Hands For Living_ Is your pain caused by tendonitis?

Hands For Living_ Is your pain caused by tendonitis?

NEWSLETTER

Enjoy Your LifeWithout HandPain! Do you find yourself getting up in the

morning stiff and having tomove slowly? Do you also find yourself having to stop due to pain with moving your arms, typing or gripping objects?Whether you feel pain occurring in your shoulders, elbows, wrists or hands, your shoulder joint and posture could be the culprit.

www.handsforliving.com

NEWSLETTER

Hello to all of you! Summer is winding down. hope you have enjoyed it and are ready for some beautiful fall weather. Take a look at our newsletter this month. There is some great info on tendonitis and how it can effect your hands and

I

INSIDE: • EASY RECIPE • SUDOKU • TENDONITIS • KINESIO TAPING • BACKPACK SAFETY

Photo By: Amy Enderle

elbows. We also have some success stories, a game and a tasty easy recipe. As always, we want to thank you for making Hands for Living a home for recovery and meeting and surpassing health goals for all of our patients! JoAnn Keller, OTD, OTR/L, CHT

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

Easy Vegetable Smoothie Recipe Directions

8 Ingredients • 6 oz water • 1 large tomato • ½ cucumber • 2 pieces celery • 2 carrots • handful of baby spinach

Wash the vegetables, throw them in the pitcher (after washing), turn blender on low, and then turn it up to high for about 30 seconds. You may need to use the tamper to get it circulating at the beginning.

Other possibilities to add include olive oil, Tabasco, or herbs like basil. If you want it to look more like V8 you could leave out the spinach and add another tomato.

Are you in Pain? Call Today And Start Feeling Better Fast! 425-368-7943

• lemon juice from 1 lemon (or balsamic vinegar) • 6 ice cubes

Print sudoku http://1sudoku.com

8

3 7 2

1

6 5

8

8 2 7 5 6 3 8 4 6 4 9 1 3 This Month’s Sudoku! TAKE IT EASY LEVEL The goal of Sudoku is to fill in a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, row, and 3×3 section contain the numbers between 1 to 9. At the beginning of the game, the 9×9 grid will have some of the squares filled in. Your job is to use logic to fill in the missing digits and complete the grid. 7 3 8 5 2 1 6 4 9 2 7 2 7 5 8 http://1sudoku.com n°223724 - LevelMedium

5 7 2 8

6

5 4 7 9 1

8 2

6

3

2 9

8 3 7 1 2

2

4 3 8 7

7 1 9

6

www.handsforliving.com

http://1sudoku.com

n° 112446 - Level Easy

3

6 2 9

9 4

5

Shoulder, Arm, Wrist or HandPain... Is it Tendonitis?

Theshoulder isan incredible joint inyourbodythathastomove through a large range of motion while maintaining strength. The position ofyour shoulder acts as an anchor foryour elbow and even hands as you do everyday tasks such as writing, typing and other activities. The shoulder is made up of the shoulder blade (scapula), humerus and collar bones. The function of your shoulder is very dependent on your posture, so if you are in a slouched positionmost of the dayat a desk, thenyour elbows, wrists and handshavetooverworkdoingnormaltasks,whichcausespain. It’s What You Don’t Do… If you sit frequently at a computer, watch TV or find yourself being less active,your shoulder ligaments will tighten up over time. However, even if you are an active person, but don’t stretch, this can also tighten the ligaments. Ultimately, your shoulders and upper back have to be flexible on a daily basis for your body to function normally and be in good posture. When the ligaments around the shoulder joints tighten, you lose normal range of motion in your shoulders. This in turn increases the effort needed by the elbows, wrists and hands to pick up objects, use the computer and the manyother tasks you do daily. Furthermore, when your arms are not moving correctly, it pulls on your muscles and tendons.This constant yanking causes inflammation and irritation to your tendons, causing tendonitis.

Finding The Cause… Finding the true cause of your shoulder, elbow, wrist or hand pain is always our top priority. It is only then, that a good therapytreatment programcan be put together targeting these problem areas. Our advanced hands-on therapy and specific exercises dramatically improve your shoulder, elbow, wrist or hand mobility, decreasing pain and inflammation quickly. Our experts at Hands For Living help you achieve fast pain relief and make your results last. Furthermore, we empower you with the knowledge of how to prevent re-injury and take care of yourself. Don’t delay and call us today to find out how we can help you!

