Horizon PT - October 2021

Horizon PT - October 2021

physical therapy and rehabilitation

October 2021

3600 Miller Road, Flint, MI 48503 • 810-620-8042 • horizonptflint.com

Encouragement and Practice

HOW WE CAN OVERCOME FEAR

should function at their highest ability, I didn’t understand why someone would be afraid of improving their lives.

Halloween is just around the corner, and I know my oldest son, Jerome, is starting to get excited. For many fans of the holiday, October is an entire month dedicated to all things scary, but it also got me thinking about fear in general. Halloween scares are all in good fun, but real fear is serious business.

I had to learn that when I’m treating a patient, it’s about what the patient wants, not what I want. Once

I realized I needed to center the patient in everything I did, I became a much better physical therapist. These days, my top

I overcame my fear enough to start my own business in a couple different ways. First, a friend who is a podiatrist encouraged

concern is what the patient in front of me wants to be able to do and how I can help them accomplish it. Just like I needed, my patients need both encouragement and practice. Helping my patients overcome their fear starts with just listening to what they have to say, rather than assuming I know how they feel. I can’t help them work through their fear if I don’t know what it is. From there, I can explain their treatment, answer any questions, and help the patient take small steps to build up their

me. He told me I was just as good as, if not better than, other physical therapists, and if I opened my own practice, I would never regret it. Second, I’d gained experience by managing a different clinic. I saw the responsibilities and knew I could handle them. Conquering my fear took both encouragement and practice.

Then when I opened the doors at Horizon PT nine years ago, I had to cope with and vanquish other fears: I didn’t know what was going to happen. Would my business be successful? When would my next patient come in? How would I pay the bills? But here I am today. Fear did not stop me!

confidence. As patients get more comfortable with their therapy, they start making small gains and see their condition improve. From there, they generally want to do more and progress further.

Some people will tell you that overcoming fear is easy — they’ll say, “Just stop being scared and do it!” I know it’s not that simple, and conquering a fear takes hard work. Most fears are related to the unknown, and unfamiliar situations are inherently stressful. That’s why it’s so helpful to have a mentor that can encourage you through your journey. I’m grateful I can be that guide for so many patients.

In my work as a physical therapist, I see a lot of fear in my patients. When people start physical therapy, they’re in pain. Sometimes they know what’s causing their pain, sometimes they don’t. They are also afraid of making the pain worse, so they stop everything. Helping people overcome their fears about physical therapy is part of my job, but when I first started, it was a challenging process. I was young and ambitious — I thought I could conquer the world. I believed everyone

-Dr. Jerome Adams

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SELF-HELP BOOKS CAN’T DO IT ALL

How Reading Fiction Can Benefit You

MORE COMFORT WITH UNCERTAINTY Even though many stories (particularly those portrayed in popular movies) have nice happy endings, most people would agree that life sometimes leaves things a little more open-ended. While this fact might stress out some people, researchers have discovered that fiction readers don’t need “cognitive closure” as much as nonfiction readers.

Many CEOs and other successful individuals continually espouse the benefits of regular reading. Many times, leaders read self-help books to improve their leadership skills and become more successful. This is all well and good, but even the most successful people in the world could be missing out on the unique benefits that come specifically from reading fiction. But what are those benefits exactly? GREATER EMPATHY When a psychologist analyzed 86 functioning MRI (fMRI) studies, he found that the same parts of the brain that fire up when reading fictional stories also fire up when we’re seeking to understand the thoughts and feelings of others. That’s because when the characters in the book we’re reading are thinking or feeling a certain way, we tend to think or feel that way with them. LESS STRESS AND BETTER SLEEP When we read fiction specifically, we tend to disengage from the world — and that’s a good thing! Our brains can’t always be functioning at their peak capacity. We need breaks, or else we’ll stress ourselves out and negatively affect other areas of our lives. Stress tends to keep us from sound sleep, but reading fiction before bed engages the imagination, taking us away from the stresses of everyday life before we drift off.

GREATER HAPPINESS Even if none of the benefits of fiction interest you, everyone wants to find ways to make themselves happy — and for many, that is reading fiction. According to one survey, 76% of participants said that reading makes them feel good and improves their lives. So, what are you waiting for? Dust off that novel you’ve been meaning to read and crack it open!

A Pain-Free Tomorrow OUR PAT I ENTS SAY I T BEST

“Very thankful to Dr. Adams and his staff for helping get the strength back in my shoulder. I would highly recommend them if you’re having any pain or issues. Thanks, Ron and Ashley, for helping me feel better!

“My experience with this facility was positive — very clean, professional atmosphere. I would strongly recommend coming to this company for any and all physical injuries. They helped with my issues and helped strengthen some of my weaker areas.”

