We are all familiar with the usual course of treatment when we are dealing with an injury or chronic pain. First, we go see our Primary Care Physician (PCP) who recommends pain medication and muscle relaxers. We take those for 4-6 weeks and go back to the PCP when the pain is not any better.Continue Reading »
I recently returned from a two week teaching trip in Kenya. I volunteer with a program that teaches Physiotherapists in Kenya hands on skills and clinical problem solving. So, what was I doing there? This trip I was able to go into the clinic with the Physiotherapists and treat patients. This is a great opportunityContinue Reading »
Have you ever been to see a Physical Therapist with complaints of low back pain and they are watching you walk or talking to you about your foot? Have you ever questioned (to yourself or out loud!) why they are discussing your knee movement or hip strength when you came in because you can’t sleepContinue Reading »
Let’s admit it – we expect pain as we age! When we are young, our bodies seem to be able to get away with anything. We can run, jump, play, fall off our bikes, jump on a trampoline, and basically run ourselves ragged without any further complications. We go to bed and wake up feelingContinue Reading »
Physical Therapy utilizes art and science to create a specific program for restoration of each patient’s physical function. Later blog articles will focus on the ART while this article is focusing on the SCIENCE. Physical Therapists are passionate about finding, confirming, and using optimal treatment strategies for their patients. We are greatly indebted to theContinue Reading »
Thank you for walking with me through this blog series on chronic pain. I hope you have found it useful in discerning the optimum path for your health and wellness. This post is a general review of what we have covered. Chronic pain includes pain that has not resolved in a normal, timely manner. In general,Continue Reading »
(formerly known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) occurs after a trauma to the distal part of the extremity or after direct injury to the nerve. CRPS is associated with distal extremity pain and swelling, with the pain being disproportionate in time and degree to the injury. Patients may also have increased bloodContinue Reading »
Neck pain typically comes in two flavors – Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD) and nontraumatic neck pain. There are many types of treatment for neck pain both within the physical therapy realm and outside of PT. Which makes the research confusing and difficult to interpret! For instance, the book I am using for this blog series isContinue Reading »
Dear Friends, I cannot believe that I find myself writing a blog about low back pain. The interweb is FULL of blog articles about low back pain. Some are very informative/helpful and some are just personal stories or what worked for one person. See, that is the struggle with low back pain – everyone hasContinue Reading »
Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) involve pain and dysfunction around the TMJ (your jaw) and jaw muscles. The National Instititue of Dental and Craniofacial Research performed a 3 year study to identify biopsychosocial and genetic risk factors in the development of TMD. Potential risk factors for first-onset TMD were identified with older age, African American, pain onContinue Reading »
