Zionsville: Back Pain & Difficulty Walking

Improve the Walk, Improve the Back! ZPT The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body August 2018

Did you know that the way you walk, could be causing your back pain? Most people have something in their style of walking that can cause long term wear and tear. For example, a foot turned-out, a weak abdomen or poor posture contributes to stress on their body. Our experts at ZPT are trained to treat walking disorders and teach corrective walking techniques. By changing the way you walk, it is possible to eliminate and prevent back pain. On a daily basis, you walk more than any other physical activity. How you walk defines most everything about you, including your physical abilities. We can help you discover that something about the way you walk, may be the reason you have pain and help you change it. You walk over a million steps in a year. Your walk involves many body parts, all interacting together to produce your walking style. It’s as natural as breathing, and if any of your six (two ankles, two knees, two hips) weight bearing joints are not in good alignment, you’re at risk for structural pain. One minor walking error repeated millions of times can do an incredible amount of damage to your back, muscles, nerves and joints. This can eventually cause pain and arthritis. Often, the cause of back pain is poor strength -- specifically, weak abdominal muscles. The pelvis is held in place by numerous muscles, including the abdominals, hamstrings, gluteals and hip flexors. An imbalance or weakness in these muscles can lead to pelvic misalignment, causing the pelvis to tilt forward or backward. Forward tilt of the pelvis leads to a sway back. In addition to abdominal weakness, a lack of strength in the gluteals and hamstrings leads to forward pelvic tilt. While the abdominals stabilize the pelvis by pulling upward on the front, the gluteals and hamstrings offer stability by pulling down on the rear of the pelvis. Exercises must be done to strengthen both the abdominals and gluteals. Walking gives the gluteals a good workout. The abdominal muscles can be conditioned through physical therapy and easy weight training exercises.

ZPT GaZette The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body

August 2018

Dear ZPT family and friends, RANDOM THOUGHTS and FAREWELL: End of summer, back to school, back to team sports, back to sitting on bleachers (yikes!) and we send our summer helpers back to

INSIDE:

• More Patient Success • FREE Back Pain & Sciatica Workshop • Solutions For Your Walk, And Safety • Birth Boot Camp

ELAINE MORRISON Owner

college (another yikes!). It is bittersweet, but I want to give a shout out in gratitude to our summer helpers, Amber Johnson, for her extra-ordinary organizational skills, and Lauren Harless, for her sweet testimonial skills. Both are returning to college and will be filling their brains with all sorts of knowledge to propel them into their futures. We will miss them, their helpfulness and cheerfulness. BACK PACK and SHOULDER BAG WARNING: An important reminder for students from grade school to adult, to be cautious about how much you pack into backpacks and brief case bags that are carried over a shoulder. Some pointers: • Keep in mind that you should not place more than 15% of your body weight into a shoulder bag to carry. • If you regularly need to carry more, consider a roller luggage type case so that you don’t strain youruppershouldermuscles,orcompressnerves along your neck and lower spine. • Children can get an extra set of books for home so that they are not carrying as much. • Teach children how to protect and carry their laptops. • Keep your spine straight and your shoulders back, while you stand and walk with your heavy loads. • Distribute the weight to both shoulders and carry part of the weight in front of you. TEAM PHOTO! Here is our new group photo with our new therapist, Emina, and the group, ready to takegreatcareofyou.Wewillbeginstaffspotlights again in these monthly newsletters, so that you can follow the growth and development of our staff members.

ACT NOW: We recently had a returning patient, whom we had not seen for over a year, who commented that he had a “twinge” of pain in the sciatic region, and instead of procrastinating, he came in to ZPT to take care of it right away. He was so happy that he did, and claims he was “cured” again. Love that. But herein lies a lesson for us all: when it comes to pain, do not put off getting help, when you realize something is hurting and you’re gettingweakerormore limited.Come in rightaway, and have a therapist evaluate your situation, and getyoustarted in the rightdirectionbeforeyou lose preciousstrength,balanceor functionaluseofyour back or extremities. FEAR NOT…. HELP IS HERE! DIRECTACCESS: You might already know that you can come to physical therapy directly, without a physician’s order, and receive care for 24 days after the point you begin.This is one way to save money when you realize you have strained a muscle or thrown out your back or shoulder and need some quick and effective advice and treatment. We like to send a report to your physician or provider so that they know what you are going through. They appreciate the information and sign the plan of care forourfile.Your insurancesometimes requires this signature. Thank you for being our family and friends here at ZPT. We care about you and hope you are feeling great! Let us know if we can help you feel even better!!