–Mary Hoffman

– Scott Peavy

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MORE THAN BUMPS AND BRUISES Prevent Childhood Injury With Physical Therapy

or physical habits. If the PT notices any problems, they will work with your child to build healthy habits and ensure they learn to move appropriately. Even if your child does not have any underlying conditions, physical therapy can still help them prevent future injuries. A PT can teach safe practices like warmup exercises, conditioning, improved balance and coordination, and increased strength and endurance. They can also assist with building control and core strength, which will reduce the risk associated with fast starts, stops, or turns. The PT will use your child’s unique situation — including age, ability, fitness level, prior injuries, and personal strengths and weaknesses — to devise a plan that will work best for them. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so if you have a sporty kid, Horizon PT would love to help you keep them safe. Call us today for an appointment so we can stop a serious injury before it happens.

As kids grow up, they’ll manage to injure themselves in a variety of ways. Hopefully, most of their accidents will be along the lines of skinned knees and scraped elbows, but serious injuries do happen. Preventive physical therapy for kids can help reduce the risk of injuries before they can occur. Sports are a major source of childhood injuries, so it’s important that your children have the guidance of a skilled coach or athletic trainer. A good coach will teach kids proper technique and form, which will help them participate safely in their sport of choice. Children’s bones are still growing and can suffer from overuse, so it’s important that your child’s coach doesn’t overtrain. Kids need at least two days off from sports a week and 2–3 months away from each sport per year. To help prevent future injury, a thorough evaluation by a physical therapist can help identify potential problems with your child’s gait, bone condition,

Have a Laugh

Slow Cooker Squash, Kale, and Sausage Soup

Inspired by SugarAndSoul.co

This healthy, savory soup is the perfect lunch for a cool fall day.

Ingredients

• • • • • •

Salt and pepper, to taste 4 cups chicken broth 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp Italian seasoning 3 cups kale, chopped 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• •

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 Italian chicken sausages, sliced to bite-size pieces

• • •

6 cloves garlic

1 onion, chopped

6–7 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

Directions

3. In a slow cooker, combine sautéed vegetables, sausage, chicken broth, and seasonings. Cook on low heat for 3 hours and 30 minutes. 4. Open the pot and add the kale. Cook another 20 minutes, then add the red wine vinegar and stir to combine. Cook 10 more minutes, then serve and enjoy!

1. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring often, then remove from the pot and set aside. 2. Add garlic and onion to the pot. Sauté 4–5 minutes. Add squash, salt, and pepper. Sauté 8 minutes.

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THIS ISSUE Inside

Dr. Adams’ Lessons in Overcoming Fear

The Unique Benefits of Reading Fiction

Testimonials

Prevent Childhood Injury With Physical Therapy

Slow Cooker Squash, Kale, and Sausage Soup

C-Commerce May Be Online Shopping’s Future

COULD C-COMMERCE CHANGE THE WAY YOU SHOP?

C-commerce may still be in its infancy stages, but Business Insider predicts the booming market could reach $142 billion by 2024.

Remember in the early days of Microsoft Word, when “Clippy” the paperclip would offer helpful advice and tips on how to use the platform? Today, we could consider Clippy one of the first chatbots to change the way customer service functions in the digital age, and now, Clippy’s descendants could be changing the way we shop. Popular brands like IKEA, Sephora, Lego, and Amazon have created “conversational commerce” (c-commerce) bots designed to help shoppers personalize their shopping experience. In the case of Lego, a chatbot named Ralph lives in Lego’s Facebook Messenger. He’s helped confused and overwhelmed United Kingdom customers shop for the perfect Lego kit for Christmas. Ralph was launched in 2017 and other brands are taking notice. The concept is fairly simple. Users reach out to the chatbot via the retailer’s preferred platform, like Messenger or WhatsApp. (Coincidentally, both are owned by Facebook.) The bot provides on-screen prompts, which the consumer answers, allowing the bot’s artificial intelligence software to catalog the best products for this particular consumer, cutting the amount of time spent scrolling through endless options. The bot then presents links to these products in the chat, streamlining a user’s shopping experience.

That projection is up from $2.8 billion in 2019. They also predict it could be a time- and money-saver for health care, retail, and banking industries, potentially saving $11 billion annually.

Still, many questions remain about how a c-commerce bot should work. In a 2016 Medium article, Chris Medina wrote that some of the biggest mysteries about c-commerce involve the apps themselves. Right now, many industries are still toying with the idea. While the bots may not be taking over the world (yet), c-commerce bots like Ralph could revolutionize the way we shop, helping consumers narrow down their options to viable products and personalizing the shopping experience the way Clippy and personal shoppers did in the past.

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