Physical Therapy Services of Tennessee - January 2020

Physical Therapy Services of Tennessee - January 2020

JANUARY 2020

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EastTennessee Physical Therapy News

I love my community as it has givenme the love of my life, amazing children, fantastic grandchildren, and the drive to pursue my passion of helping others. In turn, I want to give back to this community that has contributed so much to who I am. My physical therapy journey may have started and finished here, but it’s takenme all over the Midwest in the process. struggled to find a major that enabledme to helpmy community. A chemistry teacher, of all people, pointedme in the direction of physical therapy. Professor Sysk informedme of the need our area had for physical therapists— in the‘70s, only two physical therapists worked within 50 miles of Eliabethton. I then declaredmyself a premedmajor as they didn’t have a pre-PT major at the time. After I graduated withmy bachelor’s, I ventured to Memphis to continue my education at the University of Tennessee. UT was the only physical therapy school in the state and only took 16 students a year, so I was very fortunate: The small-town boy goes to the largest city in Tennessee to fulfill his dreams! I had outstanding instructors who played a crucial role inmoldingme into the practitioner I am today. One of my mentors, Dr. Ann Graig, was an anatomy instructor who taught from a physical therapy standpoint, which showed me a lot of the“why”to our techniques. My M y P hysical T herapy J ourney W hat T ennessee H as T aught M e O ver the Y ears I went to Milligan College 5 miles from Eliabethton, Tennessee, where I initially

When I left North Carolina, I started graduate school at East Tennessee State University to work on a master’s in education. I still had a passion for physical therapy, so I took jobs in nursing homes to support myself. As life happens, I married the love of my life and had two beautiful kids. Then I took a job as the clinical director at the biggest hospital in the area, Johnson City Medical Center. As I settled intomy new role, I got involved with Eliabethton High School, treating their athletes on the sidelines in 1977. I also assisted various other high schools and became familiar with the sports section of the American Physical Therapy Association. I ended up developing an emergency care course to teach sideline emergency care the way we did at Eliabethton High School for years. I’ve done speaking engagements for the courses since 1988, so EliabethtonTennessee, has a worldwide reputation because of the classes we’ve developed. It’s now a supplemental online emergency training course! When I’mnot at work, I enjoy time withmy family or volunteering with Eliabethton High’s sports program. I’ve been assisting their sports program for almost for 43 year and it’s been so rewarding to see the programgrow. In-fact, our football team just won the Tennessee 4A state championship, which was the first time they had done so in 81 years. My wife and I have four grandchildren, and we see them almost every day. They come to the house to get a snack, do their homework, and play in the backyard afterward. In the summer and fall, we take everyone to the lake. I think our

other mentor, Dr. Ray Patterson, taught me a lot about the administrative side of PT, and I still correspond with him to this day. However, it was during an internship with the Memphis VA that I found a passion for the orthopedic field. I worked in the spinal cord injury and burn center, where I spent a lot of time working with the patients and the doctors. “As I helped severely injured soldiers transition from the war, talking with them about the realities they faced increased my communication skills tremendously.” It was at the end of the VietnamWar, so I saw many things young physical therapists don’t often see. As I helped severely injured soldiers transition from the war, talking with them about the realities they faced increasedmy communication skills tremendously. After I graduated, I moved to North Carolina, where the scope of my practice grew. My involvement with a local rescue squad provided me emergency medical training. Around that time, I also started volunteering for high school athletics to provide prehospital care for athletes before EMTs arrived.

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amazing community is the best-kept secret in Tennessee. Life doesn’t get much better than this in East Tennessee.

