It's Time To Stand Up To Sciatica

It's Time To Stand Up To Sciatica

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The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

It’s Time To Stand Up To Sciatica Sciatica pain can cause you to miss out on life. Don’t let it keep you on the sidelines. Elite Physical Therapy is here to help!

Do you experience pain in the buttock, thigh or even your leg? Youmay be experiencing sciatica. Sciatica is a common form of back and leg pain that is often misunderstood by sufferers. If you are suffering from sciatica it is important to find the root cause of the low back pain and leg pain. This will quickly and correctly relieve the pain. Having a lot of tests doesn’t mean you will find the root cause. Recent studies show that nearly 1 million of MRIs done for sciatica fail to find a treatable cause. With a new imaging technique called magnetic resonance neurography, 69% of the patients were found to have a trapped sciatic nerve deep in the buttock by a muscle called the

piriformis. It is known that in about 25% of the general population, the sciatic nerve pierces through the piriformis muscle and can be susceptible to abnormal pressure and irritation. This can lead to piriformis syndrome, which is the most common cause of sciatica. Why Does Sciatica Occur? If there are changes in your posture, muscle strength or pelvic alignment, the sciatic nerve can be compressed which leads to the quite common low back and sciatic nerve pains.

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Elite Physical Therapy Relieves Sciatica Elite Physical Therapists play a crucial role in evaluating and treating sciatica as well as other common back problems. Elite Physical Therapists are medical experts with years of training to evaluate your back problem, finding the root cause of your sciatica.

When coming to Elite Physical Therapy, our friendly and knowledgeable therapists spend time with you. We help you with stretching exercises that will target the piriformis, but may also include the hamstrings and hip muscles to adequately reduce pain and increase range of motion. In addition, our specialized hands-on therapy helps to gently loosen tight muscles and joints in your spine and legs. At Elite Physical Therapy we utilize hands on treatment techniques such as Myofascial Release, Muscle Energy Technique, Stretching, Gentle Manipulation, and Therapeutic Massage Techniques to get you feeling better. Your pain is quickly relieved and your flexibility restored, so you can feel like yourself again. Our cutting-edge treatments are doctor recommended and are specifically designed for you to reach your healthcare goals.

Knowing all this should give you a headstart in warding off painful sciatica. After all, it may be as simple as learning to stand tall.

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Easy Tips On How To Shovel To Protect Your Body From Injury Once you step outside and start wielding your shovel, remember the following to protect yourself from injury: • As you lift the snow, keep the shovel blade close to you, to reduce back strain • Switch off between snow shoveling right-handed and left-handed, so that you’re working different muscles • Likewise, periodically change your grip on the hand holding the bar (palm under vs. palm over) • When the snowfall is heavy (1 foot in depth, let’s say), • Bend your knees and lift with your legs

don’t try to clean right down to the ground with a single scoop. Instead, skim the top 6 inches off, then scoop up the bottom 6 inches. Otherwise, you could be hurting yourself by lifting too much.

Patient Results

“I had a truly positive experience at Elite Physical Therapy ” “I came to Elite Physical Therapy with a lower back injury, sustained at work. Shooting sciatic pain was the main issue. The staff at Elite Physical Therapy welcomed me with the same friendly smile, each and every day. They are such a friendly, respectful and educated group of individuals. They work well as a team! My Elite Physical Therapist knows his stuff, very well educated in Physical Therapy. He develops a relationship with clients, remembering conversations, and checking in on things previously discussed. He is also respectful of my limitations I had. I have had previous knee surgeries which make certain moves painful. He was able to instruct me with ways to complete the exercise without pain but that encourage the healing of injury of my back. I had a truly positive experience at Elite Physical Therapy and would totally recommend it to anyone!!” - J.M. BROWN ATHLETICS, ELITE PHYSICAL THERAPY ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP CENTERED ON MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Sponsorship Ushers in Formal Ball Girl, Ball Boy Program Elite Physical Therapy is the newest corporate partner to back the Brown Bears this athletic season. The most visible component of Elite Physical Therapy’s Brown partnership will be during the men’s and women’s basketball seasons. For the first-time ever, both programs will benefit from an organized, season-long ball boy, ball girl initiative as it will be entirely presented by Elite Physical Therapy. At every men’s and women’s home basketball game, that element will be overseen by Elite, including securing the boys and girls assigned to the respective games. Complete schedules and ticket information for both teams can be found on the official athletics’ website, www.brownbears.com.

A 30 Second Self-Test For Sciatica • Do you have back pain or leg pain with standing or walking? • Do you have a shooting pain in your leg when you stand up? • Do you need to sit down for a minute for the pain to go away?

30 Second Self-Test for Sciatica 1. Sitting on a chair, look down. 2. Straighten one leg, with toes in the air. 3. Repeat for the other side.

What it means: If your leg with pain, numbness or tingling does not go up as high as the other leg, you likely have Sciatica. Your next step is to see what is causing the pressure on your sciatic nerve. Call us to schedule an appointment...we can help you with that.

CALL TODAY!

Exercise Essentials Try this simple exercise to relieve low back pain...

Helps Sciatica Pain

PIRIFORMIS STRETCH Lie on back. Grab knee with hands. Bring knee towards your opposite shoulder. Hold for 30 seconds then return to start position. Repeat 8 times.

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The above exercise is designed to be performed under the instruction of a licensed Elite Physical Therapist.

Elite Physical Therapists Are The Mechanics Of Your Body!

Minor aches and pains are warning signals from your body to let you know something is not working properly. Don’t put off the pain until it’s too late. Come in today for a “Tune-Up.”

Take Care of Your Aches and Pains Before It’s Too Late.

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