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Physical therapists practice new techniques
K. Kelli Richardson, a physical therapist with 24 years of experience, recently attended a two-day conference in Livingston presented by Steven P. Ferdig of Chapman University in Orange, Calif.
The conference, entitled “The Cervical Spine: Mobility versus Stability,” covered 15 neck mobilization techniques for the neck, upper back, shoulders, chest and face, including the jaw, a site of pain about which many physical therapy patients complain.
At the conference, participants learned how to assess movement to determine specifically in the cervical spine what the range of movement - or lack thereof - is in the patient. The assessment techniques they learned contributed to physical therapists’ treatment plans and may alleviate suffering patients with chronic neck pain.
Ms. Richardson, who holds a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from the University of California at North Ridge, previously practiced physical therapy at a Pasadena, Calif., hospital for 12 years, owned her own practice in California and has been practicing for 10 years with Lance Hendricks, owner of Montana Physical Therapy, 2370 Ave. C, in Billings.
Mr. Hendricks, who holds a master’s degree in physical therapy, said, “There is new hope for neck pain. Many patients come to us 15 years after a car accident and they still have pain. They tell us, ‘I went to physical therapy and did exercises, but it still hurts.’”
Full story of new physical therapy techniques at Billings News
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Health Alerts: Can physical fitness lower your risk for dementia?
Being physically fit in midlife is associated with a lower risk of dementia in old age, a new study reports.
Between 1971 and 2009, 19,458 healthy adults younger than age 65 took a treadmill fitness test as part of a broader health examination. Researchers followed the subjects through their Medicare records for an average of 24 years.
After adjusting for age, smoking, diabetes, cholesterol and other health factors, the researchers found that compared with those in the lowest 20 percent for fitness in midlife, those in the highest 20 percent had a 36 percent reduced risk of dementia.
The reason for the association is unclear.
“Dementia is a disease with no cure and no good therapies,” said the lead author, Dr. Laura F. DeFina, the interim chief scientific officer at the Cooper Institute in Dallas. Physical activity may be “a preventive way to address dementia instead of addressing the costs of a disabled elder.”
Full story of fitness lowering dementia chances at Dallas News
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Physical therapy can be key to maintaining an active lifestyle
Most of us know physical activity provides outstanding health benefits. Running, cycling, swimming and working out in the gym all help maintain a healthy weight, keep us limber and help ward off chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
All of that physical activity helps keep the health-conscious fit and feisty well beyond their 40s. If 60 is the new 40, then 50 must be the new 30 and so on.
However, an active lifestyle can be a risky business. A 40-something has to keep in mind that joints, tendons and muscles are not as supple as they were 20 years earlier. Regular exercise requires regular muscle strengthening exercises. And woe to the gym newbie, the weekend warrior or the person determined to lose 20 pounds after 20 years of inactivity.
"If we have the privilege of living beyond 40 or 50 years, we can't turn our back on time," said Maureen Blackburn, a physical therapist at St. Anthony's Medical Center's outpatient clinic.
Regular exercises to strengthen the core muscles are essential, Blackburn said. Strengthening the lower abdominal muscles protects the spine.
Maintaining an active lifestyle is fraught with risks. Even the most conscientious runner or cyclist, to give two examples, can pull a muscle or tear a tendon.
Full story of physical therapy at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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AquaHab Physical Therapy Case Study Demonstrates Benefits of Aquatic Therapy for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
A new AquaHab Physical Therapy case study documents the advantages of aquatic therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms, according to patient results recorded by the Greater Philadelphia physical therapy practice. These findings support a number of earlier research studies detailing the benefits of aquatic and physical therapy for patients with MS.
According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, MS is a chronic and often debilitating disease that attacks the central nervous system, with symptoms ranging from mild (such as numbness of the limbs) to severe (including paralysis and loss of vision). The value of aquatic therapy for patients with multiple sclerosis is recognized by the National MS Society, which reports, “The unique qualities of water provide exceptional benefits to people with MS. Water helps people with MS move in ways they may not be able to on land.”(1)
Numerous studies have also highlighted the benefits of aquatic therapy for individuals with MS. A recent study from Denmark concluded that exercise therapy, including aquatic therapy, has the potential to create a positive effect on MS fatigue.(2) A separate study from Iran focused exclusively on aquatic therapy, and determined that “aquatic exercise has enhanced the aspects of multiple sclerosis patients’ quality of life.”(3)
Full story of aquahab physical therapy at PRWeb
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Occupational therapists help us all function
You might not realize it, but there’s a good chance an occupational therapist has impacted some aspect of your life. Occupational therapy helps people develop, improve or regain the ability to live as independently as possible. Our name comes from the fact that we are concerned with all the things people do on a daily basis while engaged in the “occupation of living.” This includes just about everything an individual does, from the moment they wake up to the time they go to bed, and, as you can imagine, encompasses a wide range of activities. We work with every age, from newborns to senior citizens and all the ages in between. It is perhaps for this reason why occupational therapy is often difficult to explain. The overall goal of the occupational therapist is to increase a person’s ability to perform all these tasks and activities as independently as possible, with the greatest amount of self-satisfaction.
