Why do you make physical activity a priority in your life?

Dean J Sondrol, PT

Why do you make physical activity a priority in your life? This question was a recent topic of discussion one day between myself and some of my clients at Advanced Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, and then later on between some friends and I. It was sparked by a recent article I read on the APTA Website- see article below. 

Here are some of the responses that came up:

-to stay’ healthy (was the most common)

-to keep up or stay with my children (one of my main reasons)

-to enjoy the outdoors; hiking, kayaking, and biking

-to dance at my granddaughter’s wedding

-my wife tells me to, or my kids tell me I need to

-so I look good

-cause of my heart attack or new hip or knee

-So I can play high school sports (from some of the younger people)

-in case I get COVID (a more recent reason)

-so I can fit into that dress or pair of jeans

-my high school reunion is coming up

-so I can drink more beer, or eat more food

-it just feels good

Of course, this also led to a discussion on why we don’t make physical activity a priority in our life, (that is a topic for an article in itself).    The benefits of physical activity are well documented, we all have heard reason on TV, at the Dr office, from social media and from family and friends.  So I won’t lecture you in this article but I would encourage you to find the one or two reasons why you should make physical activity your priority.  Write it down if you want, post it on your phone, or just think about it from time to time.  I will also think of my reasons why I’m doing that activity and it makes that walk or work out all the more meaningful.  So if you see me out running, biking, or walking and ask what I’m thinking about I would probably tell you my children or how many more miles I should run so I can eat that jelly doughnut.    

You may have some of the same or have your own reason.  Please feel to share your reason with me…. Remember to keep making physical activity your priority!

From: Top 10 Benefits of Physical Activity.  From Choose PT August 2020

https://www.choosept.com/resources/detail/top-10-benefits-of-physical-activity

Most Americans do not move enough. The good news is that regular physical activity is one of the easiest ways to reduce your risk for chronic disease and to improve your quality of life.

Make physical activity a priority to:

1.    Improve your memory and brain function (all age groups)

2.    Protect against many chronic diseases.

3.    Aid in weight management.

4.    Lower blood pressure and improve heart health.

5.    Improve your quality of sleep.

6.    Reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

7.    Combat cancer-related fatigue.

8. Improve joint pain and stiffness.

9. Maintain muscle strength and balance.

10. Increase the life span.

Physical therapists are movement experts who improve quality of life through hands-on care, patient education, and prescribed movement. Physical therapists treat people of all ages and abilities and empower you to take an active part in your care. After an evaluation, your physical therapist will create a treatment plan for your specific needs and goals.

Choose more movement. Choose better health. Choose physical therapy.

Speed and Agility Training

David Reybrock, MPT

Speed and agility are primarily associated with athletes training for sport; but it also occurs in our everyday activities. We are all athletes in one form or another. Whether you are in a sport, involved in recreation, participate in regular exercise, walk a dog, or play with your children; speed and agility training can help enhance your movement skill acquisition and functional mobility.

As movement specialists, Physical Therapists can use speed and agility training to provide stability by varying speeds of motion and body position.  Everyone can benefit from improved balance, quicker feet, and faster reaction time.  Speed and agility in youth can be used for injury prevention, promote exercise participation, and improve physical fitness.  Speed and agility in elderly can be used to improve coordination, prevent falls, and maintain independent living.  Adding speed and agility to an exercise routine or treatment program can help you move more efficiently and effectively.  

What is Speed, what is Agility?

Speed is defined as the ability to move the body in one direction as fast as possible. Training for speed requires strength in the arms and legs to propel your body forward. The muscles in the back of the thigh and leg create triple extension- forceful extension of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. The gluteus maximus muscle of the hip; hamstring muscles of the knee; and gastroc-soleus muscles of the ankle are the muscles used to run faster.

Agility on the other hand, is the ability to accelerate, decelerate, stabilize, and quickly change directions with proper posture. Agility training focuses on performing a variety of movements in a quick manner. It is not simply going as fast as you can, but rather adjusting movements while going as fast and as steady as possible. Training for agility requires good balance and a strong core to support the body as it moves through all three planes of motion.

