediatric patients with needle-free techniques that include acupressure, cutaneouselectro-stimulation,Chinesemedicalmassage (tuina), and Japanese manual stimulation (shoni shin). Laura is also an honors graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a

minor inTheatre Arts. She completed an academic year at Trinity College, Dublin with a concentration in Irish Literature and Drama. Laura also holds a Master of Arts Degree in English Secondary Education from Brooklyn College. Before she was called to practice acupuncture, Laura worked in New York City, first as a public-school teacher, and then later as an educational administrator. Laura chose to become an Acupuncturist because she experienced firsthand the transformative effects of traditional Chinese medicine. Dealing with chronic GI issues in her early 20’s, Laura was effectively cured by acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine after biomedical interventions had failed to improve her condition. The change in her health was so remarkable that Laura began learning more about Traditional Chinese Medicine, and ultimately found her calling as a practitioner. Laura is committed to providing best practice care to her patients starting with individualized treatment plans to bring the body, mind and spirit back to a healthy, balanced state. She believes Traditional Chinese Medicine can be used as a powerful tool that naturally promotes thebody’s healing potential, allowing for optimal health and wellness.

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Improve Sports Performance

Whether you are a high school athlete or just like to exercise for fun, improving your body’s ability to exercise is a good challenge. There are many different components that athletes include in training regimens, including balance, strength, nutrition, hydration, mental health, and flexibility. One of the most effective ways to train is to ensure you are improving your joint performance and stability. This focus can allow you to run longer, cut faster, and throw better. Joint Stability Improve your sports ability through joint stability. When a joint is more stable, muscles can function better. For knees, ankles and hips try balance exercises on uneven surfaces such as foam or a folded towel. Try standing on one leg while doing small knee bends. Joint Flexibility Joints need to be flexible in order to move through their proper range and allow muscles to pull correctly. For many people who are runners, stretching must be done every day to maintain muscle and tissue elasticity. Dynamic stretching is often best, where the stretch is done in a moving fashion, such as in Yoga. This is different than a prolonged stretch. Joint Strength Incorporate strengthening exercises into your sports routines. This

is especially important for runners and weekend warriors. A little strengthening exercise can go a long way to prevent sports injuries and soreness. The stronger your muscles are around your joints, the better ability you have to play and avoid injury. Joint Coordination Youhavean inherentsenseofwhereyour jointsare inspace (proprioception) and how they are moving in space (kinesthetic sense). This allows your brain to coordinate the muscle movements around your joints. By improving your balance and coordination with specific exercises, you greatly reduce the chance of injury and will enhance your sports performance. If you would like to enhance your ability to run, play sports and prevent injury, then talk to one of our physical therapy specialists today.

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Health & Wellness Tips ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH POMEGRANATE

• 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses • Seeds from 1 pomegranate • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts • Finely grated zest of 1 lime • 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest

INGREDIENTS • 1 1/4 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved • 2 tablespoons canola oil • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the Brussels sprouts in a medium roasting pan; toss with the canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until light golden brown and a knife inserted into the centers goes in without any resistance, about 45 minutes. Transfer the sprouts to a large bowl and add the pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds, hazelnuts, and lime and orange zests. Season with salt as needed.

Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay

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Do You Know Your Wellness Score? Determine the status of your overall health with our Wellness Score – a comprehensive scoring system that includes a variety of testing parameters. After a thorough consultation, we’ll assign you a wellness score from A to F and show you the exact areas where your strengths and weaknesses lie. From there, we’ll design a completely customized wellness program tailored to your specific needs in order to improve your score! Call today to schedule your Wellness Score consultation! (732) 431-2155 Use code: IB-1217-B

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Being Grateful Is Good For You!

GRATITUDE AND HEALTH Feeling thankful can improve your health in both direct and indirect ways. Some research shows that the experience of gratitude can induce a sense of relaxation, improve the immune system, and decrease blood pressure. But grateful people also tend to cultivate better health habits, like eating more nutritious food, exercising, and avoiding risky behaviors. In addition, the optimism that stems from gratitude can create a healing attitude. GRATITUDE AND JOY Robert Emmons, an internationally renowned scientific expert on gratitude, has found that acknowledging the good in life has a tendency to amplify positive emotions, such as joy and contentment, because it helps us slow down. Consider the last time you had a good cup of coffee—did you pay attention to the warmth of the cup on your hands? It’s easy to ignore these small moments of positivity in our day as we rush from one activity to another, but stopping to appreciate themmakes themmore powerful. GRATITUDE AND RESILIENCE Practicing gratitude can also make you better equipped to handle the difficulties of life that inevitably arise. Even despair can be mitigated by the experience of appreciation for the good in life. Emmons,R. (2010November16).Whygratitude isgood.GreaterGood. Retrieved fromhttp://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_ good .Emmons,R.A.,Stern,R. (2013).Gratitudeasapsychotherapeutic inter- vention.JournalofClinicalPsychology;69(8),846-855.Excerpts taken from https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/10-ways-be-more-thankful-person

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N O V E M B E R 2 0 T H - J A N U A R Y 1 S T 25 % offany M E D I C A L LY S U P E R V I S E D W E I G H T L O S S P R O G R A M S TA R T L AT E R Schedules get crazy during the holiday season, and we know that it can be tough to set aside time to focus on your health and wellness. That’s why we’re offering a buy now, start later discount on our medically supervised weight loss program through the end of the year. Treat yourself to the gift of wellness and set yourself up for success in January!

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