Patient Success SPOTLIGHT

ZPT Helped Me Learn How To Strengthen My Problem Areas! “I have struggled with lower back issues off and on for eight years. It typically gets triggered by lifting somethingheavy improperly.Mygoal has been to be fit without my back pain holding me back. I was getting frequent tightness and some pain in my back when I did certain lifts like squats or deadlifts. The exercises and stretches I have learned here at ZPT have really helped strengthen my problem areas and confidence in lifting as I get back on track towards achieving my goals.” - Romeo M.

Gratefully, Elaine

www.ZionsvillePT.com

More Patient Success "Full function at work!"

"The team at ZPT is amazing. They helped me to fully function at work. I appreciate everything they did for me and all the advice they gave. I know I still have some work to do, but thanks to them, I am able to accomplish my tasks at home.The exercises will help to keep me strong, and I hope I never have to come back-- only because Ineverwant tohave to!Thanks foreverything!” -WilliamH.

Announcing Free Workshop on Saturday, August 25th

BACK by popular demand!

BACK PAIN & SCIATICA: Saturday, August 25, at 10:00 a.m.

This workshop is for those who have had back pain issues, leg pain or pelvic pain and want to do something to take care of it without medication, injections or surgery. We will discuss the 3 main causes for lower back pain and sciatica and what to do differently for each type of issue. This workshop is for you if: • You or a loved one suffer from back pain or sciatica. • You are aged 40+ and have suffered with pain for longer than you feel you should have. • You are currently seeing a doctor or thinking about it. Our workshop requires registration by calling 317.873.2033 or emailing our office at [email protected], Seating is limited

SOLUTIONS FOR YOURWALK, AND SAFETY

Studies of people with chronic low back pain show that they have walking abnormalities.When thesearecorrectedbyphysical therapyandsometimes shoe inserts (orthotics), back pain is reduced significantly. Research has also shown that chronic back pain responds very well to walking, exercise and physical therapy. For those seeking natural relief, nothing could be more natural or self-empowering as learning how to correct your walking and stride to relieve your back pain. Are You WALKING as Well as You Should? Problems with walking increase as we age and are a leading cause of falls and disability in older adults. At least 20% of adults over 65 have problems with walking. This further increases to 50% in adults 85 years old and older. Most of these problems with walking are associated with underlying diseases. 9 Things That Stifle Your Stride. Problems with walking are not a direct consequenceofgettingolder.Rather, theyare theeffectsofotherconditions that become more common and severe with age. Common risk factors for severe problems with walking include advanced age (older than 85) and multiple chronic disease conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, dementia, stroke, hip fracture or cancer. Common conditions that contribute to walking problems include some of the following: We Evaluate Your Walking. Helping your balance or walking problem is easier than you think. To improve your walking, first we need to discover what problems you are having. We perform specific tests to evaluate your Birth Boot Camp This 10 week Comprehensive Class will be held at ZPT Sunday afternoons, September 9 through November 11, from 3 to 5:30 pm, and will cover all areas of natural birth, nutrition, Complete Preparation For An Amazing Birth! exercise, relaxation, communication tools, options regarding pros and cons of standard tests and procedures during pregnancy, and the physical and emotional processes in labor and delivery. It is taught by Liz Escoffery, who was certified in October 2017 through Birth Boot Camp, a Texas based company. This class is great for those with December, January and February due dates. Couples can learn more at IndyFertilityCare.com or BirthBootCamp.com. 1. Back pain 2. Joint pain and arthritis 3. Diseases of the muscles or bones 4. Poor fitness 5.Problemsafterorthopedicsurgery or stroke 6. Low blood pressure and heart disease 7. Parkinson’s disease 8. Vision or balance problems 9. Fear of falling

walking speed, motion, balance and coordination.Then our expert physical therapists at ZPTcarefully review your medical history to understand health factors that may contribute to problems with your walking and mobility. We will ask about your pain, dizziness or other symptoms directly related to mobility. We Improve Your Walking. Most walking problems occur from poor hip or pelvis mobility and strength.Therefore, physical therapists are the ideal choice to treat walking problems, since we are the experts in restoring function and strength. Our exercise programs increase your walking speed, coordination and stride. Our programs focus on successful treatments that combine hands-on therapy with a variety of different exercises, such as leg resistance training, balance and flexibility exercises. Call us today to learn how we can help make walking a breeze!

CALL TODAY! 317.873.2033

www.ZionsvillePT.com