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 we do.
Physical Therapists Help You Do Things The American Physical Therapy Association defines PTs 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 we 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 "PTs occurs by developing fitness work with individuals to prevent the loss of mobility before it 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 one, consider adding one to your healthcare team.
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What is Functional Dry Needling?
We use an acupuncture needle, which does not contain any medication, to insert into the painful muscle in order to provide pain relief. All of our needles are sterile, one-time-use needles made from surgical grade metal. How does it work? It works on a few levels. It kick-starts the healing process to increase blood flow to the area and reset “trigger points” or hypersensitive areas in the muscle. It helps to retrain the pain center in the brain that controls the painful body part. What does it feel like? It varies patient to patient, but typically the patient does not feel the needle break the skin. Once inside the muscle, it feels like a cramping sensation. After the needle has been placed we use electrical stimulation to help reset the muscle and pain sensation, which feels like a comfortable tapping sensation. It feels like a workout soreness for usually 24 hours then pain relief is felt around 48 hours. How long does it take before I feel pain relief? Usually it takes 2-3 sessions before the patient feels significantly better. Sometimes it is sooner than 3 sessions, but on average 2-3. The pain relief can also be immediate, but usually felt around 48 hours following the session. What are the side effects/risks? Since there is no medication within the needles, there are very few risks and side effects. It is a great low risk option to tackle acute and chronic pain. Muscle soreness is the most common afterwards. Needles placed in the extremities are the lowest risk, as it is not near the lung field. Needles near/over the lung field are increased risk of a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) if the needle penetrates the field. Our clinicians are highly trained and experienced and have never had any adverse effects with their patients. What if I am on any blood thinners? The needles don’t usually cause any bleeding. Sometimes you may experience bruising at the site, but very rarely. What if I am pregnant or had recent surgery? We do not perform Functional Dry Needling if you are pregnant or have a current active infection. If you have had surgery within 6 weeks we stay away from the surgical site. If it’s been 12 weeks we can needle at the surgical site if we have clearance from your doctor. Can I try Functional Dry Needling even if I am not being treated as a patient? Yes! If you want to come in for a trial without being seen as an established patient we offer 20-30 minute sessions starting at $60 per session. Functional Dry Needling is always more effective in conjunction with Physical Therapy (manual therapy and exercise). If you are interested or have more questions, please call to speak with Dr. Jill, Dr. Bobbi or Dr. Heidi. We are happy to help and get you feeling better! Physical therapists aren't just for people that are injured or have had surgery. Physical therapists can also help healthy people improve their fitness.
Here are 5 reasons why you should consider seeing yours. 1. You Want a Baseline When you see a physical therapist to improve your fitness, you'll get an assessment of your strength, range of motion, posture and movement patterns. This not only helps us design a customized program just for you, it gives us a baseline to compare things to in the future should you start having pain or suffer an injury. 2. You Want Expert Guidance Becoming a physical therapist requires at least a bachelor's degree and most PTs practicing today have a doctorate. Every PT has passed a national board exam and maintains a state license. That guarantees you that every physical therapist is a verified expert in human movement. 3. You Want to Prevent Injury Physical therapists don't just work to heal injuries, we are also experts in preventing them. After a thorough assessment, we can help you design a program that will not only help you reach your fitness goals, but that can address any issues that increase your risk for injury. 4. You Want Unbiased Advice Yoga instructors will want you to do yoga. Personal trainers will want you to come to their gym. Pilates instructors will want you to do Pilates. Strength coaches will want you to strength train. A physical therapist doesn't have a bias or vested interest as to what type of fitness regimen you choose. We are only interested in helping you reach your goals. 5. You Have a History If you have some kind of history that affects your ability to exercise, a PT is the best person to help you design a fitness regimen. It doesn't matter if it's an old injury from athletics or work, back pain that comes up from time to time, COPD, arthritis or heart disease, we can help you safely work around it and meet your fitness goals. Have you ever rolled over in bed one morning and felt the room spin uncontrollably? Physical Therapists have specialized training in treating people with symptoms of dizziness. Dizziness is a debilitating symptom and can be caused by many different things. One of the most common causes is called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). The deepest part of your ear, the inner ear, is home to a system that tells your head where it is in space. There are crystals, or otoconia, that move in a chamber that respond to movement and gravity which tells the brain where the head is positioned. Dizziness can be caused when these otoconia break loose and move into canals where they shouldn’t be. Depending on how many break free, the dizziness can be an intense spinning for up to 1 minute and then feeling “off” the rest of the day. The dizziness is mostly aggravated by head movement (rolling in bed, bending down to tie shoes, sitting up from laying down). Thankfully, PTs can do a simple maneuver to put the crystals back where they belong. Often the dizziness can be cleared up in 1-3 visits. If you experience dizzy symptoms, come get it checked out! Let’s get you feeling better! COVID has certainly made the importance of health very clear and we have all seen how quickly things can change with an illness. While COVID is currently front and center in most people's thoughts, it isn't the only thing out there that can change your life. Heart disease, diabetes, strokes and cancer can all be devastating too. Movement offers a defense If you're looking to be more resilient and defend against these things, physical activity can do it. The dangers of being sedentary are well known and documented in the research. Excessive sitting and sedentary time have even been