Choice PT: Staying Active & Becoming Better Balanced

Choice PT: Staying Active & Becoming Better Balanced

Move to Live Your Resource to Moving Well and Living Life

CASEY YURISTA, PT, DPT Getting To Know The Choice Physical Therapy Team!

orthopedic clinics as well as pediatric, acute settings. Area of Expertise Casey’s clinical interests include return to sport, ACL injury, neck pain, and post-operative rehabilitation. . Personal Casey enjoys getting together with friends, weight lifting, trying new foods, getting outside whenever he can, and learning in his free time through podcasts, reading. Casey is a huge soccer fan especially of Arsenal FC as well as basketball and baseball. Casey is recently getting more into running so if you have any tips he’s all ears!

Background/Education Casey grew up in Castleton, NY and graduated from Maple Hill High School. Casey always wanted to pursue a career in health care and found through his first couple of years of undergraduate work that PT fit his beliefs, lifestyle. Casey earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Biology from Sage College of Albany in May 2016 where he also played soccer for the Gator’s during his undergraduate time there. Casey earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Sage Graduate Schools in May 2019. Throughout his Doctoral program, Casey’s clinical rotations were primarily in outpatient

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Move to Live Your Resource to Moving Well and Living Life

The holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year. One of the most common, but least talked about injuries, occurs throughout this time of the year...the dreaded Baker’s Back. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You just got done with your 37th batch of cookies and you still have 3 trays of lasagna, 4 pies and a green bean casserole to make. You’re pretty sure you started to feel your heartbeat through your lower back around the 18th batch of cookies and nothing sounds better than grabbing a seat in your recliner with a “holiday” cocktail. The Baker’s Back may not be medically recognized as a diagnosis but trust me, it’s a thing! 80% of the population will experience back pain at one point or another in their lives. Furthermore, the best indicator for future injury is having a past injury. Therefore, once you’ve injured your back, you’re at increased risk for future back injury. Your lower back (or lumbar region) can be very complicated as it’s surrounded by many bones, joints, discs, ligaments, and muscles. Like other areas of the body, we’ve learned that pain in the lower back needs a two part assessment: TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BAKER’S BACK!

•Most people with sore backs feel like they always need to “stretch it out”. The lumbar spine itself should be mostly stable (it’s supposed to move but most of the time it’s moving excessively which causes injury... the muscles surrounding it go into a protective spasm which gives you the sense that you always need to stretch them out. It’s a short term band aid and not addressing the underlying issue, most of the time) •Your mid back (aka. Thoracic spine) should be fairly flexible however due to our common tendency to sit most of the day we stiffen up in the mid back. Increased stiffness in the mid back forces us to ask for a bit of extra motion from the lower back. A bit of extra motion, day after day, week after week, month after month...you see where I’m going with this. •Lastly, our hips are ball and socket joints. They are meant to handle a HUGE amount of motion compared to other joints in our bodies. Just like our mid back, our hips also tend to tighten up due to sitting, footwear, etc. If you can keep your mid back and hips flexible while maintaining muscle memory & strength through your core muscles you should be much more resilient to that nagging lower back pain. Then it won’t matter how long you have to stand in the kitchen, next time you’ll crank out that holiday meal in no time.

1. We need to figure out which tissue is injured and is causing the pain

• Usually this is a muscle strain, related to arthritis of the spine, or could be related to irritation of the disc or nerves in your back

2. We need to figure out what surrounding areas aren’t doing their job and therefore putting increased stress on the lower back region Luckily, as humans we tend to compensate in similar ways making it easier for people who study back injuries to uncover common themes. We’ve learned that incorporating a basic “set of rules” can significantly help in reducing lower back injuries.

Have a great month! Joe

www.choiceptny.com

IT ’S NEVER TOO LATE!

You don’t need to grow up as an athlete to enjoy exercise as an adult. There is no point in your life where it is too late to start being more active than you currently are. There are plenty of ways to incorporate light activity into your lifestyle, such as:

• Taking a walk in the evening with your family

• Wearing a pedometer and trying to take more steps every day

• Joining your local community center and using the pool to swim laps several times a week

• Engaging in light weight training at home before work

• Taking a yoga class

These are just several examples of how you could incorporate more activity into your lifestyle without making many large changes to your way of life. If you feel that your physical health or an old injury is holding you back from being active, contact us. Working with a Choice physical therapist can help you achieve improved balance and a healthy lifestyle.

Campbell 518.203.6761 518.279.2740

www.choiceptny.com

Speigletown

Exercise Essentials Try this exercise to improve your balance.

Crunchy Chicken & Mango Salad

• 2 teaspoons sambal oelek (optional) • 6 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage • 2 cups sugar snap peas, thinly sliced diagonally • 2 cups shredded chicken breast • 1 medium mango, sliced • ½ cup coarsely chopped fresh mint • ¼ cup sliced scallions • 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Helps Improve Balance

www.simpleset.net

SINGLE LEG STANCE - FORWARD Stand on one leg and maintain your balance. Next, hold your leg out in front of your body. Then return to original position. Maintain a slightly bent knee on the stance side.

INGREDIENTS • ⅓ cup orange juice • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar • 3 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

INSTRUCTIONS Whisk juice, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and sambal oelek (if using) in a large bowl. Add cabbage, peas, chicken, mango, mint and scallions; toss gently to coat. Serve the salad sprinkled with sesame seeds.

TAKE THE BACK SCREEN!

Circle “YES” or “NO” For Each Statement Below

My back pain has spread down my leg(s) at some time in the last 4 weeks

YES 1

NO 0

I have had pain in the shoulder or neck at some time in the last 4 weeks

YES 1

NO 0

YES 1

NO 0

I have only walked short distances because of my back pain

In the last 4 weeks, I have dressed more slowly than usual because of back pain

YES 1

NO 0

It’s not really safe for a person with a condition like mine to be physically active

YES 1

NO 0

Worrying thoughts have been going through my mind a lot of the time

YES 1

NO 0

I feel that my back pain is terrible and it’s never going to get any better

YES 1

NO 0

YES 1

NO 0

In general I have not enjoyed all the things I used to enjoy

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Add up the number of points for each “yes” answer.

#Choose2GiveBack

Spreading Holiday Cheer!!

Both clinics partnered with Hope 7 to help provide a local family with gifts and goodies for the holidays! Thank you to everyone who participated for all your generosity!

Gratefully,

Erin

www.choiceptny.com