Kinect: Improve Health With 4 Easy Stretches

Kinect: Improve Health With 4 Easy Stretches

Health & Fitness The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

“Movement Can Relieve Aches & Pains.” IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH WITH 4 EASY STRETCHES

Many common aches and pains stem from tight muscles and poor movement. We were made to move and today’s lifestyle of sitting in the car, at work and at home, means tighter muscles. In addition, as we age our connective and muscle tissues naturally become stiffer. Therefore, the older you get, the more important a daily stretching routine becomes. The key to good health is to keep your body flexible. This helps your circulatory, respiratory, lymphatic, andmusculoskeletal systems. When your tissues are flexible, normal blood and lymphatic fluids circulate the body easier, oxygenating your tissues properly. This helps you feel energized, relieves pain, and allows you to perform daily tasks without feeling tired. (continued inside)

Inside: • Improve Your Health With 4 Easy Stretches

• A Plank A Day Keeps The Doctors At Bay

• Outstanding Patient Results

• Halloween Photos

Health & Fitness The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

A PLANK A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTORS AT BAY | OUTSTANDING PATIENT RESULTS | HALLOWEEN AT THE KINECT CLINICS

“Relieve Pain & Feel Energized! ” IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH WITH 4 EASY STRETCHES 1. 2.

1. Hamstring Stretch Lie on the ground against a wall (or a counter), use it to steady yourself if needed. Straighten the knee of the forward leg. Keeping your back straight, push your leg towards the wall until you feel a definite, but not painful, stretch at the back of the forward knee. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times on both legs. 2. Iliopsoas Stretch Assume a wide, long lunge position with hands on hips. Tuck the buttocks under while you shift your weight to the forward leg. Keep your good posture. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times on both legs. 3. Shoulder Flexion Stretch Stand in a corner of the room with one foot in front of the other. Put your hands on the wall. Make sure to keep your back flat! Reach arms up overhead. Move chest towards the wall to feel a stretch in the chest. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times. 4. Piriformis Stretch Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat on floor. Cross one leg overtop. Lock hands around knee. Pull knee to chest. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times on both legs.

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Look inside to learn more about our programs and say hello to a healthier you by returning to a pain-free, active lifestyle!

Outstanding Patient Results

Evelyn Birkemowas referred toKinect by several people in her neighborhood. She came into the Chandler Clinic after a total knee replacement. She walked in with a walker and within weeks she moved to a cane. By the end of her treatment she was walking without both. Her goal was to be able to walk her dog around the park with no pain. She achieved her goal. In her words “I now walk unassisted (no cane or walker) and can go places with confidence that I won’t fall.” - Evelyn B. I can go places with confidence that I won’t fall!

I can sleep and do everyday activities!

“When I came to Kinect, I was experiencing shoulder pain and unable to do everyday activities and having trouble sleeping. Now, I can sleep and do everyday activities with ease. Maddi has been the best physical therapist I have ever had work on me and with me.” - Tina D.

I can lift weights over 10lbs!

“Before coming to Kinect, I couldn’t walk properly, run or lift more than 10 lbs inweight.Nowsincedoing therapy, Ican liftweightsover10lbs,mybalance is betterand Ican jumpagain.ThankyouKinectforallyouhavedone.” - JaxonM.

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Halloween At The Kinect Clinics!

Each year, our offices come to Kinect dressed for the holidays. This year Halloween was no exception!! Check out the photos of your favorite therapist or team member. After holding a Facebook vote, it was unanimous. The San Tan Valley office was voted for having the best costumes!

San Tan Valley

Mesa office as “StarBucks”

Glendale as Pac-Man!

Chandler as Super Heros and Harry Potter!

A Plank A Day Keeps The Doctors At Bay

A plank is a simple exercise that anyone can do to improve their core strength. This exercise helps you strengthen so many of your muscles, guiding them to work together. Your core muscles are vital to the health of your low back and spine. If you suffer from an achy back or neck, then try doing this exercise to feel better. How to do a plank 1. Start by lying face down. You may want to put a pillow under your abdomen if it is uncomfortable to lie flat. 2. Bring your elbows underneath you, then gently rise up onto your elbows and knees, so that your abdomen is off the floor. 3. Keep your abdomen tucked gently in so that your body is straight without sagging. 4. Try to hold this for 30 seconds if you can. You may feel your muscles shake a little while doing this, which means they are working! 5. It is important to start off with small increments and build over the course of a week as you become stronger. 6. To advance the plank and make it more difficult, lift your knees off the ground, keeping your body straight. 7. Ideally, you should be able to hold this position for 2 minutes. 8. You may have some soreness the next day as you are using muscles that have not been worked that way in a while.

