Centra Health: Say Goodbye To Neck Pain

Centra Health: Say Goodbye To Neck Pain

Health & Wellness NEWSLETTER

FIND RELIEF FOR PERSISTENT NECK PAIN WITH PHYSICAL THERAPY

Are you suffering from the debilitating effects of neck pain? Approximately one-third of the population will experience neck pain in any given year, which can get worse if left untreated. In severe cases, surgery may even be needed. However, at Centra Rehabilitation, we want to do everything we can to

help you avoid that. (continued inside)

rehab.centrahealth.com

Health & Wellness NEWSLETTER

FIND RELIEF FOR NECK PAIN

INSIDE: • Contact Centra Rehabilitation For Neck Pain Relief! • Healthy Recipe • Relieve Aches & Pain In Minutes • Preventing Chronic Pain During the Frigid Winter Months

(continued from outside)

The neck is extremely important in the overall posture of the body. Where the head and neck move, so does the rest of the body. Changes in the alignment of your neck can cause a variety of symptoms such as neck tension, headaches, migraines, and even radiating pain or numbness to the arms and hands. It is no secret that the neck is an integral area of everydaymovement, and pain can prevent you from functioning properly in day-to-day life. Fortunately, physical therapy can help you regain your normal, pain-free function. In fact, thousands of people are able to find relief from their neck pain every year with the help of physical therapy. How does physical therapy help with neck pain? Physical therapy has proven successful in relieving long-term symptoms in patients experiencing both acute and chronic neck pain.This evidence is further illustrated in a 2017 qualitative systematic review conducted by the National Institutes of Health, titled “The efficacy of manual therapy and exercise for treating non-specific neck pain: A systematic review.” This review analyzes a number of studies providing

evidence formanual therapy and exercise treatments for patients with different stages of non-specific neck pain. Researchers pulled information from Medline, Cochrane-Register-of-Controlled-Trials, PEDro, and Embase. According to the researchers, one of the major takeaway points listed in the conclusion is that “combining different forms of [manual therapy] with exercise is better than [manual therapy] or exercise alone.” Results from the 23 studies chosen for review demonstrated patient success across the board when pairing manual therapy with targeted exercises for neck pain. Results conclude that physical therapy is a proven successful treatment for patients suffering from neck pain, and manual therapy and exercisemethods are themost effective in helping patients regain their optimum levels of function. The systematic review mentioned above verifies that manual therapy and exercise are two of the most effective treatments for relieving neck pain in patients. At Centra Rehabilitation, those are twomethods that we commonly incorporate into treatment plans for neck pain relief, andwe have noticed significant success in them.

CALL IN!

Call for your FREE PAIN CONSULTATION We offer 8 convenient locations call to schedule today! 434.200.7600

YOU DO NOT NEED A DOCTOR’S PRESCRIPTION TO SEEK PHYSICAL THERAPY. IN THE STATE OF VIRGINIA YOU HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO PHYSICAL THERAPY.

rehab.centrahealth.com

CONTACT CENTRA REHABILITATION FOR NECK PAIN RELIEF!

At your initial evaluation, one of our licensed physical therapists will analyze any limitations that may be caused by your neck pain. They will then design a treatment plan based on your individual needs. Our main focus is helping you overcome discomfort and limitations as quickly as possible, so you can get back to living your daily life without worrying about pain. Manual, or “hands-on” treatments consist of special techniques designed to reduce the stiffness in the neck and improve range of motion. Targeted exercises focus on the root of the pain, in order to strengthen, build, and improve the muscles and tissues in the neck. Treatments will focus on improving posture to aid in the recovery of the neckmuscles, as well as avoiding re-injury in the future. Additional treatment services may also be included as your physical therapist deems fit, based on the nature of your condition. If you have been suffering from neck pain, don’t hesitate to contact Centra Rehabilitation today. We’ll get to the root of your neck pain and determine the best course of treatment for your individual needs. Contact us today to schedule your consultation and get started on the first steps toward saying goodbye to your neck pain!

Call us today to schedule an appointment!