The combination of speed and agility training should be used to develop movement skills that include acceleration, deceleration, dynamic balance, and change of direction. In developing these skills, appropriate stability, mobility, and sequencing of movement patterns is important for training athletes and treating patients in physical therapy.

Here are some examples of speed and agility drills that can be used to train athletes and treat patients to be able to speed up, slow down, and change direction more efficiently:

Sprints or walking. Run or walk as fast as possible from a standing still position. The distance will vary based on ability and sport specificity. Add change of speed, stop and pivot turns, head movement, inclines or declines to incorporate agility.

High knees wall drill. With arms extended forward and hands on a wall for stability, alternate knees to hip level up and down as fast as possible. For agility, remove hands from the wall and perform with opposite arm swing and change of speed.

Static balance. Sit on a stability ball, stand with a wide or narrow BOS, or single limb stand.

Dynamic balance. Seated balance with arm and leg movement. Tandem forward walking, side-stepping, and carrying objects while walking.

Cone drill example:

Pro-Agility: 20-yard line sprint, 5-10-5
Purpose: Improve the ability to change direction by enhancing footwork and reaction time.
Procedure: Place each cone 5 yards apart. Start in a two-point stance at the starting line, the center cone. Sprint to the end line and touch with your hand. Turn back and sprint to the far cone (10 yards) and touch the line. Turn back and sprint 5 yards through the start line to the finish.

Image- https://mishockpt.com/speed-and-agility-training/

Agility Ladder drill example:

2 feet out, 1 foot in.

Image- https://i.pinimg.com/564x/97/db/15/97db15d22b150e4585a1caa89056b39a.jpg

Plyometrics: Jump, leap, and hop.

References:

Clark, M.A., Sutton, B.G., Lucett, S.C. (2014). NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training, 4th Edition, Revised. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Why You Need a Physical Therapist on Your Healthcare Team

Photo from APTA

By the Private Practice Section, APTA

With health in sharp focus as a result of the pandemic, now may be a good time to look at the team of experts you have in place and see if there are any improvements you could make. You probably have a family doctor, dentist, and optometrist. Maybe you have some specialist physicians, a trainer, or a massage therapist. If a physical therapist isn't a part of your healthcare team, you're missing out on taking care of a big part of your health. To understand why you need a physical therapist, you need to understand what they do.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS HELP YOU DO THINGS

The American Physical Therapy Association defines PT’s as "health care professionals who diagnose and treat individuals who have medical problems or other health-related conditions that limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities in their daily lives." So physical therapists help you do things that you have trouble with. That could be going for a hike, playing with your kids, or getting through a day of work without pain.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS REDUCE PAIN

Chronic pain is a huge problem worldwide. A big part of that is low back pain. Statistically, around 80% of people will have low back pain in their lifetimes. Physical therapists are trained to treat pain without surgery or medications. If you have back pain, an arthritic knee, neck pain, or an old injury that won't go away, a PT may be able to help.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS KEEP YOU HEALTHY

The APTA goes on to say that "PT’s work with individuals to prevent the loss of mobility before it occurs by developing fitness- and wellness-oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles." That means that a physical therapist can help you determine your risk for injury, choose the right fitness program, and improve the quality of your life by improving your health and ability to move.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS CAN HELP YOU LIVE LONGER

It's well known that the risk of many of the leading causes of death can be reduced by exercise. Some of these conditions would include heart disease, cancer, lung disease, diabetes, and stroke. By helping you move better with less pain, finding the right exercise program, and helping you to make healthy lifestyle choices, a PT could help you live longer.

Physical therapists have a unique set of skills and expertise that can do a lot to improve your health and quality of life.

If you don't have a PT on your Healthcare team, consider adding one to your by calling APTSM, today. View our Location Selector to find a clinic near you!

Better going into surgery, better coming out.

Briana Wasielewski, PTA, CCCE, BS

Having the best rehab after surgery is one of the top priorities of all surgical candidates. Many spend a lot of time getting the best surgeon in place, getting their place to rest in order, and thinking about who can help them with daily life and getting to and from appointments once the surgery is done. While these are all things one should think about prior to surgery, many do not think about what they can do to ultimately increase their chances of having a better surgical outcome: exercise prior to surgery. 