Specifically, occupational therapy is the therapeutic use of work, self-care and play activities to increase development and prevent disability. It may include the adaptation of a task or the environment to achieve maximum independence, enhancing the quality of life. Occupational therapists focus on the “doing” whatever occupations or activities are meaningful to the individual. It is the therapist’s purpose to get beyond problems and find the solutions that assure that an individual is living life to its fullest. These solutions may be adaptations for how to do a task, changes to the surroundings, or helping individuals to alter their own behaviors.
Ekso Bionics’ Robotic Exoskeleton Will Help Paraplegics Walk Again in 2012
By Timon Singh
We’ve covered robotic exoskeleton prototypes in the past here on Inhabitat, but Ekso Bionics just announced plans to launch a fully-functioning commercial model by the end of the year! Think about it – within 12 months, this exoskeleton will help thousands of paraplegics trade their wheelchairs for the ability to walk again.
Based in California, Ekso Bionics has announced that it will first begin to sell its Ekso-suit to rehab clinics in the United States and Europe in order to allow patients with spinal cord injuries to train with the device under a doctor’s supervision. However by the middle of 2012, the company plans to release a model for at-home physical therapy. This will allow every-day people to experience its benefits.
The Ekso-suit is essentially a large robot. It supports its 20 kg frame on skeletal legs and does most of the work for the user. All they have to do is to balance their upper body, shifting their weight as they plant a walking stick on either side of the frame. These sticks will have motion sensors in them that then communicate with the legs, allowing the user to take complete control.
Water therapy for children with autism
Pamela Gross Downing
Swimming lessons were about to begin for the children in room 623 at the Margaret Clark Aquatic Center. Every year, the students learn how to swim in a large heated pool. Special adapted physical education teachers work with the students for three weeks. The classroom teacher and assistants also get to spend time with the children in the pool. It is a wonderful period of learning and water therapy for everyone involved.
Mr. Abraham Hernandez and Dr. Javier Ayala were the children’s swimming instructors once again. These two very special teachers are able to watch the children grow up over the years. This program begins when the students enter first grade and ends when the children reach 21 or 22 years of age, depending on when their birthdays fall during the school year. Many of the children have already moved on from elementary school to high school as the program has been around for almost 10 years now.
Typically, at least one student in room 623 begins the swimming program frozen in fear. This year, it was Douglas. The boy was a first-grader and not particularly tall. Douglas clung to the classroom paraprofessionals, Rosa, Billie and Hector whenever he entered the water. The teachers were used to how students reacted during the first few days of the swimming class. Over time, they knew Douglas would gradually let go of them as he became more secure in the water. Yet, the best part of the class was not the actual swimming lessons. It was watching how the children interact with each other during "free time."
‘Jungle gym’ aids in physical therapy
By Allison Griffin
It looks like just a big steel cage, but it's actually an innovative piece of equipment that physical therapists can use with patients who are trying to build strength and learn or relearn balance and flexibility.
It's referred to as the "jungle gym," and it's the newest addition to the comprehensive therapy department at Baptist Medical Center East. Patients of all ages can use the equipment, and it can support up to 350 pounds.
But on Tuesday morning, the patient was little Logan Mask, 7, who has cerebral palsy. Though he can walk unassisted, his physical therapists are working with him to improve his balance and to make it possible for him to run and climb, said his mom, Christy Mask.
Logan demonstrated a few movements with Cindy LaPorte, associate professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Sciences at Alabama State University. ASU is Baptist's partner in the purchase and use of the jungle gym. It's housed at Baptist East, but ASU students will use it for training and research.
Disorder is affecting her ability to enjoy sex
By Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Q: Please help me. I'm a 39-year-old female, and earlier this year I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome. While still recovering, I have no sensation from the waist down and can't enjoy sex with my husband. Please give me some advice so I can feel like a normal woman again. We have tried intercourse; however, I don't feel anything when we do, just the pressure of him inside of me.
A: I am not a medical doctor, so I can't help you from that point of view, though I certainly would tell you to ask your doctor whether this is a part of the disease and whether there is any remedy. But from my perspective as a sex therapist, I would tell you to try to regularly please your husband, whether it be via intercourse or some other way. As loving and loyal as he may be, not having sexual release might open up a divide between the two of you. Hopefully you can overcome this and all the symptoms of this disease, but in the meantime, try to keep your husband from feeling the effects too strongly.
Stretching Key to Yoga’s Back Pain Relief
By Kristina Fiore
Yoga can help improve symptoms of chronic lower back pain, but it's likely not the meditation component that does the trick, researchers found.
There were no differences in functional improvement between yoga and plain stretching exercises, although both were better than self-care, Karen Sherman, PhD, MPH, of Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, and colleagues reported online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
"We expected back pain to ease more with yoga than with stretching, so our findings surprised us," Sherman said in a statement. "The most straightforward interpretation of our findings would be that yoga's benefits on back function and symptoms were largely physical, due to the stretching and strengthening of muscles" and not the discipline's focus on mindfulness. Sherman and colleagues explained that there are few effective treatments for low back pain. Some studies have shown that yoga may be beneficial, though these had considerable limitations, they said.