-Danny

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ODIN LIVES UP TO HIS LEGENDARY NAME The Guardian Who Would Not Leave His Watch

The family made it to safety with Tessa in tow, relieved to be together but heartbroken that Odin and the goats weren’t with them. After several agonizing days, it was finally safe enough for them to return home and survey the destruction. What did the Hendels find? Ashes, rubble, their barn and home burned to the ground— and Odin. There he was, still guarding his eight goats and some small deer who’d sought shelter with the brave canine. Weakened, burned, and limping, but nevertheless steadfast, Odin had never left his goats, even as the fire raged around them. Odin wagged his tail as he saw his family, happy to see they were also safe. The Sonoma CountyWildlife Rescue and the Goatlandia Animal Sanctuary provided temporary shelter for the goats and pups while the Hendels rebuilt their barn. Odin received all the care he needed, along with a lot of love and treats. Today, Odin and his goats are back

Amid the devastation of the wildfires that tore through California in the fall of 2017, a few heroic tales rose up to give people hope. One such tale was of Odin, a loyal Great Pyrenees guard dog. Along with his sister, Tessa, and eight rescue goats, Odin is part of the Hendel family. It was mid-October when the Hendels were awoken by the smell of smoke, a fierce orange sky, and sounds of destruction—urgent warnings fromMother Nature. Gathering everyone as quickly as they could, the Hendels got their human family members and Tessa in the car, but Odin, seated proudly next to the eight goats, refused to get in. Try as they might, the Hendels could not get him to come with them, and there wasn’t enough room in the car for the eight goats. With the firestorm quickly approaching and the risk of losing even more family members increasing with each passing minute, the Hendels made the heart-wrenching decision to leave Odin and the goats behind.

with their family, rebuilding their lives after this devastating wildfire. But the Hendels — and anyone who’s heard the story —won’t soon forget the bravery of their amazing pup.

3 RED FLAGS TO WATCH OUT FOR The new year is a great time tomake your health a priority again, and there are a bunch of workouts and diet plans to choose from. Toomany, some might say. It can be difficult to determine exactly which health plan will help you reach your goals, but there are some pretty obvious red flags that you’ll want to avoid. Medical Miracle or Health Hoax?

If you want to get in shape this year, avoid diets or products that claim tomelt cellulite. This is a clear indication these treatments aren’t based on real medical science. CURE-ALLS CURE NOTHING A“cure-all”is any product, treatment, or diet that claims to cure a bunch of unrelatedmedical problems. Cure-alls have been a problem for centuries, claiming to help with weight loss, migraines, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and even baldness! This isn’t howmedicine or the human body works. One change cannot magically fix many different, sometimes unrelated, problems. A good way to determine if something is a cure- all is to check if it claims to help treat, prevent, or cure cancer. That’s a big red flag you want to avoid.

Unless you have been diagnosed with a disease that would impair your liver or kidneys, you don’t need to spend extra money to keep your insides clean. A healthy diet is enough. CELLULITE ISN’T REAL In 1968, Vogue magazine introduced American women to the word“cellulite,”warning them of a terrible“diagnosed”condition women suffered from. They encouraged the use of a special rolling pin to banish the little lumps of fat on women’s thighs and buttocks. Since then, cellulite has been used as shorthand tomean “bad body fat you need to remove.”But cellulite is not an indication of poor health. Furthermore, there’s no cure for cellulite because it’s not a disease. It would be like using a special lotion that claims it can remove the wrinkled skin on your knuckles! Most people, especially women, have cellulite. It’s perfectly natural!

BEWARE THE DREADED‘DETOX’ Plenty of diets, supplements, and products claim to“purify”your body by removing unspecified “toxins.”These“detoxes”conveniently forget that your kidneys and liver are already removing substances your body doesn’t need! The human body has been capable of cleansing itself for thousands of years. It doesn’t need a special smoothie or footpads to get the job done. Most detox products are nothing but snake oil, and some of them can leave you feeling worse than you did before you started using them.

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TIPS FOR NATIONAL CLEAN UP YOUR COMPUTER MONTH Ctrl, Alt, Delete Your Clutter

Back UpYour Computer

Everyone relies on technology. Computers, laptops, tablets, and phones are staples of modern life. However, it’s easy for these devices to become cluttered with old photos, files, and general disorganization. Luckily, January is National Clean UpYour Computer Month and an excellent time to get your technology in order.

Be sure to back up your computer before you start deleting things. This acts as a safety net in case you delete something you didn’t mean to. Additionally, consider installing a second hard drive. The extra space can help with storing important files without having to worry about howmuch room is left.