Exercise comes in many forms and is something everyone can do before surgery. If done appropriately, exercise before surgery will likely improve recovery. Who better to help figure out your unique pre-op exercise plan than a physical therapist? 

First, a physical therapist will discuss and evaluate your reason for surgery. Many times the reason a patient is thinking about having surgery is that they have pain or their movement is affected. Exercise is usually not something surgical candidates think they can or should do before considering surgery. Prehab exercise is specifically designed by physical therapists to improve the outcome of patients’ post-surgical rehab. The idea here is “the better going into the surgery, the better coming out”. Whether that means breathing exercises, simple strengthening, flexibility work, or practicing how to use crutches, seeing a physical therapist before surgery can help the healing process in the long run.  

A physical therapist prehab visit also gives the opportunity for surgical candidates to ask questions specifically about the most dreaded part of having surgery: the recovery. Physical therapists are experts in rehabilitation and can tell you exactly what to expect in recovery, and how to prepare yourself with pain management tools.  

If you are thinking about having surgery or know someone who is, make sure you prepare yourself and your body by seeing one of our physical/occupational therapists.

Head to our location page to find a clinic near you!

Tips and Tricks to reduce the amount you sit

Cary Luitjens MPT, PT, LAT

It is said that sitting is the new smoking, but to be more specific, it is not the sitting position… but the act of being sedentary and sedentary behaviors that are unhealthy.

Many jobs have transitioned to work at home, recreational team sports have been canceled or postponed and many of us are spending more time looking at screens….computer, TV, tablet, cell phone, etc. These factors likely lead to more sedentary behaviors that are associated with increased health risks such as an elevation in blood pressure.  Sedentary behavior could be sitting in a perfect work station posture for 8 hours a day without moving at all.  Not only that, where our eyes go-like to a screen-our posture goes.

The 20-20-20 rule was designed by Californian optometrist Jeffrey Anshel. For every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, a person should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds and is recommended by the American Optometric Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology as a way to reduce eye strain and fatigue.

How about the foggy feeling you get after looking at a screen for a prolonged time? Recent evidence suggests that sedentary behaviors may be negatively associated with aspects of brain function such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision making.  Breaking up sitting with intermittent physical activity has beneficial impacts on multiple systems relevant to brain health such as blood pressure and vascular function.

It’s pretty hard to change your gaze to an object 20 feet away and not change your posture! Eye strain can lead to mental fatigue.  Mental fatigue can lead to Tech Neck and forward head posture. Advanced Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine have several great media posts about setting up a work station, and posture tips for use of desktop computers, laptops, and cell phones. Click here to watch our Ergonomic Feedback video!

Recent research articles on sedentary behavior and prolonged sitting support the fact that frequent (every 20-30 minutes) and short (2-3 minutes) interruptions involving light or moderate-intensity walking, standing, or simple resistance exercises can improve glucose metabolism and reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

But sit less and move more is pretty vague. Why not make it more fun!  Here are a couple of ways to liven it up.

“Roll with it” dice workout-needed: 2 dice, space to exercise, and light weights if desired.  You will complete 2 different exercises with each roll of the dice.

1)      15 crunches     1) 20 chest presses

2)      10 lunges each leg      2) 20 shoulder presses

3)      20 squats    3) 30-second plank

4) 30-second jump rope     4) 15 push ups-wall, desk or floor

5) 1-minute wall sit    5) 30-second air punches

6)      20 jumping jacks    6) 20 biceps curls

The card game workout-needed: a deck of cards and light weights if desired.  The number on the card is the number of repetitions you will do of any exercise you choose except face cards are 15 reps and jokers are 20 reps. The suit is the body area you will work on.

Hearts- upper body exercise: push-ups, biceps curls, front raises, side raises, shoulder press, bent-over rows, overhead triceps extensions

Spades-core exercise: sit up, elbow plank, bicycle crunch, hands and knees opposite arm and leg reach, Russian twist, mountain climbers

Diamonds-lower body: squats, lunges, heel raises, sidestepping, single leg balance, bridging

Clubs-cardio exercise: jumping jacks, jog in place, single-leg hopping in place, march in place, quick step-ups, jump rope.