For a healthy spine, keep doing your exercises and remember our physical therapists need to see you for a check-up. You see your dentist every 6 months to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Why not your PT? Your physical therapist is the mechanic for your whole body to keep your spine and extremities moving like they should. Detecting a problem early can lead to a simple treatment solution that can save you a lot of pain, and financial burden down the road. Call us today to speak with your therapist about your problem, before it becomes a PROBLEM. You see your doctor every year, your dentist twice a year, when was the last time you saw your physical therapist? Why You Need To Come In For A FREE Check-Up: � Move without pain Think Kinect FIRST: Giving The Gift Of Health

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Our Therapy Services

• Low Back Pain • Cervical Pain • Shoulder Pain • Knee Pain • Herniated/Bulging Disc • SI/Pelvic Pain • Arthritis • Sprains and Strains • Fractures

• Tennis Elbow • Rotator Cuff Injuries • Impingement Syndrome

� Sit for long periods comfortably

� Bend and move freely � Balance confidently and securely

• Balance Disorders • Difficulty Walking • Deconditioning • Muscle Weakness • Vertigo • And Many More!

� Walk for long distances � Live an active and healthy lifestyle

We are your therapists for life! We want you to stay healthy so all your check ups with us are FREE. Just call our clinic and schedule.

www.kinectpt.net

SAN TAN VALLEY 480.568.4580

MESA 480.833.2778

CALL TODAY!

CHANDLER/SUN LAKES 480.802.8730

GLENDALE 623.934.1154

REASONS WHY GRATEFULNESS BOOSTS YOUR HEALTH BEINGGRATEFUL ISGOODFORYOU!

GRATITUDE AND HEALTH Feeling thankful can improve your health in both direct and indirect ways. Some research shows that the experience of gratitude can induce a sense of relaxation, improve the immune system, and decrease blood pressure. But grateful people also tend to cultivate better health habits, like eating more nutritious food, exercising, and avoiding risky behaviors. In addition, the optimism that stems from gratitude can create a healing attitude: research shows that people with optimistic attitudes have better outcomes after medical procedures. GRATITUDE AND JOY Robert Emmons, an internationally renowned scientific expert on gratitude, has found that acknowledging the good in life has a tendency to amplify positive emotions, such as joy and contentment, because it helps us slow down. “I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life,” he says. “We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life.” Consider the last time you had a good cup of coffee—did you pay attention to the warmth of the cup on your hands, or the feeling of pleasure as you took the first sip? It’s easy to ignore these small moments of positivity in our day as we rush from one activity to another, but stopping to appreciate them makes them more powerful. GRATITUDE AND RESILIENCE Practicing gratitude can also make you better equipped to handle the difficulties of life that inevitably arise. In fact, according to Emmons, it’s an essential part of the process of healing from trauma. Even despair can be mitigated by the experience of appreciation for the good, however slight it might be. Many survivors of the Holocaust, when asked to tell their stories, remember most strongly the feelings of gratitude for food, shelter, or clothing that was offered to them. This sense of thankfulness for the small blessings helped them maintain their humanity despite experiencing a horrific tragedy. Many people

with life-threatening illnesses also report decreased distress and increased positive emotions when they practice gratitude. Recent MRI studies have mapped the gratitude circuitry in the brain, which activates a sense of reward, fairness, and decision- making—all aspects that help facilitate survival and post- traumatic growth. Emmons, R. (2010 November 16). Why gratitude is good. Greater Good. Retrieved from http://greater- good.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good . Emmons, R.A., Stern, R. (2013). Gratitude as a psychotherapeutic intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology; 69(8), 846-855. Excerpts taken from https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/10-ways-be-more-thankful-person

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SAN TAN VALLEY 480.568.4580

MESA 480.833.2778

CHANDLER/SUN LAKES 480.802.8730

GLENDALE 623.934.1154

HAVE YOUMET YOUR ANNUAL INSURANCEDEDUCTIBLE?

An insurance deductible is the amount of money that you must pay before your insurance company pays for your medical services. If your deductible is met, your Physical Therapy may not cost you anything. Patients with family plans or those who have had major surgeries or have a chronic illness are especially likely to have a $0 balance remaining on their out-of-pocket expenses.This means that the cost of physical therapy could be minimal or completely covered by the patient’s insurance plan. Medicare has an annual CAP. There are no upper dollar limit on Medicare benefits. If you are close to or have met your insurance deductible for the year, then now is the time to come in for Physical Therapy! Do you have PT visits remaining that you can use? Are you feeling aches & pains? Need to work on your core? Let us help you get a head start for 2018. Contact us today at a clinic nearest you to schedule your appointment.

CALL TODAY FOR MORE ASSISTANCE!

SAN TAN VALLEY 480.568.4580

MESA 480.833.2778

CHANDLER/SUN LAKES 480.802.8730

GLENDALE 623.934.1154

www.kinectpt.net