HEALTHY RECIPE: ROASTED SWEET POTATO SOUP WITH PISTACHIO

STAFF SPOTLIGHTS

Courtney Bumgarner Favorite Food: Cheesecake, Pizza, Cheese, Chocolate, Healthy green smoothies Favorite Color: Turquoise Favorite TV Show: Big Bang Theory & Friends Favorite Movie: Sweet Home Alabama, The Grinch, & Elf Favorite activities after work: Lifting weights, hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, & traveling If you could go anywhere in the world, where’d you go?: New Zealand, looking at Switzerland this year Guilty pleasure: Hanging out at home on Saturdays in my PJs Trae Travis Favorite Food: Pizza & anything buffalo chicken Favorite Color: Navy blue Favorite TV Show: King of Queens Favorite Movie: Step Brothers

INGREDIENTS • 4 pounds sweet potato • 6 tablespoons vegetable oil • Kosher salt • 4 medium carrots, diced • 1 medium onion • 5 cloves garlic • 2 sprigs sage • 2 quarts low-sodium chicken stock • 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 tablespoon grated zest

• 3/4 cup pistachios • 2 scallions • 2 tablespoons mint leaves • Pinch cayenne pepper • 1/2 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss sweet potato with 4 tablespoons vegetable oil and salt. Spread sweet potato on 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake for 1 hour. Increase oven temperature to 375°F and cook until sweet potatoes are tender and lightly browned around the edges, about 25 minutes. In a large pot, heat remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat until simmering. Add carrot, onion, garlic, sage, and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until vegetables are just tender. Add sweet potatoes and stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes until vegetables are very tender. Discard sage, if using. Add orange juice. Blend soup until smooth. Season with salt. In amixing bowl, stir together pistachios, orange zest, scallions, mint, and cayenne pepper. Fold in olive oil and seasonwith salt. Serve soup, spooning pistachio salsa on top.

Favorite activities after work: Basketball, golf, beach, fishing, SmithMountain Lake, & any activities with family If you could go anywhere in the world, where’d you go?: Would love to play all of the best professional golf courses around the U.S. Biggest Fear: Spiders Guilty Pleasure: Stupid MTV shows such as Teen Mom, Young & Pregnant, Catfish, etc. Unique Talent: Can make a pretty convincing bird noise between my front teeth

rehab.centrahealth.com

Preventing Chronic Pain During the Frigid Winter Months The winter season is still upon us, and it looks as if it’ll be sticking around. With all the snow shoveling, icy streets, and chilled weather that may affect us, the possibility of experiencing winter-related pain is still at large. All that shoveling can take a toll on your back and joints, the ice increases the possibility of slipping, and the frigid air can create aches and pains all on its own. Fortunately, our physical therapy treatments at Centra Rehabilitation can help correct the pain youmay be feeling. If you’ve been experiencing discomfort due to winter-related activities, contact our office today! Staying posture perfect in the winter. You may be wondering, “How can I find relief? – I need to shovel and I need to go outside, taking the risk of slipping…”This is a valid point. We can’t stay curled up in bed all winter, safe from the snow and ice (although we may all wish we could!)

One of the most important things you can do to prevent your risk of pain or injury is maintaining proper posture. This is especially true when doing physically demanding activities, such as shoveling mountains of snow off the driveway or scraping persistent ice off the windshield. Shoveling. Let’s focus on shoveling. Much like any physical demand, it’ll help if you warmup beforehand. Stretching your arms, legs, and back will help loosen up your muscles before you begin and decrease your risk of sustaining an unnecessary injury. The posture you have while you’re shoveling is crucial to avoiding pain. It is important to keep your body straight, with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Make sure your knees are bent and your back is straight, with your dominant leg slightly in front. When shoveling, shift your weight fromyour back leg to your front. Maintain a straight body the entire time if possible, without twisting your hips or back. Here’s the most important part – ALWAYS lift with your legs instead of your back! Engage your core muscles in order to lift the snow with the weight of your legs, rather than your back. Lifting with your back is one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lift anything of substantial weight. Your legs are stronger and can take on more weight, limiting the pain you’ll feel in them – if you lift with your back, you may feel sore or tight afterward, and you may even injure yourself. Icywalkways. The way youwalk can actually prevent your risk of accidentally slipping on ice. One of themost common injuries people sustain during the winter is a sprain, strain, or even fracture from an unexpected fall on ice. But there is a way to avoid it!

