Walking is great exercise, and a great part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s something our bodies were built to do, and it should be a relaxing and invigorating experience, not painful. Unfortunately, for some people walking can be a source of hip pain. It can be a slow ache that arises after several minutes walking,
Millions of Americans feel the pain of sciatica every year. Though not everyone experiences it the same way, it typically feels like pain that begins around the lower back or buttock area and travels into the leg. The sciatic nerve is the largest and longest nerve in your body, and when it (or one of the spinal nerve roots that contributes to it) gets irritated or compressed,
Back pain can come from seemingly nowhere. It can happen after a day of standing at work or after cooking a large meal or waiting in a long line, even if you didn’t lift anything heavy or bend awkwardly. It’s as if standing itself is a problem, like your back struggles just to support its own weight.
It’s something that comes on slowly for most people. You find yourself reaching for the railing more often. Maybe you’re a little less confident on uneven ground. Or maybe you suddenly notice that turning quickly makes you a bit wobbly.
Balance problems are very common as we age. Though it’s easy to take for granted,
Moving an arthritic joint hurts. This unavoidable fact can make it seem like physical therapy could be painful and counterproductive, a possibility that keeps many people from getting the help they need. While it’s true that physical therapy can’t cure arthritis or reverse existing joint damage, it can be very effective in helping reduce pain and stiffness.
You reach into a kitchen cabinet and suddenly there’s a sharp pain in your shoulder. Or maybe it happens when you’re trying on a new shirt or simply brushing your hair. Or maybe the pain isn’t really sudden at all. Maybe you know it happens all the time, but you forget about it until the next time you raise your arm and get a reminder.
Is it possible that something happening in your mind can contribute to actual physical pain? Isn’t that the sort of pseudoscientific theory you read about in a fringe magazine or hear from some self-styled “guru” on a podcast? Maybe.
Mental stress is something we all experience. We may worry about our work, our finances,
Aging bodies go through many changes. Even healthy bodies with good diets and regular exercise cannot escape the inevitable changes that can come with time: declining muscle strength and flexibility, vision loss, cognitive decline, and more. While we can work to slow down these changes and maybe even make some improvements in our senior years,
Most of us – especially those over the age of 40 – have experienced minor aches, pains or movement issues without feeling the need to seek medical attention. These things tend to go away on their own, after all. More often then than not this is true; most of these minor aches and pains will go away on their own.
Millions of Americans are forced to deal with chronic pain that impacts their lives daily. Chronic conditions like diabetes, arthritis, and chronic back pain make it harder for people to work, play, socialize, and generally enjoy many aspects of life that the rest of us take for granted. For these people, learning how to manage the pain associated with these conditions is essential to their quality of life.
Occasional dizzy spells – or feelings of lightheadedness, wooziness, or being off-balance – are a relatively common experience. Most adults will experience it at some point, and vertigo (a spinning sensation) affects an estimated 40% of people at least once in their lifetime1. While it’s common to experience some temporary dizziness, persistent or severe dizziness can be very disruptive to your daily life,
Imagine stepping out of bed to take the day’s first steps and feeling like you just stepped on broken glass. This can be what it’s like to deal with plantar fasciitis – a frustrating heel pain that doesn’t always go away on its own. Some cases can last months, or even years. Rarely, in severe cases,
For many years now, physical therapy has helped millions of people move better, feel stronger, and recover from injuries – but there are still misconceptions about what PT is and who it’s for. Some people think it’s only for athletes or post-operative surgery patients. Others worry that it’s going to be painful. Even with its history and track record,
The advancements of modern surgery are undoubtedly some of the most impressive in all of medicine. Advancements in knowledge, tools and techniques have led to surgical outcomes that would have seemed miraculous a century ago. In fact, we’ve become so good at performing different types of surgeries, we often forget to consider just how invasive and dangerous it truly is.
Whether from injury, illness, or surgery, pain is something we all must deal with at some point in our lives. When the pain is chronic or severe, it sometimes isn’t enough to just “grin and bear it”. Sometimes, we need something more to help us tolerate it. Unfortunately, oftentimes this means relying on medication – usually opiate-based.
Modern surgical knowledge and technology is largely considered one of the great achievements of modern medicine. Many injuries and conditions that could have been fatal in the not-too-distant past can often be dealt with through relatively common surgical procedures today. Surgery has undoubtedly provided a tremendous amount of benefit to our modern world.
As is the case with anything that provides a benefit,
Modern technology has done some amazing things for our society. We are more connected than ever before, with instant access to more information than previous generations could have imagined. Technology has changed the way we live, the way we communicate, and the way we work. Of course, not every change is an improvement. One of the unfortunate effects of our current information age is a drastic increase in sedentary living.
From car repairs to plumbing problems, people are now trying their hands at many things that used to be left almost exclusively to professionals. With so many do-it-yourself resources available, people can quickly learn how to perform tasks that they otherwise may not have even considered. Just pull up a step-by-step walkthrough online, or watch a YouTube or TikTok video.
The field of physical therapy is always evolving. PT techniques were once niche treatments for training gymnasts or rehabilitating injured soldiers. Now, physical therapy is as mainstream as any other field of medicine. Men and women of any age and physical condition benefit from it. Of course, like everything else in the modern world, innovations in research and new technology continue to push physical therapy forward,
According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, an estimated 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis. An additional 44 million have low bone density, putting them at increased risk of developing the disease in their lifetimes. While it’s more common in adults over 50, and more likely to effect women than men, the truth is osteoporosis impacts millions of lives of either sex every year.
