Choice PT: Determining the Origins of Your Pain

Choice PT: Determining the Origins of Your Pain

Move to Live Your Resource to Moving Well and Living Life

KEEPING YOUR BALANCE THIS FALL SEASON! Fall is 100% my favorite time of year. Football, apple cider donuts, and we just wrapped up October which was National Physical Therapy & Breast Cancer Awareness Month...how can it get any better than that? (continued inside)

INSIDE: • Keeping Your Balance This Fall Season!

• Understanding Your Pain • Patient Success Spotlight • #Choose2GiveBack

www.choiceptny.com

Move to Live Your Resource to Moving Well and Living Life

KEEPING YOUR BALANCE THIS FALL SEASON!

Among older Americans car accidents are the #1 cause of: death from injury and injuries in general. That’s a startling statistic when you think about it. Makes me think twice about going out joy riding on a fall weekend to check out the changing leaves. If car accidents are the #1 cause, can you guess what the second leading cause is? It’s a loaded question. Among older Americans falls are the #1 cause of: death from injury and injury in general. Falls are a serious problem. Every second an older American falls. One in three older adults reported a fall and that number increases with age. In 2014, falls impacted 46 million people. In 2030, that number is expected to increase 61% to impact 74 million people. Understanding what factors tend to contribute to falls as well as how to be proactive in screening for falls can help turn those statistics around. Here are the five most common reasons people fall: 1. Our vision can decrease as we age which can lead to falls due to not seeing clearly. 2. Our hips and leg muscles become weaker making it harder to walk and lift our feet. 3. We can develop poor posture making it harder to stand upright. 4. It takes longer to react when something is in our way. 5. Medications can interact with one another which can contribute to dizziness or loss of balance. Having good balance is a team effort made up of three essential elements. First, your vision. If you can’t see obstacles coming at you it is much harder to maneuver around them. Balance is much harder in a dark environment or with our eyes closed for this reason.

Second, your inner ear (vestibular system). This is your bodies “righting mechanism” to offset tipping, tilting, and turning your head. The vestibular system is very complicated but suffice it to say, if you’ve ever experienced vertigo you understand the very important role your inner ear plays in balance. Lastly, your sensory system. Specifically, your proprioception. Proprioception is a fancy term for position sense. Tiny receptors in your joints and muscles constantly send feedback information to your brain communicating where your hands and legs are in space. Without this system working well you can be much more prone to tripping over your foot causing unsteadiness or worse a fall. Wondering if you or a loved one is at increased risk for falls? We’ve included a fall screening questionnaire in this month’s newsletter. If you score > 4 further fall risk assessments should be completed. The testing takes about 20 minutes and can be performed right in our clinic. Don’t let pride or a “busy schedule” jeopardize yours or a loved one’s safety. A fall can significantly impact confidence and independence.

Knowledge is power.

Knowing whether you’re at risk and what to specifically do to minimize that risk can make a world of difference.

All the best, Joe

www.choiceptny.com

UNDERSTANDING YOUR PAIN

When you meet with a physical therapist to understand where your pain may be coming from, one of the first things you’ll do is have a conversation about your pain. How long you’ve been experiencing pain, where it developed and how the pain manifests itself are all very important distinctions that can help shed some light on what may be causing your discomfort. Here are a few things you may want to consider before heading into physical therapy: • Consider exactly where the pain occurs in your body, and research what the different parts of the body are called so that you can have an accurate and helpful conversation about your pain. For example, back pain has a lot of different differentiations, and lumbar pain (which is in the lower back) is frequently caused by factors different from what would cause upper-back or neck pain. • How does the pain feel when it develops? Is it a lingering ache? Is it a sharp stab? Is it more of a tingling feeling? Each of these sensations are actually associated with different types of problems, so describing your pain appropriately may be helpful in determining the best treatment methods for your body’s needs. • What do you think may be causing the pain? Of course, it happens that a pain will develop, and you are dumbfounded as to why, but more often than not, there is something that you think could be influencing it. If the pain started around the same time as a change in environment or life circumstances, then it is worth telling your physical therapist about the association.

Another thing to consider about your pain is whether or not it develops at particular times of the day or year. There are plenty of situations when someone begins to experience pain when the weather starts to change, and it turns out that the pain is a result of arthritis and inflammation. There are other situations in which the pain will develop as a result of prolonged sitting or the opposite — such as when things get crazy at home or at work, and you find that you are not getting as much sleep as usual. Considering any changes in your daily habits or environmental factors can be very helpful in determining what is causing your pain. Regardless of where your pain is, how long you’ve been dealing with it, or how intense the pain feels, the smart thing to do when pain develops is to speak with a physical therapist. Working with a physical therapist can help you finally get a step ahead of your pain, finding treatment options that are designed to provide you with long-term relief instead of temporary relief from medication. For more information about physical therapy for overcoming bodily pain, contact us.

Patient Success Spotlight

CPT Nuptials! Congratulations to the Newlyweds, Lucy and Ethan Edmans