According toDr. Luisa Dillner, whenwalking on ice, onemust “make like a penguin” in order to stay safe. Here’s what she means: First off, she says concentration is everything. When walking on icy or snowy terrain, it is important to be cautious and to simply walk – not walk and text, not walk and search through your purse, etc… simply walk. If you are careful and alert, you will be able to better steady yourself if you begin to slip. Dillner also suggests wearing sturdy shoes with good traction, in order to decrease your likelihood of slipping. When walking, it is best to keep a slow pace with short steps. While it may seemnatural to stand upright, Dillner actually states that leaning a bit forward can help in keeping your balance and avoiding injury – think of it as if you’re doing more of a shuffle. Finally, Dillner suggests keeping your arms slightly in front of you for balance purposes, and turning your feet slightly outward while walking on snow or ice.This footing, while it may feel a bit awkward, will actually increase traction and avoid slipping – thus, her “make like a penguin” statement! Contact us today! If you still find yourself in a state of pain or discomfort after these tips, contact Centra Rehabilitation to schedule an appointment and find relief. Our dedicated physical therapists will create a treatment plan for relieving your pain and helping you get back to your winter activities in no time!

Attention Pain Sufferers!

Do You Have Difficulty With Pain?

• Decrease your pain • Increase your strength • Increase your activity level We can help:

• Increase your flexibility • Improve your health • Get back to living

Mention or Bring inThis Coupon Today For a FREE Pain Consultation

Call A Clinic Nearest You Today!

Offer valid for the first 25 people to schedule.

PAIN - IT’S COMPLICATED...BUT THERE’S HOPE! by Krista Leake PT, DPT, ATC

Do you have pain all the time that never goes away?Has anyone ever explained to youwhy? Take a minute to learn more and read on. We have a pain problem in theUnited States. Surgical techniques have been advanced and are being used more frequently and more medications are manufactured and prescribed, and yet pain rates in theU.S. have

system produces more pain that is out of proportion to the tissue damage. In a simplification, pain is 100% produced by the brain assuming something is wrong. Sometimes the brain is right and sometimes it is wrong. We now know that the brain andnervous systemare the main contributors

more thandoubled in the past 15 years.Why is this?The traditionalmedical model about pain is old and outdated and we need to stop thinking about pain in terms of a single cause and single cure. In the medical profession our knowledge of how pain works has grown tremendously in the past 2 decades. We used to think that all pain came from the tissues in our body, but nowwe know that pain is muchmore complicated than that and pain is not always a reliable sign of what is really going on. The assumption that pain is solely generated fromour tissues has been around for over 350 years and is still often used today to explain why one hurts. This model is too simple and false. Tissues can and do result in pain and treatment helps tissues, but pain is farmore complex than just the tissues – especially chronic pain. Pain is not just a message from the brain about the tissues. Pain always is influenced by the brain and brain made. Often in chronic pain, the tissue is not the problem, the pain is the problem and the pain system has malfunctioned. We know you can have a tissue injury and no pain and have pain without tissue injury. Let’s start learning a little bit more by looking at some of the results of the latest scientific studies that support this concept. The most common cause of chronic pain is low back pain. If you take a group of middle age people who have never had back pain before and perform an MRI on all of them, 60% of those with no pain will have findings of a disc bulge or worse on an MRI. So, if 60% of people with NO PAIN have disc bulges or herniations then is a disc bulge or herniation the sole cause of pain in someone that has low back pain? What do other studies show? If you look at neck arthritis and degenerative changes, it has been found that among those with significant arthritic changes in their neck MRI’s and X-rays, only 10% have pain! In hockey players with no hip pain, 2 out of 3 had significant arthritis to their hips. In those with arthritis in their knee imaging, only 50% had pain. In people older than 30 years of age with rotator cuff tears, only 1 in 3 have pain and in those with no hip pain, 75% showed abnormal MRI’s. So clearly there is more to pain than just a tissue injury. So, let’s learn a little bit more about pain. Your nervous system is like an alarmsystem for the body. It is normally running at a low level all the time monitoring what is going on. After something triggers it, such as cutting your foot on glass, it sends a message to your brain and your brain tells you to act. You get off your foot, remove the glass, clean the wound, seek medical care as needed and eventually the pain goes away and your nervous systemgoes back down to normal and startsmonitoring your body again. But in some people that alarm system does not go back down to normal and now has become too sensitive and it is telling you that there is danger and you are experiencing pain when the tissues have healed up. The pain no longer is a helpful sensation. It is important to understand that chronic painwithout obvious tissue damage is amalfunction inwhich the nervous