Science is showing us that taking a short break from sitting effectively breaks up our sedentary behaviors, decreases health risks, decreases eye fatigue, improves brain health, and improves our posture. Let’s put it all together! Set a timer for every 20-30 minutes as your schedule allows.  Challenge yourself to not only look away from your screen for 20 seconds by changing your posture but actually get up and perform a light exercise or go get a drink of water.  Your eyes, brain, heart, and muscles will thank you!

REFERENCES:

1)       Dempsey, P. C. et al.  (2016). Interrupting prolonged sitting with brief bouts of light walking or simple resistance activities reduces resting blood pressure and plasma noradrenaline in type 2 diabetes.  Journal of Hypertension, 34(12), 2376-2382.

2)       Wheeler, M., Dunstan, D.W., Smith, B., Smith K. I., Scheer, A., Lewis, J., Naylor, L. H.,     Heinonen, I., Ellis, K. A., Cerin, E., Ainslie, P. N.,  Green, D. J. (2019). Morning exercise mitigates the impact of prolonged sitting on cerebral blood flow in older adults.  Journal of Applied Physiology, 126(4), 1049-1055.

3)      Keadle, S. K., Conroy, D. E., Buman, M. P., Dunstan, D. W. (2017). Targeting reductions in sitting time to increase physical activity and improve health. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 49(8), 1572-1582.

4)      Lidin, M., Ekblom-Bak, E., Karlsson, M. R. (2018). Long-term effects of a Swedish lifestyle intervention programme on lifestyle habits and quality of life in people with increased cardiovascular risk. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 46(6), 612-622.

Does Selecting the Right Running Shoe Help Prevent Injury?

Josh Zilm PT, DPT

Does Selecting the Right Running Shoe Help Prevent Injury?

It’s spring and time to strap on those shoes and get outside.

There has been an entire industry built around providing runners with the best possible shoe.  When answering the question, “Does selecting the right running shoe help prevent injury?” one often has to tread lightly as there are many opinions.  As physical therapists, we like to turn to the scientific literature to answer a question.  Can a running shoe offer a return on energy? Is it better to run barefoot?  Are minimalist shoes better? What about orthotics?  Those are topics for another time.  This post will focus only on the running shoe’s ability to reduce injury and not attempt to answer any of those other questions that can often muddy the waters. 

The industry

The running shoe industry dates back to the mid to late 1800s, but most credit the start of the modern-day training shoe to the founder of a little company called Nike when he started selling shoes out of the back of a van in the 1960s.  Since that time running and shoes have grown into a multi-billion dollar industry.  Did you know that the first New York City Marathon was held in 1970 and had 127 competitors?  That is quite a contrast from 52,812 finishers in 2018.  As the sport has grown so has the market for better shoes with an attempt to meet the needs and demands of the runner.  Research, technology, science, expert opinion, and business has delivered a vast shoe market that boast a variety spanning barefoot the ultimate support and cushion.  So with all the shoes available today, is there a shoe for your foot type that can reduce injury associated with rigors of the sport?

The Amazing Foot

The foot is designed to help our bodies absorb energy as we impact the ground in an action called pronation.  The foot and ankle accomplish these amazing feet through a team effort.  We have muscles from our trunk to our feet that actually fine-tune how the body absorbs shock and then in a split second prepares to propel us forward with each step.  Running injuries are most often associated with the loading phase of running and more specifically the rate at which we load.  Don’t be afraid I won’t get too technical, but it is important to understand that the primary focus on injury reduction regarding the shoe is slowing the rate of loading, that is how fast our bodies have to accept the load with each strike of the foot on the ground. 

Foot Type

The hard part about designing the perfect shoe is that there are 7.66 billion people on the planet with a lot of different foot types (I know they are not all runners).  Thankfully, the orthopedic and running world has been able to classify foot type to offer some order to our attempts to best categorize the variety of feet that walk or run into the clinic.  Foot type does offer some predictive value to the injuries that we typically experience.  Nature(genetics) and nurture(lifestyle) lend way to a spectrum of people have rigid high arched feet, flat feet flexible feet, and everything in between.  The shoe industry has tried to match foot type with the appropriate shoe.  For example, the rigid high arch foot type should consider a softer shoe, while the flat flexible foot could use a more supportive shoe. 

