I recently met “Maureen,” who has been coping with low back pain and tingling in her calf for over a year. After a good physical therapy program, her pain had lessened. But, when she went back to the boot camp-style workouts that she enjoyed so much, the pain returned. Being a … [Read more...]
The Next Step After Physical Therapy
“I failed Physical Therapy” This self-effacing statement came from “Bonnie,” my newest client. Bonnie went on to tell me the whole sordid story of her back pain, which developed over the last several years: courses of treatment including chiropractic, physical therapy, and epidurals, followed by … [Read more...]
Use These 6 Tips to Stay Active This Fall
Fall is a great time to become more active: the kids are back in school and the air is crisp and inviting. The outdoors beckon, and if you’re not ready, you could suffer a few set-backs as you adjust your activity level. Here are 6 tips to keep you strong and healthy as you enjoy the … [Read more...]
Hope for Low Back Pain
The low back pain problem Your back pain has been hanging around for what seems like forever. You’ve been to multiple doctors, tried chiropractic, and have finally broken down and consulted an orthopedic surgeon. He ordered an MRI, but the MRI showed nothing more than mild stenosis (narrowing of … [Read more...]
What exactly is a Medical Exercise Specialist?
"What is a Medical Exercise Specialist?" It’s a good question and one I get often, because the profession itself is relatively new in the Healthcare continuum. An MES, as we are known, goes through a rigorous training and certification process to effectively and safely deliver exercise … [Read more...]
The Mysterious Origins of Knee Pain
“I can’t [fill-in-the-blank] because I have bad knees”, is a common complaint. Moreover, it’s one of the reasons I hear people give for becoming less active over time. Knee pain can be caused by something structural, like a tear or wearing down of the meniscus (cartilage) in the knee, or arthritis. … [Read more...]
Posture Hack #3 How to Improve “Tech Neck”
We’ve explored posture hacks on “duck feet” (link here) and “Donald Duck” posture (link here). For our final installment on posture hacks, we leave the ducks behind and look at the shoulders and neck. Now days, many careers are spent hunched over a laptop or squinting at a hand-held device which … [Read more...]
Posture Hack #1: How to Improve “Duck Feet”
I’d like to explore some common postural problems and some exercise hacks to improve them. Notice, I said, “improve” and not “fix.” The beauty of your ever-adapting body is that you don’t have to have perfect posture to reduce pain and move better. In fact, attempting to “fix” your posture and … [Read more...]
3 Easy Hacks for a “Wonky” Shoulder
A “wonky” shoulder, AKA a shoulder that doesn’t move right, feel right, or down-right hurts when you move it, can be caused by a myriad of reasons: arthritis, bone spurs (due to arthritis,) rotator cuff injury, an injury to the labrum (or deep cartilage in the shoulder) or an insidious little … [Read more...]
Back Pain: What’s at the core?
Back pain can be related to your core. There I said it. I am 100% sure you have heard of “deep core muscles” before. But do you really know what they are? Before you say yes, many people (including highly educated folks within my own industry and the medical community at large) don’t know what “deep … [Read more...]
