Gardening without Pain

It's April 7th and I think I may be seeing signs of spring! The daffodils at my back door have bloomed. The birds are nosing around the bird houses for a new nesting spot. The neighbors are out raking, trimming, pruning.



Gardening is hard work, especially after a long cold winter. Our bodies are just never prepared for the bending, twisting and lift that comes with getting our yards ready to explode with green grass and vibrant colored flowers. So be sure to plan ahead and pace yourself, especially if you know that your (fill in the blank-- back, knee, shoulder....) has not been feeling so well in the past. Try not to push to get it all done in a single weekend.

Sprain or Strain?

Some of the most common injuries treated by PTs are sprains and strains. Although treated similarly they are injuries to different parts of the body.

Sprain: This is an over stretching of a ligament or a joint. Ligaments hold 2 bones together forming a joint.  The joint capsule and ligaments that are the support system of a joint.  If the joint is over stretched these structures become weakened and lax.These injuries occur when a joint is taken beyond its normal range of motion like rolling an ankle or over reaching with your arm. 

Shoulder Bursitis

What is bursitis and how did you get it?

Lets start with what a bursa is.  The bursa is a fluid filled pouch that acts as a cushion between the bones of your shoulder and arm and the tendons and soft tissues that attach to them. Bursitis is an inflammation or irritation of this pouch. Bursitis is also often associated with tendonitis.

Balance and Falls

As we age, it becomes increasingly important to have good balance to assist in fall prevention. The CDC reports that 1 in every 3 people over the age of 65 years old will fall one time each year. This statistic increases to ½  population over the age of 80 years old. Those are some pretty staggering numbers! These falls can result in minor bruises or bumps but also often result in fractures or head injuries.  To prevent injury, we suggest assessing yourself to determine if you are likely to be one of those who might be at risk of a fall. 

Yoga For Back Pain-- Part 2

Part II         Improving mobility of the lower body is also important in controlling back pain.

            Tightness in large muscles in the lower body are also very frequent causes of in low back pain. The most common culprits are the hamstrings (back of your thigh) and the hip flexor, a deep muscle in the front of your hip that attaches to the low back . The hip flexor can causes increased curve in the low back  and pulls your pelvis forward if it is tight. The hamstrings often cause a flattening of the curve in the low back and tilt the pelvis backwards when it is tight. This creates abnormal stresses upon the spine.

Weight lifter's Elbow??

Weight lifter's elbow? Never heard of it!  

How about Mommy's elbow? Carpenter's elbow? Typer's elbow? Salesman elbow? ..... No?

Perhaps Tennis or Golfer's elbow?   Yes I am sure that most of you have heard of these 2 issues.  But all the others are the same problem.  Any of the options above create similar stress on the elbow as does tennis or golf. Mom tries to do all her tasks one handed while keeping hold of a crying child; Joe swings a hammer or holds a drill overhead for hours at a time; Jean decides that doing 3 sets of lateral raises with increased weight should be OK; and Fred sits at his computer programming all day long with fingers flying across the keys.

All of these tasks stress the forearm muscles.  These muscles actually are responsible for motions and movements at the wrist. The common extensors are the muscles that pull your wrist up and they attach to the outside condyle (bony area) of your elbow and the common flexors attach to the inside condyle and they pull our wrist down.  They also control the movements of the fingers for opening and closing the hand.