The Shoe Spectrum

The soft shoe would be categorized as a “cushioned” shoe while the more supportive shoe is given the name “motion control”.   It would be intuitive to think that a person with a poor ability to control the position of the foot would benefit from added support and the person with a rigid high arch foot may need a little more cushion because they hit the ground harder.  (funny that studies show that joint reaction forces are actually higher in a cushioned shoe versus minimal support.  The working theory is that runners hit the ground harder with a cushioned heel simply because it’s cushioned.)  This could be a multiday conversation, but my attempt is to explain the basic shoe spectrum that starts with no support(barefoot/running sandal) to motion control(high degree of pronation control).  There are many variations within this spectrum that attempt to meet the needs of the runner, but the question we are trying to answer is can we reduce injury by pairing the runner with the right running shoe?   What does the research say?

Theisen et at 2014 Br J Sport Med completed a study looking at over 200 runners.  They found:

1.      Midsole Hardness and Injury rates: no different.  The amount of cushion had no significant difference in injury rates.

2.      Energy absorption and injury risk have no scientific correlation.  A shoe that absorbs energy does not reduce injury rates.

3.      Shoe wear does not appear to have an effect on biomechanics.  You cannot correct your biomechanics by running with a shoe.

4.      1% increase in metabolic cost for every 3.5 ounces of shoes.  Heavy shoes require more energy.

The recommendation:   Promote light shoes.  Refrain from claiming that shoes reduce injury through cushion or biomechanical changes.

Ryan et al. (2011) Br J Sport Med found;

• Shoe assigned by foot posture index(match the shoe with the foot type).  Static foot type should not be the determining factor for shoe selection.  The highest rate of injury was in runners wearing a motion control shoe that were appropriately matched based on foot type. 

The recommendation: Don't use the algorithm alone in an attempt to match foot type and shoe type to dictate the choice of running shoe.

Nielsen et al. (2014) Br J Sports Med.

• Foot pronation was not associated with increased injury risk in novice runners wearing a neutral shoe.  The “Over pronator” did not experience a greater rate of injury when left unsupported versus supported.

The recommendation: Let comfort dictate.  Give the runner a starting point in shoe selection, but do not feel locked into a shoe, especially motion control. 

Conclusion

Shoe type may offer a good starting point for a new runner when selecting shoes.  Based on the current literature I would recommend starting your search with a shoe that matches your foot type, but don’t feel boxed into a certain type of shoe.  Look for something that is comfortable when you run.  In more recent literature motion control shoes have been associated with higher rates of injury which gives rise to concern for recommending a motion control shoe.

Also, a lighter shoe consumes less energy.  The weight of the shoe does matter.   

One of the questions I often ask in the clinic is, “Do you run to get stronger or get stronger to run” (Dr. Chris Powers, USC).  I see a lot of runners try to compensate for bad mechanics through shoes and more running, but the truth is many people lack the strength to support the activity of running.  A physical therapy running evaluation can be a great tool as you begin or return to running.  Injury reduction comes from improved biomechanics something that we are all capable of with the right instruction.  Like many things in running, there are no short cuts.  Consistent effort = results.  The right running shoe may do a lot of things for the athlete, but with the exception of protecting the bottom of the foot and toes, there does not appear to be evidence supporting the claim that they reduce injury rates in runners.

The Most Common Cause of Vertigo is also the Most Treatable

Chris Hupf, PT, DPT, CSCS

Do you ever feel a sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving? Do you experience bouts of sudden unsteadiness or dizziness? Vertigo is a type of dizziness defined as an illusory sensation of motion of either the self or the surroundings in the absence of true motion (1).

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, it’s estimated that close to 40% of the population will experience dizziness or balance problems over the course of their lifetime(2). 

One of the most common causes of vertigo is a condition called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). In fact, of the 5 million people in the United States who seek care for complaints of dizziness every year, between 17% and 42% end up receiving a diagnosis of BPPV.1 

BPPV is a type of positional vertigo caused by a disorder of the inner ear. Those who have it experience repeated “spinning” sensations or unsteadiness when they move their head in a certain direction. This could occur when rolling over or getting out of bed or tipping the head back to look up. A feeling of lightheadedness and nausea can occur as well. 

