Physical therapy is not just for injuries or pain. It can also help you with your balance, mobility, coordination, and cognition. If you have Parkinson's disease, find out how PT can help you here.
Here’s What to Eat Before and After a Workout
If you exercise regularly, it’s important to make sure you’re taking in enough energy to fully benefit from your efforts.
Whether you are an athlete in training, visit the gym daily or are more of a weekend warrior, it’s important to keep an eye on nutrition and how you’re fueling your body before, during and after exercise. Even if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s essential to make sure you’re taking in enough energy to fully benefit from your workouts and achieve the strength, endurance, agility and flexibility that you hope to gain.
Click here to see what is best to eat before and after a workout.
Where the Capital District comes to get "Back in Balance"
Fall Prevention
Falls are one of the leading causes of serious injuries and health problems for older adults. There are numerous factors that can contribute to an increased risk of falling, such as: age, history, medication changes, degenerative joint diseases, post arthroplasty, or osteoporosis. Our fall prevention and balance program is specifically designed to help reduce the risk of falls.
What makes our Balance Program unique?
Our world-class physical therapists have some of the best equipment and technology available to assist you with your individual needs:
Biodex Computer Balance Testing System: allows our PTs to identify balance problems in just two minutes
Guldmann Safety Harness: allows patients to walk safely while being suspended from the ceiling in a harness
AlterG Anti-Gravity Treadmill: uses NASA-developed technology to unweight patients to as little as 20% of their body weight, allowing them to work in a safe, fall-free setting
We are here to help!
Ask your physician for a referral to participate in our fall prevention and balance program based on your increased risk of falling. Most insurance plans, including Medicare, cover our screening and treatment for fall prevention. Call 518-489-2524 with any questions. We look forward to helping you get back in balance!
Is Intensive Participation in a Sport Good or Bad for Kids? | HSS
Back to school time is approaching. Check out this great article from our colleagues at HSS!
Click here for article
When Fibromyalgia Ignites, It Brings a Different Kind of Heat
There's no question that we're in the hottest part of the summer. There's a group of nearly 5 million people in the United States that experience a different kind of heat - those with Fibromyalgia.
What is Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that can cause a wide range of issues throughout the body. It's usually diagnosed between the ages of 30 and 50, and 80% to 90% of the people affected are women. One of the most common and debilitating symptoms is burning pain. Other common symptoms include fatigue, memory problems, sleep disturbances, depression, and anxiety.
How is Fibromyalgia Treated?
The cause of fibromyalgia is unknown and there is no cure, so treatments are directed at reducing and managing the symptoms. Because of the wide range of symptoms, fibromyalgia requires a multi-faceted approach. First, it's important to have a thorough medical exam to rule out other conditions that might be causing or contributing to the symptoms like an infection, Lyme disease, thyroid problems, metabolic disease or side effects from medication. A specialist like rheumatologist can help people with fibromyalgia with medications. Another important member of the treatment team is a physical therapist. Physical therapists work to help people with fibromyalgia using several different methods. They often start by helping people understand what's going on and what they can do about it. Research has shown that people who are knowledgeable about their condition have better outcomes, more confidence, and cope better. A PT might use gentle manual therapy or massage to help with the pain and stiffness. They could prescribe specific stretches or a simple yoga routine. They might also use modalities like electrical stimulation, biofeedback or in states where it is allowed, dry needling. Once patients understand the condition and are able to move a little better with less pain, exercise often enters the treatment picture. Research has shown that low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise like walking, biking, or swimming is important in managing fibromyalgia symptoms. It can help with pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, depression and more. Physical therapists and patients work together to find the right type of exercise and the right intensity to best manage fibromyalgia. They often have to start slow, and make adjustments along the way. Despite there still being no cure for fibromyalgia, when patients work with their medical team and physical therapist, they can find relief from their symptoms.
About The Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association
Founded in 1956, the Private Practice Section of the American Physical Therapy Association champions the success of physical therapist-owned businesses. Our members are leaders and innovators in the healthcare system. The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) represents more than 85,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and students of physical therapy nationwide. For more information, please visit www.ppsapta.org.
Expect to Get Better. You Probably Will.
Research has shown that positive expectations increase the chances of a good outcome. It's the old self-fulfilling prophecy; your attitude determines your approach to situations. If you believe you'll be successful, you'll likely put in more effort. You'll be more willing to try new things, take some risks and keep trying after failures or setbacks. A negative attitude will likely mean that you'll take your first failure or setback as confirmation that what you're trying won't work or isn't possible and you'll give up. Why waste time and effort on something that's doomed to failure anyway?
Your Expectations Influence Your Results
There's some research to prove that positive thinking and expectations make a difference in rehab settings too. A review of 23 articles looking at outcomes for shoulder pain found a few interesting things. First, patients who expected to recover and believed that they had some control of the outcome, ended up doing better than those who didn't. Second, optimistic patients were found to have less pain and disability after completing rehab. Third, patients who believed they'd have pain and disability after surgery tended to have - you guessed it - pain and disability after their surgery. Research says that you tend to get what you expect.
So Do Your Therapist's
Your attitude is important, but what about your therapist's? There isn't much research specific to PT, but there is a study done in elementary schools that might give us some clues. Two psychologists - Rosenthal and Jacobs, did a study showing that teacher expectations had an influence on student performance. They told teachers that randomly selected students in their classes were tested and found to be "late bloomers". These students were expected to show large improvements in academic performance during the school year. When the students were tested 8 months later, the students the teachers believed would improve the most, did.
Why? When teachers think students have a lot of potential to improve, they hold them to higher standards. They teach more complex materials, don't settle for simplistic answers and are more willing to spend time instructing and working with those students. It's pretty easy to see how this could cross over into a PT clinic. If your PT thinks you can get better, they'll probably put more effort into designing your program, spend more time with you and push you harder than someone they don't believe has a lot of room for improvement.
To have the best chance for a good outcome, you and your therapist both need to expect one. You probably will.
References
● De Baets L, Matheve T, Meeus M, Struyf F, Timmermans A. The influence of cognitions, emotions and behavioral factors on treatment outcomes in musculoskeletal shoulder pain: a systematic review. Clin Rehabil. 2019 Jun;33(6):980-991. doi: 10.1177/0269215519831056. Epub 2019 Feb 22. PMID: 30791696.
● Rosenthal, R, and L. Jacobsen. Pygmalion in the classroom: teacher expectation and pupils’ intellectual development. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.
APTA 100 Year Anniversary
Join us in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)! Click below to see a timeline marking 100 milestones of APTA's journey over the last 100 years.
https://centennial.apta.org/home/timeline/
7 Easy Pool Exercises for the Summer
By Steven Cornell, DPT