TABLE WIPES INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ROTATION To Reduce Inflammation

Helps With Pain

www.simpleset.net

Place your hand on a small foldedtowelontopofatable and gently wipe the table in anarc side toside. Keepyour elbowbyyour side the entire time.

Why Choose Hands For Living?

• Expert, caring, and cost-effective evaluation of your injury or concern. • Information about what has happened and what can be done to help. • Specialized exercises and instructions to complete between sessions. • Comfortable and precise customorthoses (splints), if needed, to protect your elbow, wrist, or hand or improve motion. • Care of wounds, scars, swelling, and injuries to tendon, nerve, bone, muscle or soft tissue. • Practical ergonomic instructions to prevent injuries.

Always consultyour therapistorphysicianbefore startingexercisesyouareunsureofdoing.

www.handsforliving.com

IS YOUR CHILD’S BACK PACK GOING TO CAUSE INJURY?

Patient Spotlights

Finding a Safe Pack Despite their potential problems, backpacks are great when used properly. Before you buy one, though, consider a backpack’s construction.

“Kind, caring, and compassionate!”

“My therapist was amazing, kind, caring and compassionate. She was very knowledgeable about my injury and was supportive and patient during treatment. Keep up what you’re doing! Thank you for all your help and knowledge during my difficult time of recovery.” Christina B. “Great therapy team” “My therapist was amazing, outstanding and very knowledgeable. She has a great therapy team and scheduling system.” Virginia M.

Look for the following to choose the right backpack:

• Lightweight pack: get one that doesn’t add a lot of weight to your child’s load; for example, leather packs look cool, but they weigh more than canvas backpacks • Two wide, padded shoulder straps: straps that are too narrow can dig into shoulders • Padded back: it not only provides increased comfort, but also protects kids from being poked by sharp objects or edges (pencils, rulers, notebooks, etc.) inside the pack • Waist belt: this helps to distribute the weight more evenly across the body • Multiple compartments: to help distribute the weight throughout the pack Although packs on wheels (which look like small, overhead luggage bags) may be good options for students who have to lug around really heavy loads, they’re very hard to pull up stairs and to roll through snow. Check with the school before buying a rolling pack; many don’t allow them because they can be a tripping hazard in the hallways. Using Backpacks Wisely To help kids prevent injury when using a backpack: • Lighten the load. No matter how well-designed the backpack, less weight is always better. Use the bathroom scale to check that a pack isn’t over 10% to 15% of your child’s body weight (for example, the backpack of a child who weighs 80 pounds shouldn’t weigh more than 8 to 12 pounds). • Use and pick up the backpack properly. Make sure kids use both shoulder straps. Bags that are slung over the shoulder or across the chest — or that only have one strap — aren’t as effective at distributing the weight as bags with two wide shoulder straps, and therefore may strain muscles. Also tighten the straps enough for the backpack to fit closely to the body. The pack should rest evenly in the middle of the back and not sag down to the buttocks. You may need to adjust your kids’ backpacks and/or reduce how much they carry if they : • Struggle to get the backpack on or off • Have back pain • Lean forward to carry the backpack If your child has back pain or numbness or weakness in the arms or legs, talk to your doctor or a physical therapist.

AlleviateMuscle PainWith Kinesio Tape

You can put Kinesio Tape to the same use in everyday use as well. For fatigued muscles and sprains you can apply a pain relieving spray to the area and then wrap it up with Kinesio tape as you would for a tennis elbow and let it stayfor a couple of days. When using Kinesio tapes, remember that you can wrap tightly by stretching the tape to 40% of its capacity only

Kinesio Tape - Carpel TunnelI

over the joint areas. For the Muscle areas, you can stretch it up to a maximum of 20%. Anymore than this would result in over- constriction of the blood vessels below the skin and thus, numb the muscles beyond use. Other than the general applications of Kinesio tape mentioned above, it is also used by therapists to alleviate a large number of muscle and nerve related afflictions. In the sporting world, it is used to alleviate knee pains experienced byrunners, neck pains faced byswimmers, ankle sprains faced by soccer players and in other ball games such as tennis, basketball, baseball etc. The possibilities of Kinesio tape are limitless. When used in the right manner it can be used to reduce and alleviate muscle pain without taking anyformof sedatives of pain relievers.