It’s widely understood that BPPV is caused by small calcium carbonate crystals that become dislodged from their normal resting place and end up free-floating within one of three semicircular canals used by the inner ear to sense movement. With changes in head position, these crystals migrate within the fluid-filled canal, causing movement of fluid and subsequent pressure changes that result in an abnormal sensation of rotation or spinning.

In the clinic, a physical therapist can assist in diagnosing BPPV through physical examination and understanding your history. This includes observation of involuntary eye movements that occur when the patient is placed in specific positions that provoke their dizziness. Depending on the canal affected, treatment involves a sequence of specific maneuvers designed to clear these crystals from the canal. These maneuvers are highly effective, with studies showing a complete resolution of symptoms 74-95% of the time in as little as one visit. (3-6) 

Almost 90% of people with BPPV will experience some interruption to their daily lives, including anxiety, depression, an increased risk for falls and impaired performance at home or at work.1,7 And, because most people who seek treatment are unaware that physical therapists can help, many ultimately end up undergoing expensive and unnecessary diagnostic testing and treatment first. (7) 

Physical therapists quickly and easily treat BPPV. Many of our therapists have undergone additional training to diagnose and treat BPPV, so please don’t hesitate to reach out and schedule an appointment. It could be your next and final step in ending this debilitating condition, allowing you to live life uninterrupted once again.

References: 

1. Bhattacharyya, N., Gubbels, S. P., Schwartz, S. R., Edlow, J. A., El-Kashlan, H., Fife, T., ... & Seidman, M. D. (2017). Clinical practice guideline: benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (update). Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, 156(3_suppl), S1-S47. 

2. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. (2005). Strategic plan (FY 2006-2008). Retrieved from http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/StaticResources/about/plans/strategic/strategic06-08.pdf [PDF]. 

3. Wang, Y. H., Chan, C. Y., & Liu, Q. H. (2019). Benign paroxsymal positional vertigo–recommendations for treatment in primary care. Therapeutics and clinical risk management, 15, 719. 

4. Fyrmpas, G., Barkoulas, E., Haidich, A. B., & Tsalighopoulos, M. (2013). Vertigo during the Epley maneuver and success rate in patients with BPPV. European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology, 270(10), 2621-2625. 

5. Helminski, J. O. (2014). Effectiveness of the canalith repositioning procedure in the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Physical therapy, 94(10), 1373-1382. 

6. Bruintjes, T. D., Companjen, J., van der Zaag‐Loonen, H. J., & van Benthem, P. P. G. (2014). A randomised sham‐controlled trial to assess the long‐term effect of the Epley manoeuvre for treatment of posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Clinical Otolaryngology, 39(1), 39-44. 

7. BPPV: Experts Update Best Practices for Diagnosis and Treatment. (2017, March 1). Retrieved from https://www.entnet.org/content/bppv-experts-update-best-practices-diagnosis-and-treatment

Image of Inner Ear: Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436. - Own work.

March is National Athletic Training Month

By Kayla Schneider, LAT

“Athletic trainers are impacting change in health care. Together, with doctors, coaches, school administrators, military leaders, government officials, performing arts organizations and legislators, ATs are reshaping how injuries are treated and, more importantly, prevented. The future of health care requires action before, during and after an injury and ATs Impact Health Care Through Action.” - National Athletic Training Association (2020)

At APTSM, our very own Athletic Trainers are contributing to the health and well-being of athletes on and off the field. In the Appleton Area High Schools, St. Mary Central High School and Lawrence University, our AT’s are making strides in injury care and prevention through nutrition education, weather monitoring, working closely with coaches and strength coaches on tools and strategies for injury prevention, and acting as liaison between athletes, parents, coaching staff, PT’s and physicians to carefully coordinate care for the athletes. Off the field, our AT’s are providing services to more than 20 locations across north and east-central Wisconsin including factories, police and fire settings. These services come in the form of preplacement evaluations, ergonomics and safety programs, job counseling, supervised work conditioning programs and wellness programs and coordinating with employers, safety managers, physicians, and physical therapists. Their efforts all lead to decreasing the number of injuries, time lost on work restrictions and helping to make companies more competitive in their markets.