to chronic pain in most people. This holds true for all pain, regardless of where it is in the body and what the diagnosis is and how long it has been going on. Even though the way your brain processes and controls pain is based on factors that are often completely out of your control or difficult to control, that does not mean you are completely powerless. There is always hope and recovery from most kinds of severe chronic pain is not only possible but common Pain is complicated and because of this, treating pain needs a large-scale comprehensive approach. Did you know that the more you learn about pain the less pain you will experience? Multiple research studies support this. MRI’s of peoples’ brains that suffer from chronic pain, showed a reduction in brain activity after learningmore about pain. Pain is a normal human experience. You need pain to alert you to danger and allow you to protect yourself. Living in pain, however, is not normal. Pain can be treated and people in pain can get back to a meaningful life, but it is not easy, it takes work and you need to get the right knowledge and support to take ownership and control of pain. Treatment requires multiple approaches and may include gaining more knowledge, aerobic exercise, relaxation techniques, breathing techniques, meditation, graded exposure to triggers, pacing, getting better sleep, hands on physical therapy, healthy diet, medications, and goal setting to just name a few. Now, do you believe that pain is complicated? There is not one approach that will cure chronic pain but there are several things that can be done to improve the symptoms and get you back to ameaningful and comfortable life. When people are in pain the last thing they want to do is move. Physical activity is just one approach to incorporate and is more than just exercise. Physical activity can helpwith pain and it can be almost anything that you like to do, provided you are working harder and moving a little more than you normally work. Getting your heart rate up just a little bit can help provide some pain relief. In others, gaining a little bit of strength can improve pain in the long term. Physical activity has been shown to decrease the sensitizing chemicals that are involved in some arthritis in addition to many other benefits. How do you start? Don’t go it alone!The physical therapists at Centra will use a combination of treatment methods to help best manage chronic pain and provide a comprehensive approach to improve your quality of life. Pain is less painful when you are confident and feel safe. Centra therapists are here to help.

rehab.centrahealth.com

Relieve Aches & Pain In Minutes Without Pain Medication! Try these movements if you are experiencing pain.

Print sudoku http://1sudoku.com

4 5 1

2

3 7

1 8

1

7

2 9

CHIN TUCK SITTING Sit with good posture. Tuck your chin and gently nod ‘yes’. 8-10 repetitions. 3 6 5 7

SCALENE STRETCH Sit with good posture. Hold the front of your neck with your hand. Look up into the corner away from your hand. You should feel a stretch in the front part of your neck. Hold for 10 seconds. 7 2 6 8 4

9 5

2 1

9 6

5 1

7

2 8

Loosens upper spine

Loosens tight neck muscles

5 1

5

4 9

8 6 5

7

8 7

Exercisescopyrightof

3

8

7 1

www.simpleset.net

7

8 1 4

6 4

5 3

Always consult your physical therapist or physician before starting exercises you are unsure of doing. http://1sudoku.com n° 315825 - Lev l Hard

http://1sudoku.com

n° 329837 - Level Hard

Discover How To Live Pain-Free 6 4 7 7 9 3 1 7 3 5 8

8 5 9

2 9

8 5

At Centra Rehabilitation, you will receive hands-on therapy treatments by our friendly, caring health experts during focused and individualized sessions. It’s time to call Centra Rehabilitation if: • You’re tired of living in pain • You want to feel better and move better • You have been in an auto accident or injured on the job • You want to prevent injury 4 3 5 1 2 2 8 4 9

4 6

9

8 1

6 4

5 1

6

8 3

6 2

5 7 6

8 7

3

9 1

3

3

6

http://1sudoku.com Sudoku Corner! n° 34745 - Level Hard

http://1sudoku.com VISIT A CENTRA LOCATION NEAR YOU! n° 3996 - Level Hard 7 5 2

3 6 1 9 5 7 3 4

6

9 1

Jamerson Family YMCA

434-237-8160

9

7

2

Alterholt Road

434-200-4200

7 2

9 4

3

2 6

Centra Virginia Baptist Hospital

434-200-4668

9 8

2 1

1

6

5

4 3

9 8 434-200-7600

7 8

4

Center for Pelvic Health

5

1

8

3 5 4

Centra Lynchburg Medical Center

434-200-7860

2 3

6

9 4 8 3 2

Bedford

540-425-7670

2 4 7

Gretna

434-656-4607

http://1sudoku.com

n° 329149 - Level Hard

http://1sudoku.com

n° 312259 - Level Hard

Farmville

434-315-2920