called the new smoking. For many of us, sitting and being inactive is part of our jobs. However, research has shown that getting in enough movement can counteract the negative effects of being sedentary. A large study done in the U.K. found no association between the amount of time people spent sedentary and their chances of illness. But the authors didn't conclude that being sedentary is OK. Instead, they felt their findings were likely "attributable to a protective effect of the high volumes of daily walking." The study was conducted in London, where people tend to spend much more time walking or standing than average. The people in the study had daily walking times that were over double the average amount reported in the U.K. Physical Therapists Are Unequaled Experts in Human Movement While walking was the activity in this particular study, other research has shown that all kinds of movement can help protect your health. If you're looking to get those protective benefits for yourself you could choose to walk, bike, lift weights, dance or garden. If you're not moving as much or as well as you'd like, see your physical therapist. We are the most qualified professionals on the planet to help you move better and allow you to stay healthy and enjoy life. From designing a program to get you started or moving more, to helping you recover from an injury, your PT is the right person to look to for help. You know that physical activity is good for you. The benefits are well researched and the list is impressive. Here's just a sampling: ● Releases endorphins to make you feel good and fight depression ● Helps control weight ● Prevents diseases like stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer ● Improves sleep ● Helps you live longer Recent studies even show that physical activity strengthens your immune system, with a protective effect against COVID, and that staying active through middle age protects your brain as you age. Physical activity is a wonder drug. If it was a pill, you'd buy it and take it every day. But even though activity is free, less than 25% of Americans meet the CDC recommendations for activity. We clearly need help. Physical Therapists Are The Experts in Human Movement To be active, you need to be able to move. Physical Therapists do more than help you recover from surgeries or major injuries. We are the experts in human movement. Sure, you could see a strength coach to lift weights, hire a personal trainer, go to a yoga class to work on your flexibility and balance, and see a chiropractor for adjustments. But that seems like a lot of people when a PT can help you with all of these things and more. Nobody knows more about human movement or looks at your health the same way a PT does. We can help you with every aspect of movement including strength, range of motion, flexibility, endurance, balance and coordination. As medical professionals we can help you with injuries or other issues. Your PT can work with your doctor to help use activity to manage things like diabetes, cholesterol levels or blood pressure instead of prescriptions. We are also trained to work with people of all ages, so you can develop a long-term relationship and we can continue to adjust and modify your routine as you age or your goals change. Stay Healthy For Life Staying active has a long list of benefits both now and in the future. But chances are you're not moving enough to make the most of those benefits. Most people need help. Physical therapists are the most qualified professional in existence to help keep you moving and healthy now and in the future. So don't only think of your PT as someone you see when you need help with pain or an injury. Think of us as your partner and coach working to help you keep moving and stay healthy for life. A body in motion stays in motion. The best thing we can do for our bodies is….MOVE! Research supports that movement and exercise supports bone growth and joint health.¹ The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity with 2 days of muscle strengthening activity.² This can include anything from walking 30 minutes a day 5 days a week to weekly yard work . Adult sports leagues can be a great way to not only relive the glory days, but to have fun with movement. Movement should be fun and enjoyable, however there are instances when injury can make movement unenjoyable. As our bodies age, our tendons become less elastic and are prone to a process called tendinosis.³ Tendinosis is the process of our tendons (the connective tissue connecting muscle to bone) weakening due to chronic overuse motions.³ The result can be pain and limited function. Weekend warriors can endure throwing injuries, low back pain, and even jaw pain from neck and facial injuries. If left untreated, these conditions can become chronic and cause movement avoidance, further contributing to the tendinosis process. Weakness and or movement limitations can contribute further to the issue. So, what’s the cure? Rehab! Tendons respond amazingly well to exercise correctly prescribed by a Physical Therapist.⁴ Physical therapy can also help with injury prevention. We can improve overall strength of the muscle and tendon to avoid throwing injuries, low back pain and even jaw pain. During the process of tendon healing and strengthening, we can provide pain relief through soft tissue mobilization, functional dry needling and other hands-on manual techniques. Weekend Warriors, if you are currently suffering from an injury or just want to become stronger to prevent injuries we can help! Author: Heidi Plotzke, PT, DPT Sources: 1. Carter MI, Hinton PS. Physical activity and bone health. Mo Med. 2014;111(1):59-64. 2. How much physical activity do adults need? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm. Published March 17, 2022. Accessed March 22, 2022. 3. Bass E. Tendinopathy: why the difference between tendinitis and tendinosis matters. Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2012;5(1):14-17. doi:10.3822/ijtmb.v5i1.153 4. Ian Burton, Aisling McCormack, The implementation of resistance training principles in exercise interventions for lower limb tendinopathy: A systematic review, Physical Therapy in Sport, Volume 50, 2021, Pages 97-113, Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) is the joint that connects your mandible (lower jaw) to your skull. The joint can be found on both sides of your head in front of your ears. It allows your jaw to open and close, enabling you to speak and eat.
TMJ pain can lead to headaches, face pain, and difficulty with opening your mouth. Dr. Jill at Michigan in Motion Physical Therapy has a certification in treating head/neck and face pain, and will thoroughly evaluate these areas and give exercises to help. In addition, If you have sensitivity to light or sound, we have private treatment rooms to make P.T. more comfortable. Schedule your appointment today with Dr. JIl. |
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