By taking these preventative measures, being the rapidly available medical professionals at the onset of injuries, and being able to direct care along the best path, active populations are seeing better outcomes. Athletic Trainers are leading the charge in changing healthcare for the better.

Learn more about our Athletic Trainers here.

Or call us at 920-991-2561

Hand Therapy

By ASHT (American Society of Hand Therapists)

What is hand therapy?

Hand therapy is the art and science of evaluating and treating injuries and conditions of the upper extremity (shoulder, arm, elbow, forearm, wrist and hand). Hand therapy uses a number of therapeutic interventions to help return a person to their highest level of function. It evolved from the need for a specialist with the knowledge and experience required to manage the challenging recovery of complex hand and upper extremity injuries

What is a hand therapist?

A hand therapist is an occupational or physical therapist who, through advanced continuing education, clinical experience and integration of knowledge in anatomy, physiology and kinesiology, has become proficient in treatment of pathological upper extremity conditions resulting from trauma, disease, congenital or acquired deformity.

What does a hand therapist provide?

Hand therapists bridge the gap from medical management of upper extremity conditions to successful recovery, allowing individuals to function normally in their daily lives. Hand therapists provide non-operative interventions, preventative care and post-surgical rehabilitation for a wide variety of upper extremity disorders, from simple fingertip injuries to complex replanted extremities. Patients with chronic conditions, such as arthritis, or neurologic conditions, such as a stroke, can benefit from hand therapy through education on joint protection and energy conservation, and with recommendations for adaptive equipment or devices to improve function. A hand therapist employs a variety of techniques and tools, including activity and exercise programs, custom orthotic fabrication, management of pain and swelling and wound and scar care. A hand therapist can also be a consultant in the industrial world, training employees and recommending modifications of workstations and alternative work methods to help ensure healthy work styles of all employees.

Where do hand therapists work?

• Hospitals

• Rehabilitation centers

• Industrial medicine facilities

• Privately owned therapy clinics

• Sports medicine facilities

• Academia

Why APTSM?

At Advanced Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine we have a dedicated team of Occupational Therapists who specialize in hand therapy. Our hand therapists offer a variety of treatments to develop or maintain functional living in those with certain physical conditions or musculoskeletal disorders.  They focus on the client, placing a paramount focus on client goals. If you or a loved one suffers from hand-related aches and pains, call us today and set up a free, 15-minute consultation to receive expert advice from one licensed hand/occupational therapists— 920-991-2561

Keeping your Resolution & Physical Therapy

Kris Tebo, PT, DPT

With the new year people begin to set goals and make resolutions. Losing weight, getting to the gym more often or getting into "better shape" are all common. These all require increasing your amount of physical activity. More activity is great for your health, energy levels, sleep, and mood. However, ramping up your activity level too quickly can lead to pain, injury and disappointment if your body isn't ready for it. Your physical therapist is an expert in movement and can help you safely reach your fitness goals.

People think of physical therapists as the people to see after an injury, but a visit before you change your activity level could prevent injury in the first place. An evaluation by your PT will include assessment of your strength, range of motion, and functional movement patterns - think jumping, running, squatting, carrying. Most common injuries from new fitness routines are caused by underlying weakness, range of motion deficits, or compensatory movement patterns. Your PT will find these during your assessment. They can then prescribe exercises to address the issues found and get you safely moving toward your goals.

The other common way people get injured working towards their resolution is over-training, or doing too much too soon. Physical therapists are also experts in exercise prescription and program design. Your PT can help you create a routine specific to your needs and goals that will progress appropriately and keep you out of trouble. So stop only thinking of your PT after you're injured. In this case, it's true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Seeing your physical therapist early on can keep you on track, injury-free, and help you reach your goals for the new year!

Check out one of our earlier blogs here to learn about what you can be doing to reach your goals.

APTSM does offer performance training, bridge training (for those transitioning out of therapy and into a more intensive exercise program) and FREE 15-minute consultations. So call us today and schedule your appointment and get back on track with your resolutions. 920-991-2561

Some material in this blog is provided by the Prive Practice Section of APTA