Life in a day of a Physical Therapist
Miracles of Therapy
Short arc quads is a famous exercise that helps increase the strength of the muscles around the knee joint. You may have heard physical therapists mentioning about or providing this famous exercise as part of a session or home exercise program. Continue reading “Short Arc Quads : A Vital Knee Strengthening Exercise.”
Morning back pain is common and can occur due to many different reasons. I have heard many people complaining of stiff back or painful back when they first get out of bed. This is a very generalized complaint. The reasons for a morning back pain varies from age, arthritis, posture to any history of back pain in the past. It may need a full physical therapy assessment in some cases. In contrast, in a few cases, it may be a matter of a small fix here and there. Continue reading “Morning Back Pain : What to do before you head down to doctor’s office.”
I discuss quad sets in many of my previous articles. Quad sets are one of the most important exercises in knee rehabilitation. It can be done preoperatively or postoperatively, with or without pain. It not only helps to increase muscle strength but also reduces a little amount of pain. This is the first exercise that you will do in rehabilitation after knee replacement or with degenerative arthritis pain. This exercise surely prepares your muscles to perform other exercises. And thereby it gets your body ready to be able to participate in functional activities. Continue reading “How to perform Quad Sets: An Important Exercise in knee Rehabilitation.”
Have you been told to perform Glute Strengthening Exercise? If you are some type of athlete, you must be familiar with how important our butt muscles are. In addition to playing a crucial role in almost all daily activities, they are useful in stabilizing the hips and pelvis joints. Properly trained and strong glute muscles will not only protect your hip joints and knee joints but also prevents many back injuries. And the bonus is toned glutei helps you cosmetically! I am sure you are already aware of that. Continue reading “Glute Strengthening Exercise: Tips to Get Stronger Butts.”
There are multiple ways to perform a SQUAT. The majority of you must have heard about one or other forms of the squat. There are many benefits to performing squatting. Squatting helps to increase muscle strength, functional endurance, tone muscles, and one of the famous exercises in the weight loss regime. This is an exercise that can be done by children for fun, adults to lose weight, older individuals to improve muscle strength and balance, or any other age in between as a workout routine. Additionally, from beginners to professional athletes practice squatting to prepare themselves for the game. The only difference in all the above mentioned is the way they perform squatting exercise. There are many different ways to perform squats. On top of that, you can change speed, frequency, and intensity to make the exercise easier or a little difficult! So in this article, I want to discuss a few different yet important ways to perform squats.
Continue reading “Squat: Detailed Information on How to Perform Variety of Squat Exercises”
Chin tuck is one of my favorite exercises. It is easy to do any time, anywhere with no external equipment. In this digital era, chin tuck exercise is a must for people of any age. It can help reduce neck stress, improve posture, increase muscle strength, and relax muscles.
This exercise works great if you spend a lot of your time in front of a screen (for those computer savvy people). Also, it improves a forward head posture or poor neck posture and corrects it. You can perform this exercise in sitting or in standing as shown in the picture. Continue reading “Chin Tuck Exercise: When And How to Perform It?”
Feeling numbness and tingling on the fingers or hand? Having trouble holding a cup of coffee – you feel like you will drop the cup soon? Feeling weakness in hand? Are these complaints familiar to you? Cervical Disc Herniation with an impinged nerve is one the most common cause for PT visits. One vertebra protrudes posteriorly (backward), anteriorly (forward – less common) or sideways (medially or laterally – again rare), impinging a cervical nerve passing through the cervical foramen. This impingement or pressing down of the nerve brings symptoms that are uncomfortable. Continue reading “Cervical Disc Herniation: A Physical Therapist’s approach to reduce Neck pain”
Shoulder exercise is done with a wide range of variations. Isometric contractions are one of the ways to perform shoulder exercise. In my previous articles, I discussed how to perform isometric exercises of the elbow, wrist, knees, and low back. Isometric exercises are exercises that do not produce any visible body movements. The length of the muscle fibers does not change while performing this exercise. That is why these exercises are a good option to consider when a joint is in a cast or immobilized. They are also a good option to initiate your exercise protocol when a person demonstrates severe weakness or pain. Continue reading “How to Perform Shoulder Exercise Isometrically.”
Physical Therapy plays a crucial part in the management of pain and stiffness related to Rheumatoid Arthritis. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a type of autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the body’s joints causing chronic inflammation of the joints and joint lines. In addition, rheumatoid arthritis can cause extra-articular inflammation which leads to injury to other organs in the body. As a result, RA is a type of systemic illness and is the same as rheumatoid disease.
Continue reading “Rheumatoid Arthritis: Physical Therapy to Manage Pain and Stiffness”
Wrist pain can occur due to several reasons and can be acute or chronic. A pain is categorized as chronic when it lasts for more than 3 to 6 months, gradually worsens or reoccurs even after medical treatments. Chronic wrist pain can be due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders, overuse injury to muscles, ligaments, etc. It can also be a side effect of prolonged use of medications or being in wrong postures for extended periods. As per the CDC, arthritis and wrong ergonomics are some of the main factors leading to chronic wrist pain. Continue reading “Chronic Wrist Pain: Guide to Conservative Pain Management”
Who hasn’t had neck pain at some point in their life? Neck pain is probably one of the most common chronic pain complaints of today’s world, which results mostly from the improper use of electronics (eg. improper monitor alignment, improper use of cell phones, etc) and bad posture causing muscle or ligament strain. The pain can be greatly reduced or even alleviated by performing some simple neck exercises and stretches. The list below will guide you through these neck exercises as well as stretches that help in reducing neck discomfort and pain.
Continue reading “Exercises and stretches for instant neck pain relief”
Just like any isometrics, elbow isometrics are used and prescribed to reduce muscle or tendon pain and swelling. Few common conditions like tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) or golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) make elbow isometrics more important than isometrics of other joints. In this article, I discuss how to perform two main elbow isometrics with printable handouts. This is Elbow flexion isometric and elbow extension isometric. Continue reading “Isometric Exercises to Strengthen Elbows and reduce Elbow Pain”
Wrist Isometric exercises are used to reduce pain and manage the swelling. These exercises are done in the early case of injury, or while the wrist is in a cast or in an immobilizer. Isometric exercises do not allow any muscle lengthening or any visible movement in the body. So it is a little tricky to understand and to perform correctly. However, with the help of the clinician, you can learn how to perform these exercises accurately. In this article, I want to describe some important wrist isometric exercises. Continue reading “Wrist Isometric Exercises: How to exercise Wrist when in Cast”
Wrist pain is extremely common among athletes, healthcare professionals, and anyone who is involved in lifting/carrying of heavy/large objects. A small pull here and there, happening over time, can easily damage wrist muscles or ligaments. An injury due to overuse of the wrist can result in chronic wrist pain. On the other hand, a forceful sudden pull is capable of tearing the ligaments or muscles around the wrist immediately causing an acute onset of pain. I will discuss how to treat and prevent both acute and chronic wrist pain. Continue reading “Exercises to Relieve Acute or Chronic Wrist Pain”
In my previous article, I talked about isometric exercises for hips and knees. Here, I want to discuss two major isometric exercises for low back pain, which greatly help in dealing with lower back pain. Some of the more complex isometric exercises are planks, push-ups, or holding certain yoga poses. However, They are more strenuous and intense exercises that should be performed by a healthy person with proper guidance. The two basic isometric exercises that are demonstrated in this article can be used in the acute stages of lower back pain or lower back injury. Continue reading “Two isometric exercises for low back pain”