Choice PT: Where Is Your Back Pain Coming From?

Move to Live Your Resource to Moving Well and Living Life

CONTROLLING WHAT WE CAN CONTROL! There I am, walking backwards with my cart down aisle 3 of Price Chopper. It’s my third trip to the grocery store since they implemented the ‘one way’ aisles as another measure to ensure social distancing and it’s still not registering until I’m about 11.5 feet down the aisle. (continued inside) INSIDE: • Controlling What We Can Control! • Where Is Your Back Pain Coming From? • Patient Success Story • Tune into CPTv!!

www.choiceptny.com

Move to Live Your Resource to Moving Well and Living Life

CONTROLLING WHAT WE CAN CONTROL!

(continued from outside) Each time it happens I consider all my options and each time I’m only about 2 feet away from the Family Size bag of Smartfood popcorn. Turning around and walking backwards just seems like the best option (ok, ok... besides me sticking a post-it note to my forehead to remind myself to follow the arrows taped to the floor). “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” - Vivian Greene We’ve all been affected by this “new normal” in one way or another. We’ve all needed to adapt, modify or change our way of life over the past two months. During trying times it is SO important to 1) keep faith that things will improve and 2) control what we can control during the current circumstances. It’s no secret that many of us have been more inactive the past eight weeks. That inactivity, combined with a general increase in anxiety and stress levels can be a recipe for increased muscle stiffness, compensations and can increase pain levels. By the time you’re reading this, we have helped close to 700 people through telehealth since March. These virtual Physical Therapy sessions have allowed our patients to make productive use of their time while social distancing: • Sharon was able to decrease her “8/10” lower back pain to “1/10” after a single session and is now able to touch her toes for the first time in years! •Mike has been able to improve his core strength and resume plyometric strengthening activities to get ready for baseball season, all without having his lower back pain return! • Erica addressed her neck and upper back pain after having increased her computer time working from home...all within 4 telehealth sessions! • Lou transitioned from in the clinic treatments to telehealth and continued to strengthen his shoulder after rotator cuff repair and was able to play his first round of golf!

Shoot me an email ([email protected]) to share how you’re making productive use of this time, controlling what you can control! If you’re interested in learning more about our telehealth options at Choice you can also email me or give one of the clinics a call.

Have a great May! Joe

www.choiceptny.com

WHERE IS YOUR BACK PAIN COMING FROM?

awake? That’s because your head is heavy! The weight from the motion wakes you back up because your body isn’t used to carrying it in that way. This is also why pain in your lower back may occur as a result. Your back muscles are working in overdrive and may be constricting to try and hold you up. If you notice neck and back pain at the same time as one another, try sitting up straighter – it should help ease some of the stress! Is your neck the culprit? The most common combination of pain is in the neck and the back. If you are experiencing both, it is most likely stemming from the neck. We don’t typically think about it, but we use our necks for a lot of our daily activities. Even simple things, such as turning to grab something out of the cupboard or looking over your shoulder when backing out of a driveway, use a lot of neck muscles. When you do simple tasks such as these, do you find yourself turning your entire body, as opposed to just your head? If so, you could experience back pain along with your neck pain. When you have limited motion in your neck, your body compensates by twisting more than it usually would, thus over-rotating your lower back. This could cause a source of pain or general discomfort in the area, due to abnormal overuse. If you are experiencing neck pain, back pain, or a combination of both, our physical therapists would be more than happy to meet with you for a consultation to discuss how they can help.

Your spine is a complex part of your body – it requires proper posture, flexibility, coordination, and strength, in order to do its job correctly. When one of these elements is altered, your spine can emit painful responses that can settle in other nearby parts of the body.

According to the National Institute of Health, approximately 80% of adults will experience lower back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is actually the most commonly reported location of pain across the globe. But how often is the source actually another part of your body? Pain is usually connected: Your spine is a lengthy structure, and pain can travel along it. Let’s say you are prone to neck pain – perhaps you have a slouched posture from sitting at a desk all day and the pressure radiates in your shoulders. Or, maybe you’ve had a previous injury, such as whiplash, that still elicits painful stings every now and then. Now, let’s say you begin feeling pain in your lower back in addition to your neck pain. Why does this happen? Basically, the pains are connected to each other. Your head weighs about 10-12 pounds, which is roughly the weight of a bowling ball. When you slouch, or compensate pain by realigning your body, your back muscles have to work extra hard to keep you from toppling forward.

Call us today to talk to an expert about how we can relieve your aches and pains!

Have you ever been so tired that your head begins to bob and it jolts you

Try this movement if you are experiencing back pain. Exercise Essentials Try this exercise to relieve your back pain.

Patient Success Story

DOUBLE KNEE TO CHEST Lying on your back. Pull both knees to your chest. Hold for 10 seconds and feel the stretch. Repeat 6 times. Stretches Lower Back www.simpleset.net

TUNE INTO CPTV!!

One way we’ve been able to stay connected with our community during the past two months has been CPTv! Every Sunday we have a LIVE episode which airs on our Facebook page. As of this writing we just finished our 5th episode with close to 10,000 views!

EPISODE 1: How to become 1% better everyday

EPISODE 2: Managing Anxiety during stressful times

EPISODE 3: Feed Albany (Joe & Erin show off their cooking skills!)

EPISODE 4: Motivation and Leadership

EPISODE 5: Nutrition and Mindful eating during Isolation

Use your smartphone camera to hover over the QR code which should bring you to our YouTube page so you can access all the episodes!! Erin & Joe

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