Start by Dusting

Clean Up Space

Take a Break! Naming and arranging the files on your computer in such a way that they’re easy for you to find can end up saving you a lot of time. Declutter your workspace by creating one file for pictures, one forWord documents, one for spreadsheets, and one for programs to eliminate the hassle of frantically searching for the files you need. Over time, computer towers can become clogged with dust, which creates additional, unwanted heat within your computer. Regular cleanings will increase the lifespan of your computer and protect its essential components. Compressed air is great for removingmost of the dust and other particulates. If the fans or filters are too dirty, you can remove them from the tower to clean thembetter. If you use water or liquid cleaning products on them, be sure they are completely dry before placing them back into your computer. OrganizeYour Files

Any files you’ll never use again should be deleted. Likewise, any programs you haven’t used in a while should be uninstalled. Check your hard drive for files that might be taking up unintended space on your computer. And remember to empty the recycling bin— it’s easy to forget just howmuch goes in there.

EASY TOMATO SOUP Inspired by Nom Nom Paleo

Who doesn’t love a bowl of tomato soup on a coldwinter’s day? This recipe packs a lot more flavor—and a lot fewer additives—than your average store-bought soupwithout requiring hours of hard labor over the stove.

INGREDIENTS

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1 cup chicken broth 8.5 oz coconut milk

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2 tbsp coconut oil

4 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced 6 cloves garlic, minced

Kosher salt

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Freshly ground black pepper

1 28-oz can roasted and diced tomatoes (Muir Glen Organic is a good brand)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a skillet over mediumheat, sauté leeks in coconut oil until softened and translucent, about 7–10minutes. 2. Add garlic and sauté for another 30 seconds. Remove fromheat. 3. Meanwhile, in a blender, purée entire can of tomatoes, including juice, until smooth. 4. Add sautéed leeks and garlic and purée again. 5. Transfer purée to a saucepan and add chicken broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then drop to simmer and cook for 10minutes. 6. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

NEW YEAR RESOLUTION TOAST WINTER

GOALS JANUARY JANUS MIDNIGHT

CELEBRATE CHAMPAGNE CONFETTI COUNTDOWN

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Inside This Issue What Tennessee Has Taught Me Over the Years PAGE 1 A Tail of Bravery These Health Hoaxes Will Sink Your Resolution PAGE 2 Enter 2020 With an Organized Computer PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Easy Tomato Soup PAGE 3 A Holistic Approach to Physical Therapy PAGE 4

AFTER A LIFE-ALTERING INJURY How Physical Therapy Gave Dani Her Life Back

What do you do when life feels insurmountable? For Dani Burt, it wasn’t easy, but the answer was simple: Find a way to heal.

Dani Burt is a surfing champion. This isn’t exceptional until you know Dani was in a serious motorcycle accident 15 years ago that left her in a medically induced coma for 45 days. To save her life, doctors had to remove her right leg below the knee. As you can imagine, waking up to find out her leg was gone was devastating for Dani. The rest of her injuries were also extensive: She could barely move in bed and couldn’t go to the bathroom by herself. She struggled to deal with the pain without medication. Fortunately, she found physical therapy, and it gave her a new lease on life. “Before my accident, I had no idea what physical therapy was until I got a whole bunch of it,”Dani says. “What was really impressive was the fact that I was getting independent again, and I could see this progress.” Through an opportunity to heal at Sharp Memorial Rehab and a community reentry program, Dani began to reclaimher life.“There were ups and downs,”Dani says of the process. Still, she stuck with it, and she not only healed but also began to thrive. She turned to surfing, a completely new sport that allowed her to explore her new reality.“It drastically

improvedmy strength, endurance, and balance,”Dani says.“It gave me a tremendous amount of confidence and trust inmy prosthetic leg.”

Inspired by her experiences, Dani became a physical therapist and now helps others find the healing that PT gave her. “The reality is, we’re all healthier and happier when we move,” she says. “If you want to do something, you need to figure out a way to do it,” she advises. Physical therapy is often a safer, more effective, and more affordable option than surgery or medication. Like Dani, those who go into the profession are caring, knowledgeable individuals who want to help their patients get back to living their best life. For anyone experiencing pain or going through the recovery process after an injury, physical therapy can help.

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